I came to Newfoundland for the first time just over four years ago. I can still vividly recall taking the ferry across from Nova Scotia in the late winter, listening to the groaning sounds of the ice around the boat. Within two months of arriving I made my first trip to Bonne Bay, a remote fjord on the west coast of the island. I went to learn about the food system and fisheries in the region as part of a PhD program I was beginning at Memorial University that fall.
Maple syrup conjures up images of towering arboretums in places like Quebec or Vermont, but it’s a little known secret that the rugged and hardy maple trees of Newfoundland make darn fine maple syrup. With nothing more than a half dozen maple trees, some old salt beef containers and a handful of 25 cent metal tree taps, you’re good to go and can expect to end up with over a dozen bottles of hand made maple syrup.
Spectacular vistas, whales breaching, ice bergs floating by, and a foragers paradise. We are blessed with many wilderness areas that offer abundant edible plants. I rarely go on a hike without stopping to have a little taste of this or that. In this post, I will touch upon some of the edibles currently available in our wonderful wilderness.
Thanks to the listing from Seeds of Diversity, I was able to locate a gentleman in Newfoundland who has a great deal of experience growing a wide variety of potatoes here. Last week, I recieved by my set of samples from George, and here's what my benefactor told me about the varieties:
Red Dutch: A very dry, yellow flesh red from Holland in the 1940’s. An excellent potato. Late maturing.
Northern White: A white flesh variety, from Quebec apparently, from the early 1900’s. Very high yield. Good taste.
Now available only as an archived site, Root Cellars Rock was an online celebration of local food in Newfoundland & Labrador featuring resources and stories from people about planting, picking, preparing and preserving food — the four P's.
*Note: this is an archived page from the old Root Cellars Rock project, and will no longer be kept up to date. For newer resources, visit Food First NL's Healthy Eating in NL Online Resource Centre*
Below is a list of resources to help kids and youth learn how to plant, pick, prepare and preserve their own local food!
Some resources are directed towards children and youth, some to parents and others to educators. To share your feedback on these or to let us know about other good resources, get in touch.
Multiple Topics
11 Fun Ideas for Exploring Nature with Kids : "Help kids explore and learn from the wildness that’s just outside their back door and down the street." (ParentMap)
All Around the Table : A series of 12 short, beautiful films highlighting interviews with seniors from the Avalon Peninsula sharing their personal food stories and encouraging youth to connect with their food system. (Root Cellars Rock)
Best Practices Toolkits : Guides for starting and maintaining successfully community gardens, community kitchens, bulk buying clubs and farmers' markets. (Food Security Network NL)
Center for Ecoliteracy : Supports and advances education for sustainable living. E.g. School food reform and integrating sustainability into K–12 curricula
Child and Nature Alliance of Canada : working to authentically collaborate across all sectors in support of outdoor play!
EcoKids : The award winning environmental education website for kids and teachers from Earth Day Canada. Lots of resources for living greener at school and home.
Edible Playgrounds : resources for school gardens, cooking activities, lesson plans and more (Dorset Cereals)
The Edible Schoolyard Project : Sharing resources to teach essential life skills and support academic learning through fully integrated schoolyard gardens.
Food Film Library : A collection of high quality documentaries about various food topics available for free loan to community groups across Newfoundland and Labrador, with public screening rights included. (Food First NL)
Good Food Ideas Kids : good food ideas that are transforming the places kids play, learn and live across Ontario; videos, images, stories, actions (Sustain Ontario)
Grow Your Own Food! : Celebrate local food with the Missoula Coyote Choir!
Growing Chefs : Chefs for Children's Urban Agriculture is a non-profit society that brings local chefs and growers into elementary schools to teach kids about food, cooking, and gardening. Lots of fun growing and cooking resources on the website!
Herbs and Children: Introducing Herbs to Your Kids (The Herb Companion)
Kids Eat Smart Foundation Newfoundland and Labrador : a registered charity dedicated to education, health, and well-being for school children. The Foundation supports 'Kids Eat Smart Clubs' - quality nutrition programs run by volunteers at schools and community centres throughout the province.
Kitchen Wizards : A fun food sampling, recipe and passport program hosted at the Wolfville Farmers' Market to encourage children aged 6-12 to taste, buy, prepare and eat more vegetables and fruits. Recipes for local food sampling available on the site. (Acadian University Nutrition & Dietetics)
Nature Play : Links to lots of activities for play and exploration with nature (Sun Hats & Wellie Boots)
NL Local Food Seasonality Chart : A chart listing common garden crops grown in Newfoundland and Labrador, with information about harvest times and storage options. (Root Cellars Rock) Note: This resource has been adapted in the past for specific classroom uses, contact info@rootcellarsrock.ca to make a request. (Root Cellars Rock)
Nourish: Food + Community : Nourish is an educational initiative designed to open a meaningful conversation about food and sustainability, particularly in schools and communities. Use the videos, activity plans and teacher resources to build food literacy.
Our Learning Garden : A portal for sharing information on developing curriculum that seamlessly integrates with growing in classrooms, school gardens, nutrition, sustainability, composting and greenhouses. Focus on activities that foster connections with food, health and the earth. (Frontier Schools, Manitoba)
Seed Map : An interactive online seed map where you can visit hundreds of case studies around the world on seeds, biodiversity and food. (USC Canada, Etc Group)
Steckle Heritage Farm Great Educational Resources Listing : Links to resources for agriculture education, environmental education, global issues and granting agencies.
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden National Program (Australia) : Inspiration for hosting a school program empowering students to grow and prepare their own food and share meals together, also linking activities into curriculum.
What's on Your Plate?: a documentary that follows two eleven year old girls on their journey to figure out their place in the food system (Catherine Gund)
Preparing Food
Age Appropriate Kids Cooking Lessons: tips and activities for cooking with your kids or teaching children to cook; from toddlers to teens
Cooking with Kids : tips for how to explore food with kids of different ages, reasons to share cooking with kids, and recipes (Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport)
Cooking with Kids- An Interactive Guide : Click on the circles to reveal a list of delicious, child-friendly, creative recipes and basic how-to videos for cooking with kids (The Guardian UK)
Fun Fall Foods to Make With Kids : Want some fall recipes to help you and your kids cook together? Here’s a few suggestions. (Whole Foods Market)
Food Skills Workshops Kit : How-to guides for hosting fun, interactive workshops on local food topics, including Preparing Local Vegetables, Using Culinary Herbs, and Canning/Bottling. Suitable for older youth and adults. (Root Cellars Rock)
Kids in the Kitchen: how to set up your kids' cooking club (Winnipeg Regional Health Authority)
Nutrition Resources : nutrition activity sheets for kids, and fact sheets 'Healthy Grocery Shopping on a Budget', 'Nutrition and Your Family', 'Planning Healthy Family Meals', and 'Doing More with Less' (Food Banks Canada)
Taste a memory : A piece about passing on food skills as a legacy to our children and there are lots of links at the bottom to resources and blogs about cooking alongside kids (Dreaming Aloud)
Tips for canning with children (Canning Across America)
Wild Foods
Edible Wild Plants Food Skills Workshop Kit : A how-to guide for hosting fun, interactive workshops about edible wild plants in Newfoundland and Labrador. Suitable for older youth and adults. (Root Cellars Rock)
Mushrooms- K- 12 resources (Foray Newfoundland and Labrador)
Gardening
American Community Gardening Association : hosts the projects Rebel Tomato and Garden Mosaics (see below) and also posts regular spotlights on youth gardening
Averee's Garden : Facebook group of a successful new school garden program in Harbour Breton supported by many local partners.
California School Garden Network : Resources and videos helpful for starting and maintaining school gardens.
Canadian Gardening- Gardening with Kids : a collection of articles on how to have gardening fun with kids
Container Gardening Food Skills Workshop Kit : A how-to guide for hosting a fun, interactive workshop on container gardening. Suitable for older youth and adults. This would be a good training resources for setting up a new program. (Root Cellars Rock)
Edible Schoolyard Project : A network of edible school programs across the United States and lots of resources for developing edible education practices and curriculum.
Evergreen School Ground Greening Resources : Wondering where to start, what other schools have done or what the latest research tells us? In our Resources section you’ll find answers to these questions and more.
Flowers, Plants and Gardening: For Kids! : a collection of links to help you explore botany, gardening and hydroponics with children.
Food Safety Tips for School Gardens : The practices addressed in this document will help program operators enhance the safety of fruits and vegetables grown in school gardens. (USDA)
Gardening with Children: articles and resources for gardening with children (Colorado Master Gardener Extension)
Happy Valley- Goose Bay Children's Garden : FSN teleconference presented by Jill Airhart, coordinator of the children's garden program, providing an overview of how she and other volunteers started this successful program, including partnership development, funding, activities and workshops, and more.
How Does Our Garden Grow : An animation created with Melissa Post at Elm Hill School in Springfield, Vermont about gardening and parts of vegetables. Special guests include insects and animals that love vegetables too.
Kids Gardening : activities, stories, guides, lesson plans and more
Leave it Better : Our organization teaches students how to grow food, and empowers them with technology to share their knowledge through video storytelling.
Little Green Thumbs : an educational program that helps young people value the health of themselves, the environment and their community through active participation in classroom gardens. In NL it is hosted in pilot classrooms by Agriculture in the Classroom.
My First Garden : a guide to the world of fun and clever gardening (University of Illinois Extension)
Nova Scotia School Garden Resource Guide : To support schools considering starting a garden, we have created a guide with advice on starting the garden, resources available to schools in Nova Scotia, curriculum links which can integrate the garden into lesson plans.
Plant a Row- Grow a Row Junior : Encouraging young gardeners to grow an extra row in their gardens for donation to food banks. Resources on gardening, composting and more to grow a successful garden.
Seed Saving Food Skills Workshop Kit : A how-to guide for hosting fun, interactive workshops on seed saving. Suitable for older youth and adults. Could be used as a training tool for starting a seed saving garden with children. (Root Cellars Rock)
School Garden Network : An excellent extensive list of resources to support school gardens and profiles of gardens across Canada. Add your school garden's profile!
School Garden Start-up Guide : "Whether you are a parent, teacher or administrator interested in getting a food garden project started at your school, this guide should provide you with the basic information you need to get the ball rolling." (Society Promoting Environmental Conservation)
School Grounds, Naturally! : A Guide and Companion Resource Guide to help local schools create 'Living Classrooms'. (Hamilton Conservation Authority)
School Year Gardens: A Toolkit for High Schools to Grow Food From September to June (Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project)
Starting a School Garden video and Part 2: Components of a Successful School Garden (University of Maryland Extension)
St. Francis School Greenhouse, Harbour Grace : Description of the program on the Public Health Agency of Canada website
Yard Gurus Gardening with Kids: all about growing gardens for children and gardening with kids
Composting
Composting Curriculum Unit : All you wanted to know about composting in Newfoundland, as well as a list of composting-related activities and resources to be incorporated into the curriculum. (MUN Botanical Garden)
Composting Food Skills Workshop Kit : A how-to guide for hosting fun, interactive workshops about composting and vermicomposting. Suitable for older youth and adults. This would be a good tool for training teachers and staff to start a composting program. (Root Cellars Rock)
Eco- Cubs : The Eco-Cubs program provides leaders and Cubs with fun and creative ways to learn about waste reduction, including composting (MMSB)
MMSB : composting education and the Get to Half waste reduction programs for schools and preschools
School Wide Composting Guide : a guide for starting a school-wide composting program with examples from Calgary (Green Calgary)
Vermicomposting: A 5th Grade School Enrichment Curriculum
Sustainable Seafood and Healthy Oceans
SeaChoice Kids Corner : Teachers and parents can make a splash with the SeaChoice Educator’s Guide. This website also has kid and eco-friendly seafood recipes and other inspiration.
Sustainable Seafood Resource Page : A collection of resources related to sustainable seafood, with a focus on Newfoundland and Labrador. (Root Cellars Rock)
Agriculture in the Classroom
Agriculture in the Classroom Canada : clicking on NL takes you to the NLFA website (see below) and there are also lots of resources on other provinces' pages
Agriculture in the Classroom NL : resources, virtual farm tours, events, and more to help NL children increase their awareness and understanding of why our food system is essential in society.
Agriculture in the Classroom USDA : activities for kids and teens and resources for teachers
The Bee Cause Project : Stimulating curiosity in young people about the importance of honey bees in our lives and the need to understand and embrace them and to care about their well-being through the installation of bee hives in 1,000 schools.
Farm to School
Earthworks Farm and Community Garden : We strive to reach out to local schools to provide on-site education, as well as field trip opportunities. Our mission is to provide healthy food, environmental education and farm-related recreation to the local community, while promoting local and sustainable farming.
Farm to Cafeteria Canada : Farm to Cafeteria Canada is an emerging national network that promotes, supports, and links farm to cafeteria programs, policy and practice from coast to coast to coast.
The opinions and information expressed in the above links do not necessarily reflect the views of Food First NL or the Root Cellars Rock project and may not reflect the most up-to-date health and food safety best practices. For more information on health and nutrition in Newfoundland and Labrador refer to the Department of Health and Community Services. For more information on food safety refer to Health Canada Food Safety. For health and safety guidelines to follow when canning and preserving food refer to Health Canada’s Food Safety for Home Canning and the National Center for Home Food Preservation. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about any of the links, email foodfirstnl.ca or call (709) 237-4026.
Join FSN this Thursday for a free teleconference about a program putting children in touch with where their food comes from.
Register by contacting Sarah Ferber at 237-4026 or sarahferber@foodsecuritynews.com. Registration is recommended by Wednesday, March 18.
Thursday, March 19th, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm (NST)
Where does my food really come from? How is it grown? How does it get to me?
These are not simple questions, and contemporary life often prevents us from learning the answers first hand.
Little Green Thumbs is a straightforward attempt to solve the problem: Put a garden in a classroom to help kids learn about their food. The program is in 72 classrooms across the island, and since 2013, using grow kits, some soil and seeds, it has helped more than 18,000 kids learn about our food system in a fun way.
Christa Wright, Coordinator of Agriculture in the Classroom, is presenting this free teleconference. You can find out more about the program at Agriculture in the Classroom Newfoundland & Labrador
Register by contacting Sarah Ferber at 237-4026 or sarahferber@foodsecuritynews.com. Registration is recommended by Wednesday, March 18.
