Seedy Sudbury springs into action early this weekend at new location
One of the organizers of Seedy Sudbury, Rachelle Rocha, describes the importance of saving seeds ahead of the Feb. 9 event at Collège Boréal.
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CBC
07-02-2025
- CBC
Seedy Sudbury springs into action early this weekend at new location
One of the organizers of Seedy Sudbury, Rachelle Rocha, describes the importance of saving seeds ahead of the Feb. 9 event at Collège Boréal.
CBC
07-02-2025
- CBC
Local gardeners urged to save their seeds for resilience and diversity ahead of Seedy Sudbury
In the depths of winter, gardeners swoon over seed catalogues and start ordering, but one of the organizers of Sudbury's annual seed swap is urging people to look to their own backyard instead. Rachelle Rocha is encouraging gardeners to start saving seeds to plant year after year in pursuit of strains hardy to the north and to prevent certain varieties from being lost. Seedy Sudbury is being held this Sunday, Feb. 9, at Collège Boréal and will feature a room where participants in the Grow Out program can meet. The project is a community-driven effort to take a commercial seed and create resilient seeds uniquely suited to northern Ontario's climate. The project is in its third year and new members are always welcome. "It's very empowering to be able to save seeds and grow them year after year after year in your own garden," said Rocha. "Otherwise you have to drive somewhere and buy them." Rocha says that leaves growers vulnerable to supply chain shortages and at the mercy of commercial seed companies. "I mean, in the old days you didn't have a store to go buy seeds at. Everybody just traded seeds." she said, noting that people were proud of what they could contribute. She's seen the benefits of locally adapted seeds herself, saying they can withstand the harsher conditions of northern Ontario, saying she never even waters her garden. Seeds are also the focus for a Sudbury gardener who is passionate about diversity. Tamara Clement has a seed business called Heritage Hobby Seed Ark where she tries to bring attention to the diverse varieties of fruits and vegetables that are unknown to most gardeners. Clement has collected some of the rarest seed varieties in Canada and grows them in her backyard each year to pass on to other gardeners to grow and preserve them. She describes how she got interested about 17 years ago with the purchase of her first heirloom tomato, and has been collecting since. Her reasoning is that commercial varieties are limited, and preservation of other varieties is key to making sure we have access to different kinds of delicious food that may be lost if people neglect to keep farming them. One example is a variety of tomato she grew this year from Spain which was developed to be stored over winter. Just last week, she made a sandwich out of one of those that she had picked from her garden in August. Sudbury seed collector protects hidden gems "Five months is a long time to store a tomato, right?," she said. "It actually tasted like a garden tomato still, so that was really shocking." Clement described it as not quite as sweet as a summer tomato with a thicker skin. "Now, is it as amazing as a fresh tomato from the garden in August? No, it was not like that, but I could still detect a noticeable difference between my own tomato and one I would buy at the grocery store. So that was kind of amazing." It's one of what she calls "hidden gems" that she wants to keep discovering and passing on to other gardeners.
CBC
13-11-2024
- CBC
Sudbury, Ont., college unveils 'Heart of Fire' Pavilion to ignite Indigenous connections
Indigenous students, staff and faculty at Collège Boréal in Sudbury, Ont., have a new space to come together. The college opened the Shkode "Heart of Fire" Pavilion on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The pavilion serves as a central hub for the college's First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Educational Centre, which raises awareness of Indigenous history through workshops, fosters partnerships with community organizations and collaborates on applied research initiatives. 'Heart of Fire'- Greater Sudbury College opens gathering place for the Indigenous community 6 hours ago Duration 1:37 The community gathered for the official opening of Collège Boréal's new Shkode 'Heart of Fire' Pavilion at its Sudbury campus. This 2,000-square-foot space serves as a hub for the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Educational Centre, offering workspaces, meeting rooms and a smudging circle for traditional ceremonies. The 2,000-square-foot space includes workspaces, two meeting rooms and a circle for smudging ceremonies and traditional events. A large glass case displays artwork honouring Métis leader Louis Riel, alongside a mural by Indigenous artist Jessica Somers. Outside, a 32-foot canoe, built using traditional techniques, stands as a tribute to Indigenous craftsmanship. The centre also features an Indigenous medicinal garden showcasing plants used in sacred rituals, such as sage. Construction of the pavilion cost nearly $1.3 million. Collège Boréal president Daniel Giroux described the facility as a gathering place for students, faculty, staff and the broader community. "It's a learning centre, a community space for Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit peoples," he said. "It's really a centre for everyone." Giroux emphasized that the pavilion reflects the college's commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action. "The consultation process probably took us almost a year and a half, two years, but the actual construction has been almost a year now. But it was a lot of planning. So we want to make sure we get it right," he said. The college's elder in residence Richard Meilleur says he has been advocating for the pavilion for a decade. "This was a French college for Franco-Ontario only. So when we started introducing the Indigenous peoples [it wasn't] really the focus for the college," said Meilleur. Local Indigenous artist and educator Will Morin attributed the extended timeline to several factors, including the pandemic. "It's the persistence of the staff…. It takes a long time for non-Indigenous governments and institutions and industries to realize that we're on Indigenous land and there needs to be different ways of doing things that they're not ready to do. So that takes time," Moring said. Despite the delays, Meilleur is pleased with the pavilion's opening, explaining that the pavilion is "the fire that's burning inside everybody's hearts." "Because of everything that happened to Indigenous people, they don't really know where they come from. They were taken away… They can come here and learn where they come from, what's their tradition," he said. "It's a place away from home for the Indigenous people. You could call that place home," said Meilleur, pointing to the Shkode "Heart of Fire" Pavilion.
