Transition Sooke’s latest monthly newsletter was distributed to our email list on the weekend. Check it out here online. If you’d like a copy sent to your own email box, please send a request to sooketransition@gmail.com. Thanks as ever to our designer/editor Sofie Hagens and contributor Jeff Bateman.

Given the wonderful range of activities happening in the Sooke region at any given time, we usually inadvertently overlook a couple of events we later wish we’d shared. One of note this time around is the Sooke Family Resource Centre‘s second Wadams Way Public Market, set for Saturday, Sept. 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day will feature family activities, live music, booths featuring local artisans, a Fair Trade Aboriginal Art Show and much else.  Not to be missed!

As you’ll see in the newsletter, our marquee attraction this month is the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke federal candidates’ debate on climate change and related issues, set for Wednesday, Sept. 16 at Edward Milne Community School from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mayor Maja Tait has kindly agreed to moderate the evening, and childcare services are available on-site by pre-registration. Sincere thanks to our local sponsors: A Sea of Bloom Floral Design, Seaflora Wild Organic Seaweed Skincare,  the Sooke Harbour House and Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery.  

Eager to develop some useful skills readily applicable to your own life? Care to share your own practical know-how with others? Ready to enjoy a potluck picnic with family, friends and new acquaintances in the idyllic setting of Sooke’s InishOge Farm?

Everyone is welcome to our Reskilling Share Fair & Community Potluck Picnic from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9 at Steve Unger and Mary Coll’s lovely 6698 Helgeson Road farm property. Admission is free or by small donation to help cover costs. (And by everyone, we sincerely do mean anyone in Sooke who is drawn to join us.)

The family friendly day will begin with a series of mini reskilling workshops from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m (see schedule below; please arrive early – 9:30 a.m. or a little later – so that we can get started right at 10 a.m.). Topics include cheesemaking techniques (led by Mary Coll), small-engine maintenance (Steve Unger and Tony St-Pierre), tool sharpening (Mike Downey), bear-wise strategies (Debb Read), sauerkraut making (Stephen Hindrichs), pressure-cooker basics and permaculture principles. Dante Chicano and Tom Kral will lead a wild-food foraging walk around the farm and the day’s MC, Lee Hindrichs, will demonstrate how to prepare a herbal first-aid kit.

Once the workshops are complete, a potluck lunch will begin at 1:15 p.m. in the welcoming shade of InishOge’s apple orchard. Bring a dish to share, your own cups, plates and utensils, a picnic blanket and whatever else you need to enjoy quality time in the meadow.

Picnic attendees are invited, if they choose, to informally share some of their own skills once lunch is over – be it seed saving, water conservation, vegetable fermentation, cloth repair, wood carving, sock darning or perhaps shared songs, stories or jokes … you name it. Please pack in whatever’s needed for demonstration purposes and expect to learn some new skills of your own.

As the day winds down, Transition’s Michael Tacon will lead a mid-afternoon meditation and then Andrew Moore will distribute his array of percussion instruments and noisemakers before leading a drum and dance circle – a highlight of last year’s first Transition Sooke summer picnic at Inishoge.

This is both a Zero Waste (i.e., take home whatever you bring) and alcohol-free family event. Parking is extremely limited on site. We’re suggesting everyone walk, ride a bike or carpool. Please park safely and considerately along Otter Point Road or on neighboring streets.

This year’s poster, the morning/early afternoon workshop schedule plus a few photos from our InishOge Farm picnic a year ago this weekend  

Today’s rain is softening the soil, so the timing is perfect for tomorrow morning’s short-but-essential permablitz work party at Adam Noseworthy and Cheryl Lane’s home, 6640 Sooke Road from 10 a.m. to Noon. We will continue to create the beds and pathways and turn the uninspiring grass into a beautiful food forest. This is the second in a series of easy work parties over the summer as we prepare for a fall planting. Drop by with your spades and lend a hand. Or simply stop in, say hello and learn more about Sooke’s first permaculture demonstration garden.

The scene then shifts to Cast Iron Farm across from Sunriver Community Garden for the fourth-Saturday-of-the-month  Permaculture Sooke meet-up starting at 2 p.m. Our Tony St-Pierre and the Cast Iron family welcome everyone for shared food, good conversation and meaningful learning. There’s an open invitation to exchange seeds, resources, energy and local permaculture experience. Potluck contributions are naturally always welcome. The focus this month continues the exploration of the principles of permaculture.  Contact Tony with any questions at 250-642-5445.

Last but by no means least, Zero Waste Sooke’s Jo Phillips and Anna Smandych Ogilvie will be at the Sooke Country Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m tomorrow. As Jo writes, “we’ll be demonstrating how to make your own reusable produce and bulk bin bags. ‘Upcycled’ sheer curtains, a pattern and an instruction sheet will be provided and there will be a demo of how to sew them up on the spot  Reusable produce/bulk bin bags are easy to make, can be kept in your canvas shopping bags and make great gift bags.” This is the second of Zero Waste’s workshops at the Saturday market, and it’ll be following on August 8th with a composting workshop featuring a rep from Victoria’s Compost Education Centre.

Happy trails to all this weekend, gratitude for the wet stuff and,YES, you can do it all :-).

The hard science behind climate change and the need to address its impact locally through improved regional food security is the focus of a Transition Sooke presentation at the St. Rose of Lima Church, 2191 Townsend Rd., on Wednesday, July 22 at 7 p.m. Admission is free or by small donation.

Aerospace engineer Dr. Parvez Kumar will begin the evening with an audio-visual presentation titled Our Planet In Crisis: A View From Above. With a diverse background that includes stints with the Canadian and European space agencies, the Sooke resident uses dazzling satellite photos to illustrate rising sea levels, melting icepacks, extreme weather events, deforestation and ocean acidification. As those who saw Dr. Kumar speak at EMCS in May can testify, he convincingly argues that we’re already at the point of no return and that immediate remedial action is essential.

Following his lecture, Sooke Farmland Trust co-founder Mary Coll and former federal government economist Mark Ziegler will make the case for a revitalized Sooke foodshed that generates more local food for local plates. Currently, Vancouver Island has enough food to last just 72 hours in case of emergency. And the ongoing California drought is expected to reduce the volume while increasing the price of imported fruit and vegetables.

Ziegler, acting president of the Rotary Club of Sooke, will quantify the potential value of an intact, managed, protected and coordinated Sooke foodshed that creates jobs, gets more land into production and cultivates a stronger local food culture.

The evening is a prelude to an Esquimalt Saanich Sooke federal candidates’ debate on climate change and related issues set for EMCS on Sept. 16. The debate is being co-presented by Transition Sooke, the Dogwood Initiative and the Victoria chapter of the BC Sustainable Energy Association.

A Sooke foodshed working group has begun meeting recently at the Sooke Region Volunteer Centre at the invitation of the Farmland Trust and Transition Sooke. Led by Christine Bossi, it includes Inishoge Farm’s Coll, her Farmland Trust colleagues Mary Alice Johnson and Steve Unger, the Sooke Fall Fair’s Ellen Lewers, the Sooke Harbour House’s Frederique Phillip, Sooke Food CHI’s Britton Jacob-Schram, the Chamber of Commerce’s Michael Nyikes, chef Tom Kral, the Good Food Chain’s Christopher Warner and Transition Sooke’s Martin Bissig and Jeff Bateman.

Check out the news updates, events calendar, inspirational quotes and social-media highlights in our just-published July newsletter, which was distributed to our mailing list this weekend by editor Sofie Hagens.

Also worth a read (as always) is the latest edition of the Rural Observer. It includes Jeff Bateman’s overview of Transition Sooke’s vision and current activities; Dogwood Initiative regional organizer Terry Dance-Bennink’s rousing take on the upcoming federal election; columns by MP Randall Garrison and MLA John Horgan; articles on the Sooke Sailing Association and the Stinking Fish art tour; a call for electoral reform from Dogwood Sooke’s Gail and Katie Armitage;  and some celebratory words about the heritage designation recently granted (after a 12-year campaign by Shirley residents) to the Sheringham Point Lighthouse. Kudos once more to RO editor Terri Alcock for producing another great edition focused on life right here in the JDF.

If you’d like to receive our newsletter in your in-box, please send a request to sooketransition@gmail.com.

Full-length version of the feature published this week in the Sooke News Mirror 

Curious about the work-in-progress garden on the north side of Sooke Road west of Drennan Street? The one that was adorned with a tarp, rubber tires and squash vines last summer and now features a berm covered in straw and bursting with green shoots?

A year ago, Transition Sooke teamed with certified horticultural designer Jonathan Francoeur and homeowners Adam Noseworthy and Cheryl Lane to begin creating a showcase permaculture garden that would inspire local residents to grow more food and less lawn.

“We’re slowly but surely building a food forest that produces food, fiber and other useful byproducts from every plant within it,” says Francoeur. “A project like this is a long, patient process, but by starting now we’re on our way.”

The garden is growing fast at the moment. Western Island Tree Service’s Troy Lovbakke has donated a load of cedar chips. And a team of volunteers will arrive this Sunday, June 21 for a fun one-day “permablitz” to dig, build a fence, lay down pathways and spread the mulch.

Permaculture is a holistic set of ethics and design principles that mimics patterns and relationships found in nature. It is the foundation of a Transition Town philosophy first developed by Rob Hopkins in Kinsale, Ireland at the turn of the millennium.

It’s also the subject for lively discussion and hands-in-soil practice at a new Permaculture Sooke meet-up group that has been gathering at Cast Iron Farm across from the Sunriver Community Garden on the fourth Saturday afternoon of the month. Hosts Tony and Christiana St-Pierre extend a welcome to everyone to drop by the farm on June 27 at 2 p.m. to make friends, share food and learn more.

“Usually associated with gardening and farming, permaculture embodies principles that can be applied to community relationships, education and even business,” explains Transition Sooke board member Stephen Hindrichs. He and Inishoge Farm’s Mary Coll recently taught a class on the subject to EMCS students in the Environmental Studies program led by teachers Dave Clark and Meghan Bondurant.

Adds Hindrichs: “Permaculture involves working with what you have, observing the patterns and process around you, creating beneficial relationships and turning problems into solutions. All these principles are guided by the core ethics of care of people, care of the earth and fair share of resources and surplus.”

Over at the Noseworthy home at 6460 Sooke Road, the landscape will feature layers of trees, shrubs, ground covers, climbers, root crops, mushrooms and even a water feature. The design captures and stores water from the winter rains for use during the summer. It produces shade from the sun and privacy from the highway while also creating a habitat for birds and bees.

Ultimately, 100 plant species will be added to the property. Francoeur’s blueprint for the food forest can be viewed at http://eelandscaping.blogspot.ca.

Francoeur launched Everything Edible Landscaping a decade ago and worked at bountiful Vancouver Island spots like O.U.R. Ecovillage and Madrona Farm before settling in Sooke a few years ago. “It all starts with the will to make a change for the better,” he says. “With each new season and lesson, we grow closer to our destination. You are what you eat. Be your landscape. Be beautiful!”  (pictured: Jonathan building the garden’s berm earlier this year; the front yard last summer). 

Please explore our updated website, which now includes pages on our three recently created working groups: Permaculture Sooke, Wild Wise Sooke and Zero Waste Sooke along with links to a collection of documents we’ve produced over the last five years – including AGM reports, our 2014 Community Open Space report and notes from our Forum on the Local Economy.

Check out the stories, events calendar, inspirational quotes and social-media highlights in our just-published June newsletter, available here. If you’d like to receive these monthly newsletters and occasional other emails of interest to the Transition-minded, please send a request to sooketransition@gmail.com.

KEEPING BEARS WILD AND HUMANS SAFE IS PRIORITY #1

Educating the public on how to live harmoniously with Sooke’s wild life is the guiding principle of a new organization launched by former WildSafe BC regional coordinator Debb Read and Nitya Harris of Vancouver Island’s Coexisting with Carnivores Alliance. It will operate under the auspices of the Sooke Transition Town Society.

Wild Wise Sooke will initially and primarily focus on bear management as Read continues a highly effective campaign she began in 2012. Sooke is statistically one of the Canada’s leading hotspots for black bears. Problems arise as bears become habituated to dining on garbage rather than berries and roots. In turn, this creates safety issues and, in increasingly rare instances, fatal consequences for the bears.

The good news: Read’s efforts have decreased the number of local complaints to conservation services by 40 percent (down to 278 calls last spring and summer). Better still, only four bears needed to be destroyed last year in the District of Sooke compared to 16 in 2013.

Sooke is now ready for its own community wildlife education program directed by a founding working group that features Read, Harris, the District of Sooke’s Laura Byrne, the EMCS Society’s Ebony Logins, Transition Sooke’s Jeff Bateman and the Chamber of Commerce’s Travis Butler. The RCMP’s Jeff McArthur and Conservation Officers Peter Pauwels and Richard DeKelver are part of the advisory team.

“Ongoing public education is essential or the progress we’ve made will be lost,” explains Read. “The vast majority of people get it, but there are still folks out there who either store their garbage outside or keep it in the garage but put it out the night before pick-up. Other people leave pet food outside, keep their bird feeders full during the summer or are careless with their compost. All this is pure bear bait and it’s guaranteed to increase the chance of dangerous interactions between the bears and us.”

Sooke residents who spot a bear in their neighbourhood should immediately call the Ministry of Environment’s RAPP line at 1-800-663-WILD. In most cases, the creature will be rambling through on its way elsewhere, however the call allows conservation staff to track the local bear population. If the problem persists, Read makes a personal visit to explore the root causes and offer bear-wise remedies.

“Once a bear starts equating humans with food, they lose their natural wariness and become what is called ‘human-habituated,'” she explains. “They then learn to tolerate us in much closer proximity than what is safe for both bears and humans. My best advise to homeowners is to take a careful look around their property, figure out what’s attracting the bears and then take remedial steps.”

Wild Wise Sooke is a good fit for Transition Sooke, says Bateman, its president. “One key aspect of the Transition Town philosophy is the ‘inner transition,’ and Debb is working hard to change the way we respect and interact with all forms of life in the region. Since 90 percent of bear problems arise from garbage issues, the new group can partner up on projects with the new Zero Waste Sooke initiative. Best of all, Debb and Nitya are remarkably competent, caring and capable individuals with a plan and the energy to make it happen. The bears and all our wild things are fortunate to have them.”

The new organization is seeking volunteers, donors and partnerships with local non-profits, businesses and funding bodies. In time, the educational focus will turn to cougars, raccoons, deer and other local inhabitants. For further information, please contact Debb Read at debbread@icloud.com.

Sooke News Mirror article 

This poem was written by 10 year old Sooke resident Katya Silvester. Her themes of nature and community fit the transition model nicely.

With a busy week behind us and much more to come in the weeks ahead, please check out last week’s newsletter sent to our membership. Scroll down the page for upcoming events of interest to the Transition-minded running locally through mid-May.  If you’d like to sign up for our email list, please make a request to sooketransition@gmail.com.