Most people in the lower mainland have heard about UBC Farm, but many probably haven’t yet heard about the Orchard Garden. The garden is in the middle of the UBC campus, on a one acre plot of land behind the MacMillan Building, a project of Land and Food Systems. According to the website, the garden is geared “to students who are passionate and interested in learning about garden-scale urban agriculture.”
Julia Ostertag, a PhD student, has done an installation as part of her research at the garden. “Threads Sown, Grown & Given” features the flax plants that Julia grew in the orchard garden. She will be in the Scarfe Building student lounge every day next week (Nov 26 through 30) to “thread conversations.” Stop by to:
-explore the complicated history of school gardening and how land figures in educational practices;
-learn how flax becomes linen fibres;
-learn to spin linen thread on a drop spindle;
-engage in conversations around the themes of Julia’s research (garden as teacher, becoming teachers, relationships with land, materiality & discourse);
-collaboratively imagine what the final stage of this yearlong garden/arts-based research project will look like & what it will teach us about gardens as teachers;
-discuss alternative research methodologies (arts-based, garden-based, life writing…).
Note that Julia’s installation is in Scarfe (the education building), not MacMillan. If you want to see the garden, head to Agora Café in the basement of MacMillan, then and head out the back door.
Student Lounge of the Scarfe Building (basement, Room #10).
Nov 26-30