Wednesday, August 9
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm drop-in
Harvest Hours at The PAG (all ages)
Location: The People’s Apothecary Garden, Lot 62
Thursday, August 10
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm drop-in
Wild Creatives: Nature Collage and Book-making (all ages)
Location: The Nature House at The Portal, 254 North Cove Road
There are so many inspiring textures and patterns in nature! We’ll be making prints from flowers, trees, and other natural textures and collaging them into mini art books with printmaker and bookbinder Ruby Lewis. She is an artist who takes inspiration from trees, water, and the elements.
6:30 pm start
ThINC Tank: Resilient Gardens for a Changing Climate Screening (youth, adults)
Location: The Nature House at The Portal, 254 North Cove Road
Our regional climate is transforming rapidly as the global climate changes, with extreme weather events setting records. What does this mean for our food gardens and landscapes? How can we take on the challenge of increasing local food resilience and enhancing our landscapes ecologically to respond to our changing climate?
Join us for a screening of another webinar from Transition Salt Spring and gardener Linda Gilkeson. Learn how extreme weather affects plants, including trees, and how to design resilient food and ornamental gardens that help plants survive our changing weather patterns. Discover the important role gardeners can play in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, including designing landscapes to capture carbon.
Friday, August 11
10:00 am start
Young Naturalists: Snorkel Scavenger Hunt (all ages)
Location: The Nature House at The Portal, 254 North Cove Road
What lies beneath the waves? Come find out at our beach and snorkel scavenger hunt! We’ll do a beach bingo and see how many different creatures and ocean features we can find. Bring towels, swimming suits, and snorkel gear if you have it - if not we have lots at the Nature House to share!
Expert Excursion: Cultural Ecology and Plant Walk --- POSTPONED
Please note that this event has been postponed. We are looking to set it up for later this month!
Saturday, August 12
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Seaquarium Drop-in
Location: The Nature House at The Portal, 254 North Cove Road
The waters are buzzing with activity in the Seaquarium! A shiny school of fish has joined the tank, and we’ll be live feeding them some fresh mussels today. Plus come check out some other new alien-like additions - translucent pods of squid eggs, ghost shrimp, and a flat sand sole.
Sunday, August 13
10:00 am start
Why Save Seeds? with Ellen Cerny (all ages)
Location: The People’s Apothecary Garden, Lot 62
Seeds are essential to our being. Our ancestors treasured heirloom seeds, and the tradition of seed saving goes back to the beginning of agriculture - 12,000 years ago. Today most of us purchase seeds from commercial seed suppliers, but there is something special and empowering about saving ones seeds for future gardening endeavours. This Sunday, Ellen Cerny will share with us the benefits of seed saving as well as the surprising perks - creating novel plants like pilgrim kale and strawberry spinach. She will also explain the how-to’s - knowing when a plant is ready and how best to clean and store for next year’s garden.
As this activity will take place at the PAG, participants will also be able to take home a small collection of medicinal plant seeds!
2:00 pm start
S4: More Kelp! with Lee-Ann Ennis (all ages)
Location: Forbes Hall
Kelp provides important fish and invertebrate habitat in the nearshore marine environment, and offers other key ecosystem services, including nutrient bio mitigation, production of vital oxygen, curbing ocean acidification, and being ecosystem engineers. There are so many reasons why we need #MOREKELP!
Join Lee-Ann Ennis for an engaging slide show presentation where she will walk us through the microscopic life cycle of bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, explore the importance of kelp, and highlight some very hopeful kelp research and seaforestation work happening in the Salish Sea and beyond.
Lee-Ann has a background studying marine sciences at UVIC and Bamfield Marine Station, followed by many years delivering nature-based education programs. In 2022, Lee-Ann founded her own company, Vital Kelp, with the goal of applying kelp cultivation techniques to kelp restoration projects in the Salish Sea.