Hi there everyone!
Emily and Sydney here. We are on our way to Goose Bay to do some food security, greenhouse and growing education. We will be taking you along to Peacock Primary, Mealy Mountain, Ecole Boreal, Queen of Peace Middle School, Mud Lake, Lake Melville, Labrador Straits, St. Lewis, St. Mary’s, Bayside Academy, William Gillett Academy, Henry Gordon Academy. We are going to take you along day by day on our trip down the southern coast of Labrador.
All this was made possible by the Ulnooweg foundation! You can find their website HERE if you would like to learn more about the awesome work they are doing, and make sure to follow them on social media.
October 23rd, Sunday
We flew into Goose Bay airport on an evening flight, and had booked a lovely air bnb for the time that we were there. We unpacked our things and went to sleep.
October 24th, Monday
We had a great morning visit at Mealy Mountain Collegiate and met some teachers who already had a bunch of experience with our products already (hey Sara and Brad), which was awesome. The afternoon was spent at Ecole Boreale School planting microgreens and chatting with the children about what they like to grow at home. They had so many plants in their classrooms that already had lots of tomatoes just waiting to ripen fully, they certainly have green thumbs! We cannot wait for them to receive their system to see how they can grow all winter too.
October 25th, Tuesday
Today we spent the day interviewing some teachers from Mealy Mountain school. We got some great ideas about how we can possibly collaborate with the school and some other local businesses to increase community engagement. We got some great advice on potential work with the Pye farm in particular.
October 26th, Wednesday
We visited Queen of Peace Middle School in the morning. We met a few teachers that are already growing with us, and got to teach some new classes how they will start growing once their kits arrive. We took a boat to Mud Lake to visit the school there. The ride over was beautiful and it was amazing to see everyone use the waterways as roads. Everyone has a dock and a boat! The children showed us all their plants and projects that they had going on. They already knew so much about how to grow and store food properly, which was amazing for their ages. We hope that they enjoy their systems and cannot wait to see what they choose to grow. Whatever it is, we are sure that it will thrive!
October 27th, Thursday
We got up early to head to the Pye farm to exhange our farming knowledge and speak on potential partnerships. It was a great morning with a lot of great discussion. We then drove to Lake Melville school and visited a few classes that were already growing with us. It was fantastic to see that they had a whole wall of kits growing fresh produce already.
October 28th, Friday
We then went to Little Tree daycare to speak to them on our new Early Childhood Education programming. They loved that it was an addition to their science area without having to be a ton of work for the teacher. We then spent the afternoon and evening assisting youth in the community in making a haunted house.
October 29th, Saturday
We found out there was a craft fair going on at the college so we decided to attend to see what we could find. We were blown away by the talent displayed by these local crafters, entrepreneurs and artists. We came away with plenty of holiday presents. We then started our drive to Forteau. It was a beautiful drive on the new Labrador Highway. We stopped about halfway down to gas up near Port Hope Simpson and continued further until we reached Forteau. The hotel was lovely, and they were actually hosting a murder mystery party and dinner. We attended the murder mystery and ended up winning! Psst.. it was the farmer who did it.
October 30th, Sunday
Sunday we spent time with the Pinware town council (hey Kayla). We loved getting the opportunity to help them get their greenhouse plan in order, and figure out how to combat some of the pests in their area. We even got invited to a bingo night in the evening at the town hall. It was a great evening with members of the community.
October 31st, Monday
Today we did not have any school visits today, as it is Halloween! It happens to be Sydney's favourite holiday. We celebrated by visiting some local coffee shops and restaurants, went on a few hikes, and explored the beautiful landscape of The Big Land.
November 1st, Tuesday
Labrador Straits academy was a pleasure to attend. They had 2 teachers already growing with us, and it was great to check in with them and see how they have been growing. We got the opportunity to set up a new class as well at this school. The students were so excited to share with us their growing and learning experiences. We then drove to St. Lewis School to check in with a teacher already growing with us. St. Lewis actually already had 2 of our original model kits which we showed them how to retrofit so they can grow in them easily! We were so glad to see the children so excited about growing fresh produce. In the evening we met with Roxanne to discuss their Dome greenhouses and how they can be best used in Labrador climates.
November 2nd, Wednesday
We had a very busy day today! We spent the early morning at St. Mary's All Grade, who also had 2 kits to retrofit with our new Deep Water Culture growing method. The students were really engaged and excited to learn about where their food comes from and how they can reduce food miles. We then drove to Bayside Academy in Port Hope Simpson to visit a class that is already growing with us. The class loved their lettuce so much that we were eating it right from the system when they brought us to see what they had grown. Our final stop of the day was William Gillett in Charlottetown where we set up their school to "sucseed" with their kits!
November 3rd, Thursday
Our last stop of our tour was Henry Gordon Academy in Cartwright. The class was very excited to get started, and we even named all the plants that they planted. We tried basil, and lettuce. The students here are going to try water propagating their basil and giving it to community members to use at home. Way to go students!
Thank you for joining us on our trip across the south coast of Labrador. We hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed being up there! Our youtube channel also has a video of our trip (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmG4ISGSjryYWJA-_JCn-Eg). Make sure you subscribe to keep up to date with all of our vlogs!