Shared Ground

This episode is a compilation of segments of hopeful, local stories from some previous Shared Ground conversations, as well as an update about the newly formed Lichen Camp, which protects an area of old growth forest at Goldsmith Lake in Annapolis County, within the Kespukwitk District of Mi’kma’ki. 

You’ll hear wisdom and inspiration from Katherine Barrett, Shawn Feener, Teresa Quilty, Nina Newington, Rob Bright as well as several forest protectors at the Last Hope Camp. 

Following are the full episodes from which these segments originated (in order of appearance)

Inspiration from a Community Food Forest

Save Our Old Forests: A Conversation with Rob Bright

Forest Protection and Community Care with Nina Newington

Celebration and Reflection; onward to Last Hope Campaign!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Ne'ata'q Food Forest website , facebook page

Save Our Old Forests (SOOF) website , Facebook and Instagram

hashtag #saveouroldforests

Friends of Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area on Facebook

Interview on CBC Info Morning with Nina Newington about Lichen Camp 

Some upcoming Earth Day events (2024):

April 20:

Build compost and soil from yard waste at Ne'ata'q, The Food Forest in Lunenburg

April 21: 

SOOF Soup Sunday & Earth Day Celebration in Centrelea

Citizen Science Workshop (Part 1) @ The Wooden Monkey in Halifax

Find all upcoming SOOF events here

Note from Nina regarding support for Lichen Camp and Goldsmith Lake:

We welcome campers, visitors and donations. Please email lichencamp AT gmail.com.

Please, write to Minister Halman, minister.environment AT novascotia.ca and Minister Rushton, minnrr AT novascotia.ca . Join us in calling on the government to grant the proposed Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area interim protection from logging, road building and any other industrial activity while decisions are made about which areas will be protected permanently as part of the province’s commitment to protect 20% of the province by 2030.  

Better with Bees is a student-run club focused on urban environmental sustainability at Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, within the Sipekne'katik district of Mi'kma'ki.

In the words of Topsy Olatunji, a student member of Better with Bees: “Our project centers on involving the Mi'kmaw community in establishing a healing garden and a Wabanaki pollinator garden, topics I will delve into deeper in the episode. We aim to educate and cultivate environmental awareness on local bee populations and pollinators in our ecosystem.”

And from teacher Christopher Hall: “In the spring of 2022, Charles P. Allen High School (CPA) was approached by Alvéole, an urban beekeeping company, to house a beehive at the school. This beehive inspired the work that CPA’s Better With Bees does as a community change maker. Working with students we have developed a plan to not only make tangible impacts on climate change, but also to showcase a native species garden. By building a Wabanaki pollinator garden surrounding a Mi’kmaq Medicine Garden, we hope to demonstrate that gardening with native species is a beautiful urban possibility.”

Shared Ground host Amanda Bostlund was excited to speak with three of the many people involved in Better with Bees during Helping Nature Heal's 18th Seedy Saturday event in Bridgewater this February. Here's a bit about them, in order of appearance.

Topsy Olatunji is a proud member of The Better with Bees club at Charles P. Allen High School. As a member of both the media team and website subcommittee, she is consistently engrossed in their mission to promote sustainability within the urban environment.

Christopher Hall has been on staff at Charles P. Allen High School for 19 of his 26 years of teaching. Using both the academic setting and extracurricular activities, he is able to encourage students to draw on their strengths in the pursuit of meaningful goals.

Khaled Al-Sakkaf is a Grade 12 IB student who is deeply invested in the intersection of environmental sustainability. Currently, on Fridays, he devotes his time and skills to the Better with Bees Meadow Project, serving on the technology and data team. Through his involvement, he aims to harness his skills to drive positive change and sustainability initiatives. His commitment to volunteering reflects his belief in the power of innovation to address environmental challenges and create a better future for our planet.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Better with Bees website Instagram Youtube
• The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 
• From  Sackville Rivers: “The Legend of the Petroglyph at Bedford Basin”
• RE3 conference 
• Alvéole https://www.alveole.buzz/
• Ne’ata’q Food Forest at the Bluenose Academy in Lunenburg  https://foodforestatbluenose.ca/
• Cortado Tasting Room  on Facebook
• The She Shed

Other Shared Ground episodes mentioned:

• #19: Inspiration from a community food forest
• #4: A 3-pronged approach to sustainability with Rosmarie Lohnes

~ To support Shared Ground -- Thank you!! ~

In this conversation with Josh of South Spore Mushrooms, we hear more about his mushroom-growing adventures, both indoors and outdoors, as well as a bit about mushroom hunting, and his favourite ways to cook mushrooms.

Josh Clark began building the business of South Spore Mushrooms two years ago. He also works off-shore as a chef, and plays in the Celtic punk band, Black Matilda. He and his wife and their three kids (who sometimes help with South Spore Mushrooms!) live in Blockhouse, Nova Scotia.

To hear more about South Spore Mushrooms, check out the previous episode (#23), of an interview from CVCR.

Find the South Spore Facebook page here

EPISODE RESOURES:

Fantastic Fungi documentary 

Paul Stamets 

What The Fungus Mushrooms

Local mushroom producers mentioned:

Feeney’s Fungi  

Fancy’s Fungi (vends at the Bridgewater market)

Josh’s favourite ways to cooks mushrooms:

Sautee with shallots and butter (or olive oil or butter+tallow) and

a) with caraway, raw honey and salt OR b) with garlic and sherry

Supplies and equipment mentioned:

Autoclave, Unicorn grow bags, laminar flow hood, Martha tent

~ To support Shared Ground -- Thank you!! ~

Hear how South Spore Mushrooms (based on the South Shore) began, including the entertaining story of how Josh Clark found the equipment he got started with, and why he and his family wanted to get into this exciting adventure of growing mushrooms. Currently they are producing various species of mushroom indoors. Josh shares some of his challenges, considerations and experiments, as well as how he is incorporating the value of environmental sustainability, into his business. 

Josh Clark began building the business of South Spore Mushrooms two years ago. He also works off-shore as a chef, and plays in the Celtic punk band, Black Matilda. He and his wife and their three kids (who sometimes help with South Spore Mushrooms!) live in Blockhouse, Nova Scotia.

The main interview of this episode is from Coastal Villages Community Radio (CVCR) show “On These Shores” with host Sarah Tingley, recorded live on May 20th, 2023.

Find the South Spore Facebook page here

You may also like to check out the next episode (#24) where Amanda gets an update on Josh’s interesting endeavours and learns more about his plans for outdoor cultivation.

This episode is a compilation of short segments of some previous Shared Ground conversations!

It includes wisdom and inspiration from Shawn Feener, Nina Newington, Diane Obed, Rosmarie Lohnes, Rob Bright, Kim Thomson, Dr. Jenn MacLatchy, and Bob Bancroft 

Following are the full episodes from which these segments originated (in order of appearance)

Meeting Mi'kmaw Knowledge Holder Shawn Feener

A 3-pronged approach to sustainability with Rosmarie Lohnes

Forest Protection and Community Care with Nina Newington

Save Our Old Forests: A Conversation with Rob Bright

Managing for Healthy Forests with Bob Bancroft

Decolonization and Healing with Diane Obed

The Sky Pillar, A Bridge to the Night

A carbon-sequestering art and research installation, the Sky Pillar at the Deanery Project was designed with architecture students from Dalhousie University. As Executive Director Kim Thompson puts it, the Sky Pillar is "a bridge to the night", and was created as an anchor to the Deanery’s annual SeaLight SkyLight festival. Kim says, “We’re trying to get people outdoors, connecting with nature, at night, which isn’t something we always do in our century”.

Listen to this conversation with Kim Thompson and Dr. Jenn MacLatchy as they talk about how the Sky Pillar came to be and how it brings together art and science, land and sky.

This installation sparks an interest and understanding in night time wonders and gives an interesting angle from which to view our place in space, to think about navigation, and to connect to the seasons.

Tune in also to discover the relationship of the Sky Pillar to bioluminescence, Japanese Knotweed, and biochar! 

(And a bonus: a luminescent fungi chat.)

The Deanery Project is nestled in a forested, sheltered cove of the Atlantic Ocean. It is an environmental arts and education centre that hosts many intriguing buildings, workshops, projects, and art installations. It is located in Lower Ship Harbour, on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore of Mi'kma'ki. Visitors and students come here to experience creative natural building techniques, to learn about permaculture, to help out on the land, discover community, practice citizen science, collaborate on an art installation, and/or to join a group for one of the wide-ranging programs. Here, one can find everything from a solar wood kiln to to retreat facilities. In response to the challenges of our times, the Deanery is also a convening space and living laboratory; for research and for building capacity for communities.

Kim Thompson is Executive Director of the Deanery Project. She imparts her love for learning, art, social justice and sustainability into everything she does and is passionate about nature, family, natural building, art, traditional skills and community. An adjunct instructor with the School of Architecture since 1998, Kim is deeply committed to creating experiential, educational opportunities for pre and post secondary students at the Deanery, and welcomes anyone interested to learn and become involved with the variety of things going on there.

Dr. Jenn MacLatchy (she/they), is an artist, a kayak instructor, and researcher of settler descent living in Mi’kma’ki. Her doctoral research was focused on using arts-based methods to engage with waste, weeds, and wastelands to form a settler method for decolonizing relationship with land and tending to liveable post-Anthropocene futures. (Episode 16 of Shared Ground is about this)

(You may also like to check out Episode 17: An Intro to the Deanery Project)

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Find out more about the Deanery Project at

Thedeaneryproject.com

https://www.facebook.com/deaneryproject

https://www.instagram.com/deaneryproject/

Open houses are on the 1st Sunday of each month

To discuss an idea; a potential art residency, a science research project or something with youth, contact Kim at 902-845-1888 or email [email protected]

Asitu’lisk

Red clay Arts 

~ To support Shared Ground -- Thank you!! ~

So many people have come together through the Save Our Old Forests campaign, started in Annapolis County, within Mi'kma'ki.

The folks behind it have recently hosted a successful music festival to raise awareness and funds, and to provide connection, support and inspiration for all those who care about the trees and animals in our Wabanaki Acadian forests.

In this special SOOFstock episode, meet some of the people involved (from musicians to volunteers), glimpse a rainy forest walk at the proposed Goldsmith Lake wilderness areas with Bob Bancroft and Donna Crossland, and get a small taste of some music at the festival!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Save Our Old Forests website , Facebook and Instagram hashtag #saveouroldforests

(For some wonderful photos of the event, take a look at their social media.)

Links to websites or pages of the musicians and artists interviewed:

https://anitacazzola.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/samsonwrote/

https://www.facebook.com/CuckooMoon/

https://thestrangevalentines.com/home

https://www.amandasuutari.com/

Suzanne Simard’s website with videos and links to her books

Nature Nova Scotia 

Blomidon Naturalists Society 

The online public consultation mentioned by MLA Carmen Kerr, started on August 23: Collective Protected Areas Strategy Engagement

The website of the settler education Rob mentioned (who went to Last Hope Camp)

See this NS Forest Notes page for information about the decline of bird populations (including the Blackburnian warbler). The full paper can be found here Forest degradation drives widespread avian habitat and population declines 

Facebook pages and groups:

Bridgewater Watershed Protection Alliance (BWPA)

Nova Scotia species at risk  

Annapolis Environment and Ecology

Treaty Truckhouse #2 

Citizen science M'ikma'ki  

Past Shared Ground episodes that may be of particular interest:

#15: Managing for Healthy Forests with Bob Bancroft

#11, 12, 13  Save Our Old Forests launch (with Rob Bright, Donna Crossland and Bob Bancroft)

#14 A Two-Eyed Seeing Approach with Clifford Paul

#6 Celebration and Reflection; Onward to Last Hope Campaign!

#3 Amazing Lichens with Frances Anderson

#2 Forest Protection and Community Care with Nina Newington

~ To support Shared Ground -- Thank you!! ~

Join us for a conversation about Ne’ata’q, The Food Forest at Bluenose Academy in Lunenburg/E'se'katik (in Nova Scotia, within Mi'kma'ki).

Outisde this P-9 public school is an area where the grass has been replaced with a forest-to-be; with plants that will help one another, provide learning and delight for the children, and bring so many people from the local community together while sharing indigenous knowledge and working towards food security.

This food forest builds on a belief of the importance of resilience and connections for a healthy community, and the involvement and enthusiasm that can come from within it when different points of view are sought out. 

Meet three folks from the project team, and hear some of the history, their motivation and the interconnected benefits of the food forest, which is of benefit not only to the children of the school and the greater human community, but other beings as well.

Katherine Barrett is a writer, editor and permaculture gardener. She has a graduate degree in Botany and has worked on environmental issues for many years. Katherine facilitates communication within and about the food forest project.

Shawn Feener is a Mi'kmaw knowledge holder and a conservationist. He is Regional Coordinator of Mi’kmaw Education Services for the South Shore Regional Center for Education.  Shawn has lived close Pijinuiskaq or the Lahave River his whole life and has had the pleasure of working with some of the beings that call Pijinuiskaq home. He completed a diploma in Wildlife Conservation at Holland College in Prince Edward Island, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management at the University of New Brunswick, and is currently working on a Bachelor of Education at St. FX in Nova Scotia.

Teresa Quilty is a grandmother, nature-lover, grower-forager, and community organizer. Her previous work in both non-profit and corporate settings spanned education, communications and organizational development. Her idea of fun is learning how to make good things happen in a community of skilled, creative and generous people.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Ne'ata'q Food Forest website email address facebook page

The article mentioned about the Anishinaabe Studies professor about how Indigenous food forests shape ecosystems: ‘TODAY WE HAVE GARDENS BUT BEFORE WE DESIGNED… ENTIRE LANDSCAPES’

The other Shared Ground episodes mentioned:

*Meeting Mi'kmaw Knowledge Holder Shawn Feener (episode 10)

*A 3-pronged approach to Sustainability with Rosmarie Lohnes (episode 3)

*A Two-eyed seeing approach with Clifford Paul, with Elder Albert Marshall (episode 14)

~ To support Shared Ground -- Thank you!! ~

On a mild summer's evening, Pat Wiggin met for Shared Ground to give us a window into the world of forestry on private lands in Nova Scotia (within Mi'kma'ki).

Discussed in this episode are some of the programs that exist to support people and forest ecosystems, and the exciting emerging option of working forest easements (through the Nova Scotia Working Woodlands Trust). Also, hear thoughts on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and related questions: If there was more transparency about where forest products came from, what would people choose to purchase? And in Pat's words, "What if wood had more of a story to tell?"

The conversation also touches on the local energy market, including important considerations on the use of biomass for heating.

Pat Wiggin was raised in the Halifax Regional Municipality and first became interested in Natural Resource Management while studying Environmental Science at Mount Allison University. He funded his education by tree planting in the wilds of northern British Columbia and eventually decided to go back to school where he obtained a Forestry Technology diploma at the Maritime College of Forest Technology in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and has since held positions within various organizations, providing forest management, support, and advocacy to Nova Scotia’s small, private woodland owners.

EPISODE RESOURCES

Nova Scotia Working Woodlands Trust

Federation of Nova Scotia Woodland Owners

Forest Innovation Program

The Lahey report pdf (An Independent Review of Forestry Practices in Nova Scotia)

Forest Innovation Voucher through NSCC

Western Woodland Cooperative Service

Forest Steward Certification (FSC)

Maritime College of Forest Technology

Natural Resources Environmental Technology program at NSCC

Save Our Old Forests campaign:

website

on Facebook

SOOFStock music festival 2023

Nestled in a forested, sheltered cove of the Atlantic Ocean, is the Deanery Project, an environmental arts and education centre that hosts many intriguing buildings, workshops, projects, and art installations. It is located in Lower Ship Harbour, on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore of Mi'kma'ki. Visitors and students come here to experience creative natural building techniques, to learn about permaculture, to help out on the land, discover community, collaborate on an art installation, and/or to join a group for one of the wide-ranging programs. Here, one can find everything from a solar wood kiln to to retreat facilities to an emerging sound studio.

This Shared Ground episode gives a little overview of the Deanery Project, which is no small task given the scope and energy of the place!

Join host Amanda Bostlund as she talks with a few different folks about this special place, including an interview with the Executive Directo,r Kim Thompson, who imparts her love for learning, art, social justice and sustainability into everything she does.

As well as getting a brief tour of the grounds and some of the cool things happening, the conversation with Kim touches on the potential of social enterprise, participatory action research, and greenwood construction.

Kim Thompson is passionate about nature, family, natural building, art, traditional skills and community. In 1993 with the help of friends, family and curious community members she built her straw bale home in Ship Harbour, the first of its kind in Eastern Canada. Drawing on that experience she continued to design, build and produce educational materials to help support a growing network of people committed to natural, low impact building methods. An adjunct instructor with the School of Architecture since 1998, Kim is deeply committed to creating experiential, educational opportunities for pre and post secondary students at the Deanery, and welcomes anyone interested to learn and become involved with the variety of things going on there.

RESOURCES:

See the Deanery's website and their new facebook page to find out about upcoming programs, open houses, and events.

About The Path We Share, from the Signal in 2016

Mi'kmaw Moons facebook page

Trails, Tales, and Spruce Tea podcast with hosts shalan joudry and Frank Meuse