jayme melrose

A Common Plan

Hillary — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:45:27 +0000

Could participatory design work for the Halifax Common?

“No planner worth their salt would make a planning decision without consulting the public first,” says Maureen Ryan, a senior planner with HRM. But in January of this year, when HRM presented their plan for spending $3 million dollars on the Halifax North Common, the 'consultation' was little more than an information session, where residents had the opportunity to submit writt

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White Rabbit Installation Arts Festival

jayme — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:06:20 +0000

August 15th marked a new event on Nova Scotia’s art calendar – in Upper Economy on the Bay of Fundy, the 70 acre farm Red Clay invited audiences to go down the rabbit hole and experience wondrous installations and performances happening in the vast domain’s ponds, streams, orchards, fields and forest.

The festival was organized as part retreat, part residency for 15 invited artists who camped on-site for one week, participating in skill sharing activities, group performances, radio shows, workshops, lectures, hikes and much more. Each artist picked a site on the property to explore ideas and create artworks that were then presented during the festival.

Keep reading this great blog by Annie Briard on the event, here on Indyish.

Check the website too: http://whiterabbitarts.ca/

New Farmers' Gathering

jayme — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:52:40 +0000

To view photo essay, click on any of the above photos.

On June 13 & 14th, the Lorax Woodlands hosted the 2nd New Farmer's Gathering: an alternative conference for farmers, those who want to be farmers, and the friends and supporters of agricultural renewal. The event, which took place on a farm in the Annapolis Valley, included two days of workshops, discussions and making connections.

The first gathering happened last May on young farmer Charles Summers' land, up the North Mountain. Despite the rain last year, it was an amazing party, and local, small-scale farming in our community got a major injection of the-I-can-do-its. Perhaps the organizing crew got the biggest injection of life-changing juice, because they sure put a lot into this year's gathering. The event was well-organized, and the food was amazing. There were about 150 people who came this year, including a lot of kids and babes.

The highlight for me, aside from learning how to gut a chicken, was listening to Peter Daniels. Peter Daniels grew up on the north mountain. His family had about 40 acres, 10 of it cleared. They had about 12- 16 cows, 5-18 horses, 40 - 50 sheep, 15 - 18 pigs, and a flock of 15 - 20 chickens. They grew cucumbers for the cucumber truck which took them to the Berwick pickle factory. They grew potatoes, turnips, and a big garden. Peter's father was into breeding racing horses for the local races, which sounds like it was another small local economy.

Peter is the old guy who stopped by on Charles Summers when Charles arrived to the North Mountain in October with wife, child, sheep and a couple tarps. Peter asked if Charles had any firewood; Charles said no. Peter asked if Charles had any hay; Charles said no. And Peter became a close friend and mentor from there on in.

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