Yorkton's Prairie Sun Seed Festival is all about connecting area gardeners. This year's event was the best yet, says Chairperson Heather Torrie.
The event had booths with different gardening information and products, as well as speakers talking about different aspects of growing food, including permaculture, food preservation and compost. One of the highlights was the seed swap table, she says, which allowed people to trade their seeds with others in the community. While a new part of the show last year, this year saw the booth's popularity explode, with more people than ever participating in the program.
"The speakers are definitely a highlight. We have people within our community and region who are really knowledgeable about living sustainably, growing your own food, and preserving food and so having them come to speak to everyone has been a real pleasure," she details.
Stacey Tress with Garden Therapy Yorkton and Prairie Permaculture was one of the speakers at the event, talking about permaculture. She says that beyond being a new way to garden, permaculture is a way to approach building a community.
"The emphasis of permaculture is earth care, people care and fair share... We have four things that we can do in our own homes, which is plant trees, store and conserve water, save seeds and build soil. The key to the perennial system is that we need to be building soil, but we need to be growing food too," Tress says.
She notes that a system of using annual plants for food is much harder on the soil, while permaculture is easier on the soil and a sustainable system.
Tress says that it's something that's easy to learn about, with information available from libraries or online. She says permaculture organizations are widespread, and that it's something that each community needs to develop. She says that's one of the reasons that the Prairie Sun Seed Festival is so valuable in the Yorkton area.
"Community building is essential. We're looking to do grassroots things where people can come together and talk, inspire people, have seed saving, have workshops like this, it's great," Tress adds.
The event grows every year, Torrie says, and she says that it's because people are more aware of the need to live in a sustainable way.
"Each year it seems to get bigger and we have a larger response, I think as people get more concerned about eating foods that have been growing locally or growing their own food," Torrie says.
Money raised from the event goes to support local food banks.
