Our Schoolyard Market Garden establishment at VanTech Secondary School was a great success and so much fun. Tons of people came out, shoveled and wheelbarrowed soil into place, celebrated the new project and shared what vegetables they aspire to be. We look forward to all the healthy new growth, sending you all updates, and inviting you to come and share in the harvests as soon as our schoolyard market stands start in June!

Fresh Roots New Neighborhood Farmer!
We are so thrilled to introduce to you the newest member of our team, Scott Bell.
Hey there folks. My name is Scott Bell and I’m the most recent addition to the Fresh Roots team. I am coming on board as the Neighbourhood Farmer and will be doing my best to keep our school farms productive and beautiful. I’ve been farming for five years with the majority of my experience coming from the UBC Farm where I was one of the mentors for the Farm’s Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture. This role allowed to me share the knowledge I gained from my degree in Agroecology through field-based educational activities. After finishing my time at the UBC Farm, I spent the 2012 growing season traveling around British Columbia working on a variety of farms. I’m now happy to be returning to Vancouver to put renewed energy towards agricultural education. I hold a strong belief that food is one of the most powerful ways to build community and I’m eager to see what we can accomplish together this growing season.

Sam Sullivan’s Public Salon
Co-Director Ilana was invited to speak at Sam Sullivan’s Public Salon and spoke to 650 people yesterday about urban farming! The crowd felt her passion and many people left excited about the potential of working with community to achieve our dreams.

It’s been a thrilling year so far and its only early April! We look forward to sharing many more exciting happenings, events, delicious, school-grown food with you this growing season!

The Fresh Roots Farm Team

We are establishing a school farm this month! It’s been in the works for over two years and the time is now upon us! The first of its kind in Canada! And we’d love for you to come out and join us!

In collaboration and generously supported by Vancity, The Real Estate Foundation of BC, Vancouver Foundation, the City of Vancouver, and the Vancouver School Board (along with many other awesome partners and collaborators)…

March 23 & 24 Fresh Roots will be establishing a 1/4 acre Schoolyard Market Garden at Vancouver Technical Secondary.
The schoolyard market garden will serve as an outdoor classroom for students and teachers, and provide healthy, fresh produce to go into school cafeterias and sell into the neighborhood.

Students, neighborhood residents, and community members will be joining us March 23 through March 27 to help us wheelbarrow the soil into place so we can sow seeds and get growing!

And we are inviting you to join us as well!

When: March 23 & 24
Where: Vancouver Technical Secondary School map here
Time: 10am – 1pm, 1pm – 4pm each day.
Please choose a time block you can commit to and email your RSVP to volunteer@freshroots.ca
What to wear: Clothes you can get dirty in! Long pants! Closed toed shoes! Gardening gloves, Rain-Gear: we’ll be working outside rain and shine.
What to bring: Water bottle, snacks, A willingness to have fun – at our farm events we work, laugh, eat, have a great time.

Please email all questions and RSVPs to volunteer@freshroots.ca

If you cannot commit to a block of time, feel free to drop by and say hi.

With a fistful of fertile soil,
The Fresh Roots Farm Team

Fresh Roots is excited to announce our internship opportunity we are offering this 2013 growing season.

This season Fresh Roots will be growing food on peri-urban farmland as well as establishing and growing on two schoolyard market garden sites (each a 1/4 acre), the first of their kind in Canada! Our interns will have an opportunity to be a part of this new growth, and learn from us and with us in all our new farming endeavors.

Please see posting below, and forward along to listserves, friends, etc. you think will benefit from knowing about the opportunity.

Looking forward to another fertile growing season, and sharing the fruits of our labour and stories together in the urban farm fields,
Ilana

Farming Season Internship – Urban Farmer Training Program

About Fresh Roots
Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society grows resilient, engaging, education-based food systems accessible to Vancouver’s diverse communities. Our neighbourhood market gardens are designed as commercially productive agriculture fields that serve two main functions: educational opportunities and food production. Produce from our neighbourhood market gardens is distributed through our Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) program, sold to local school cafeterias, and our new neighbourhood market stands. Our fields are used as outdoor, hands-on learning classrooms; engaging school communities and residents of Vancouver in addressing food sovereignty, community health, and vocational skills development.

Fresh Roots currently grows on a peri-urban site in Richmond and at Queen Alexandra Elementary in Vancouver. Fresh Roots will be building two new sites in 2012/13 at Vancouver Technical Secondary School and David Thompson Secondary School.

Fresh Roots is dedicated to building the farming skills of a new generation of farmers and honing the skills of gardeners and enthusiasts. We do this primarily though our young-farmer training program that offers people interested in agriculture an opportunity to learn and work on inner-city and peri-urban farmland. It also provides participants the opportunity to learn about farm business planning and community-engaged neighbourhood farming.

Fresh Roots aims to transform how Canadian (and North American) communities address food literacy by building sustainable urban food systems that provide affordable and healthy food back into the neighbourhood that grows it.

Position Description
Fresh Roots operates as a non-profit society. Interns of Fresh Roots this year will have the opportunity to experience peri-urban farming as well as deepen urban farming knowledge and learn to utilize urban farms as spaces that grow community relations and outdoor learning classrooms. As a youth-run and youth-lead organization, interns will participate in the growth of a small community-engaged urban farming operation, learning about

Specific Tasks/Learning Outcomes
Market Farming Skills
* Seed starting and propagation
* Greenhouse and field production
* Pest and disease management
* Fertility management
* Irrigation installation and maintenance
* Harvesting and post-harvest processing
* Proper tool selection, use, and maintenance
* Compost and worm compost management
* Farm infrastructure construction and maintenance

Community Farming and Engagement
* Participate in community events by leading volunteer teams
* Attend CSA pick-up and neighbourhood market stand sales
* Farming at a Schoolyard Market Garden site, the first of its kind in Canada, representing Fresh Roots and connecting with school and neighbourhood community daily.

Food System Literacy
* Explore the current agricultural system through lectures, events, and farm connections
* Attend Food Policy council meetings
* Connect to local food system participants

Preferred Skills
* Good communication skills: ability to represent Fresh Roots to the public, and work with people from diverse backgrounds
* Able to withstand hard, physical labour
* Engaged team player, sense of humor, flexibility and patience an asset
* Ability to take direction and complete tasks
* Familiarity with and commitment to the vision and mission of Fresh Roots an asset
* Familiarity with local and organic agricultural production practices and concerns is an asset
* Must pass be able to pass a criminal record check
* First Aid and Food Safe certificates are an asset
* Self-motivated and able to work alone

Position Details:
* Estimated Start Date: late March 2013
* Late April – October 2013: Part-time, 12-24 hours a week
Working as farmers, we have a 7:00am start most days. Particularly during the height of the harvest season.

How to Apply
E-mail a cover letter and resume clearly detailing your experiences and reasons why you are excited to pursue an urban farm internship program this season to info@freshroots.ca
* Attach to the email a single PDF document that contains your cover letter and resume. Ensure your name is included in the file name.
* Ensure your e-mail subject line clearly refers to the position title for which you are applying.
* Include a copy of the cover letter in the body of your application email.
* Applications must be received no later March 5, 2013.
* Interviews will take place the second week of March. We regret that due to the high volume of applicants only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

Harvest season is upon us and we are busier than ever! Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society is actively seeking volunteers to help us out over the next two months. Volunteering with Fresh Roots provides a fantastic opportunity for individuals and groups to learn about urban farming from the ground up (literally!). Volunteer for a few hours, a day, or once a week starting now through September. If you would be interested in volunteering as an individual, or would like to contact Fresh Roots about opportunities to volunteer as part of a school, church or work event, please contact Ilana at (778) 862-3276.

As many of you know, our Farm Manager was hit by a car on their bicycle, and now we can use help in the fields more than ever.

We are blessed with an incredible farm team that laughs lots, works hard, and everyone goes home with delicious veggies.

Please forward this along to your contacts/networks and anyone/everyone you think may be keen on enjoying the sunshine in fresh, local, healthy, youth and female powered farm fields!

With a fistful of fertile soil,

Ilana and the Fresh Roots Farm Team