No snow, no rain: a perfect day for the 18th annual event for the Shuswap Seed Savers Seed Swap & Sale at A.L.Fortune school in Enderby.
The attendance this year totalled more than 825. Some of the comments I heard were “It is such a friendly atmosphere,” “We look forward to this event every year,” “From all of the shows we attend I will say Enderby is top on my list. Your venue is doing a good job of education and promotion.”
There were a few new vendors and new information this year. New vendors are Bud and Dianne Brookes with their pine needle baskets, The Ol’ Basket Case; Ellen Bone, Bones Pet Treats; Mojave Kaplan, Fountain Mountain Farm; Sue Moore, Sudoa Farms/Notch Hill Organics; Paula Diakiw, Lake Country Harvest; Rob and Clare Fensom, Harmonious Homestead; Tom Vangemert, Seeds and Plants; Eryca and Robert Willinger, Mountain Gnome Organics; Jean Hauta, Gardening Jeanie; Rachelle Horvath, Horvath Herbs; and Lynn Piva, Shining Star on Little Ranch. And at the entrance to the school, Ben Fulton was selling potato boxes.
In attendance was editor Cam Luckock of Your Country News from Armstrong; Grant and Jetta Russell who print Rivertalk from Enderby; Heather Black, editor of the Okanagan Advertiser from Armstrong; and Steve Corey, Voice of the Shuswap Broadcasting.
In the theatre, Katherine Hettler and Sue Moore spoke in the morning. At noon, the DVD David vs Monsanto was shown. David Doncaster, Huguette Allen and Heidi Osterman were speakers in the afternoon.
The seed garden at the school, organized by Gabriele Wesle, was a success. The students had a table selling seeds they had saved from their garden at the Seed Swap and Sale. Sarah Bradshaw manages the Heritage Seed Bank for the Shuswap Seed Savers. She welcomes anyone interested in gardening and growing out seeds for the bank to contact her.
Part of the proceeds from this event goes for rent of the school, theatre, insurance, Lions Club, A.L. Fortune school, donations and a scholarship. There is also the expense of the DVD and the speakers.
Again, we thank all the wonderful volunteers that helped out at the event. A special thanks goes to custodian Rick who was so thoughtful and helpful.
June Griswold is with the Shuswap Seed Savers.
