Vic West Food Security Collective

Join us on Saturday, May 6th, from 2:00 – 6:00pm for the Vic West Food Security Collective’s Annual Plant Sale. Get your organic tomatoes, squash, basil, cucumbers and many other veggie starts. Come early for the best choice.

We’re part of Vic West Fest 2017, which runs from 2:00 until 9:00pm.  There’ll be live music, great food, art projects for kids, ice cream, displays, games, and beer for the grown-ups (ID required).

Note: new start time for this annual event is 2:00pm.

Miner’s lettuce grows in cool, moist places in early spring along the west coast.

Imagine, a nutritious, yummy green that you don’t need to water or care for, that reseeds itself and is native to this area. It shows up in profusion this time of year when we are desperate for something to add to our salad bowls that hasn’t traveled a thousand miles to get here. It’s non-invasive, easy to pull when it’s done, and makes great mulch or compost. And chickens who are lucky enough to have it around produce eggs with a deep orange yolk.

It’s miner’s lettuce, also know as winter purslane, or Claytonia perfoliata. It tastes like lettuce only earthier, and has a slightly thicker leaf, more like spinach. Some call it a superfood: vitamin C, omega fatty acids and chlorophyll assist with detoxification and blood purification, but I like it because it’s green, available and tastes fresh when most other things don’t this time of year.

Miner’s lettuce got its name from the miners of the California gold rush who used it to prevent scurvy. It grows in profusion in moist, shady spots along the west coast right down into California. It doesn’t last long unless the spring is cool and moist, so grab some while you can if you see some!

Oceanic Market, as we know it now.

If you’ve visited the Market Garden in the last couple of summers you’ll have seen the glorious rows of exuberant greens, the edible jungle that is the growing plot, and the greenhouse packed with neat rows of heritage tomatoes. And then there’s that airy shed stocked with racks of seeds for things both common and obscure. It was easy to miss, though, tucked away on Bella Street, in spite of the beautiful sign.

Tucked away no more, the Market Garden man has taken over the lease to the Oceanic Market on Catherine Street.

The face of the Oceanic is about to change, newly designed and introducing new dry products like flour, nuts, and edible seeds, produce and local planting seeds. You’ll be able to walk through the Oceanic to the Market Garden in the back. Plans for a community gathering hub are in the works, as is a demonstration kitchen for canning and take-away foods.

“You won’t recognize it,” says Ryan.

Summer in the Market Garden

Ryan, who runs the market, is quietly bursting with enthusiasm for his new venture, which he’ll be sharing with long-time Oceanic employee, Ian. While his eye is on organic, local products, in practice he includes farmers who grow organically but aren’t certified. Fair trade products, like avocados from Mexico, will also stock the shelves.

But not everything will change. The Oceanic will continue to sell products the community has relied on for decades, such as cigarettes and lotto tickets. How does that fit with the program? you may ask, but it makes sense given Ryan’s sensitivity to the needs of the community. He wants to build on the success of the former owner, not destroy it, and he values the current customers.

More summer bounty

Food security to Ryan includes selling local Vic Westers’ produce and finding a system that’s fair to sellers, customers and him as a buyer, and is also keen to hear our ideas for products. He is open to offering vegetable waste to local chicken owners, and has agreed to sell a home-made line of soaps for a local.

Excessive waste from packaging is a gremlin Ryan is wrestling with, so we may see some colourful incentives to be spare with our bags. Selling products with returnable containers, like Avalon Dairies milk, is one solution.

As more of us appreciate what food security really means, having an (mostly) organic market in the ‘hood is great news. We can support it by letting Ryan know what we would like to see, then actually buying it if he brings it in. Don’t forget to bring your bags!

Louise Wood

Recently a number of the Vic West Food Security blog members received a bogus email, no subject line, encouraging them to click on a link. It was semi-convincing, from an email address that looked something like the food security email might look.
But it was spam, those invasive weeds of the tech world.
The Victoria West Food Security Collective does not send out mass emails showing everyone’s address. We use Mailchimp for newsletters, and those signed up on the blog receive new posts via email. We also send notices with actual information in them, about events, gardening tips, photos of luscious vegetables and nice composted soil. We won’t simply invite you to click a link.
With any of your incoming email, if it doesn’t look quite right, don’t open it!

Banfield Park Community Orchard Wassail

Saturday January 14th 2:30pm

Everyone is invited:

Vic West Community Potluck Dinner

Saturday, October 15th at 6:00pm

Victoria West Community Centre

521 Craigflower Road

Please bring a dish of food to share. Our theme is “Harvest” so something from your garden would be great. No garden? No worries. Any food item is appreciated.