July! What a month. It’s as if our June beach clean-up washed away the fog and colder days to welcome summer sun and life at the HLC! Our gardens are blooming, and so are community connections. From appearances at the farmer's market to a soul-fulfilling workshop, July has been filled to the brim with smiles and sunshine.
Summer staff Molly and I (Jenna) have been busy at work. With both the onsite garden beside the cookhouse and the large garden plot next door exploding, we’re needing to tend to the soil and sprouts near-daily. Such a hard life; having to eat the mountains of mouthwatering raspberries and crisp garden lettuces!
The garden treats have started making their way into workshop dishes and neighbourly feasts. Good food and good friends really are the highlights of summer. Beyond the garden harvests, Molly and I have been making sourdough bread, which was much appreciated by the Nature Conservancy of Canada guests. We also happily harvested boatloads of chanterelle mushrooms to sell at the farmer's market. Thank you to all the kind folks who purchased them in support of the HLC; we hope you made many a decadent meal with them!
If you catch us with Chantarelles at our next market stand, here are some ideas we got for how to use the bright orange forest treasures: on pizza, in scrambled eggs, in stir fry, on burgers, in pasta, on salads, in soups, in risotto, and more!
Our Water Protection Workshop guests enjoyed the veggie burgers pictured above. While the potluck and all included meals were remarkable, the true treat was the deep conversation that emerged. True to our theme “Critical Conversations on Coastal Conservation” workshop attendees descended into deep-heartfelt conversations about challenging aspects of coastal conservation. We traversed the topics of environmental racism and the interconnectedness of the plane. Both of these are prominent themes in our movie screening of “There’s Something in the Water”. After two days and a long night’s campfire discussion, our little group landed on three social pillars in need of reformation: education, justice, and politics. Until people are honest, compassionate and caring, it will be challenging to dismantle the oppressive and destructive systems that allow for inequality and environmental destruction.
Despite the weight of topics discussed at our workshop, guests left with full hearts. May the same come from our August Coastal Connections workshop (August 21-22nd) where we’ll hear from some local experts on the conservation work currently being done around NS, and what the public can do to become involved.
The end of July marked the arrival of the wonderful Valérie Therrien Virgnon. Valerie, Val for short. Seh is an HLC veteran, having worked the summer of 2019. It’s no surprise she’s back to to visit the grounds, forest and beach , which are all bursting with life. Her eager attitude and strong work ethic have already made themselves apparent. We welcome Val with open arms and are so happy to have her as part of the team!
If August is anything like July, then we’re in for a good month. Fingers crossed for more sunny days and adventures as stewards of the land.
