Canada: Story Log: A Season with City Farmer

It is my hope that creating this log of stories and learning moments during my time at City Farmer will demonstrate their value as an educational space in the community and help preserve much of the knowledge I am gathering from the many generations that support this very special place

By Lauren Kufske
September – December 2025
Sustainability and Community Programs Facilitator
UBC Botanical Garden

Excerpts;

Beer (Garden)

One of the coolest programs at City Farmer is their beer program. This highly local food system has three stages: 1) Picking the hops from the vines, while being careful not to get scratched from the irritating stems and leaves. 2) Dehydrating the hops in the office then storing them in a vaccum sealed bag. 3) Sending the hops to Terminal City Brewing down the road to be processed and brewed into beer. Last year’s batch was mulberry beer which included mulberry juice straight from the tree. This year’s label features artwork done by Anastasia from Ritmos Climaticos, a local youth climate action collective.

Fraser Academy

Fraser Academy, a nearby school came by on a casual field trip to the garden. Erica’s grade 10 First Peoples class was a very engaged group. I got the chance to shadow Maria while she shared about the cob shed built with the clay of famed Haida artist Bill Reid as well as the history of the garden with the Railway post. Erica led a grounding activity where everyone sat in a circle under the mulberry tree and read a piece by Lee Maracle, a celebrated Stó:l? writer. The piece described some of the history of the Indigenous communities who stewarded this land; called Snauq prior to being pushed out due to colonization. What is so special is now, 200 years later communities are once again tending to this space, and people are coming back to find solace here.

List of Stories

Food Plants & Gardening:
Mini Apple Experience
Seed Collecting
Rain & Brassicas
Beer (Garden)
Leave the Leaves & Flowers
Garlic Planting
Vines & Wreaths

Bugs & Birds:
Stink Bug Story
Bee Book Release
IPM IRL
Silk Worms

Non-profit Work:
Talk with Mike
Talk with Sheryl
Talk with Catherine Shapiro
Mike’s Community Care Approach
Teamwork with Nikki & Colin

See Lauren’s complete booklet here.