Trees & Seas Reflection
Hey friends,
Britt and I figured that after our Trees & Seas festival event yesterday it’d be a great idea for you folks to reflect on what you experienced and learned, and maybe write about any connections you made. Below are some questions/prompts to get you jumpstarted on your reflections, if you do not need a prompt that is fine as well, write as you wish. Feel free to respond to one or more than one if you would like and remember to write in complete sentences as always.
- How are our forests connected to our oceans? How does nutrient cycling and eutrophication play a role?
- Which garden station was your favourite?
- What are the importance of these community gardens? What if we didn’t have them?
- One thing that you learned at the medicine bag station?
- Did you enjoy this event? Would you attend another event like this or from the same organization?
- Free prompt, write about whatever you feel like, any connections you made while at the community garden?
7 Replies
The Trees & Seas festival event was by far one of the greatest events I have ever attended in my life! Gardening, crafting and being in nature are three of my biggest passions, and this event gave me the time and space to do all of those things. Although the entire event was enjoyable, there where three actives that stood out for me the most. The first, was learning about the four natural medicines, Tobacco, Sage, Cedar and Sweetgrass. After learning about these medicines, we were all given a piece of Tobacco of our own to place in the garden as an offering to the land. Through this offering, I was able to explore the garden and connect with nature in a way I haven't experienced before, but really loved! Another activity that shined for me with creating the medicine bags. I have always loved using my hands to create something beautiful and this station allowed me to do exactly that. However, my favourite part of this station was learning about the beautiful message each medicine bag represents. I was told that by carrying a medicine bag with us, we are reminded to let go of any stress and hardships in our lives and take time to care for and heal our own selves. As much as it is important to help others and be a servant leader, we cannot be our best selves, if we don't look out for our own personal well being. The final moment of this event that really made an impact on me actually occurred after the event ended. A couple of attendees and myself where asking questions about the plants and their medical purposes for humans. We happened to come across a leaf that is good for treating bug bites. Just that afternoon I had been bitten by a bug and my arm was quite swollen, so I rubbed a bit of the leaf on the spot. To my surprise, within 30 minutes, all the swelling was completely gone and my arm was no longer itchy! I also was able to take home some special elderberries and make an elderberry syrup for my drinks. Not only is it delicious, but its also good for the immune system, so me and my whole family have been drinking elderberry punch no stop! Thanks to everyone who worked on organising and putting on this event. I couldn't be more grateful for such an amazing experience!
My favourite station was the medicine bag making station. There, I learned how to create traditional Indigenous medicine bags filled with various plants. These plants all served various purposes, and had different meanings. Cedar represent healing and purification. During the station, we could create colourful medicine bags each characterized the way we wanted to without interruptions. Afterwards, the median didn’t bags were wound up and taken home to enjoy. The trees and seas event was astonishingly fun and a wonderful experience for young and old!
I am very glad that I was able to participate in an event like the trees and seas event. One of the first things I noticed when I arrived was how pretty the community garden was and the different types of plants that were growing. My favourite station has to be the one where we were able to make our own medicine bags because not only was I able to learn more about Indigenous culture and tradition, but I was also shown a different perspective. I learned that Indigenous people had four different medicines which were tobacco, sage, sweet grass, and pine, and that each medicine has their purpose to support someone. Through some conversations, I was encouraged to look at the traditional medicines that my own culture has and through that, I had a nice conversation with my mother about the different traditional medicines that Mexico has. I was also taught how important it is to share and ask for help when you need it. When we share what we have with other people and help when we can, it will most likely be reciprocated and will allow people to grow together. We were also told the importance in taking care of yourself or else you might start giving without having anything to give. I really loved and enjoyed this event and I will most likely be attending another one in the near future. Thank you so much for putting this together!
The Trees & Seas festival event was an amazing opportunity to educate myself further on how we could concede and be mindful of the land around us! Being in the Renfrew-Collingwood Food Justice Garden reminded me of the significance of community gardens around us. To begin with, community gardens allow for the establishment of social connections and construct a greater feeling of community. Their presence in communities is crucial, as they provide an important source of social support and health and a sanctuary for individuals to evade their stresses. Furthermore, community gardens allow for fellow youth like me to find or grow their love of environmental sustainability. By working and volunteering in these gardens, you may find yourself immersed in the word of nature and gardening! On the other hand, if we did not have these gardens, all these benefits would cease to exist. Research has shown that community gardens in cities are positively linked with reduced crime rates. Moreover, vacant areas can lead to crime, which often is harmful to the mental and physical health of the residents. Most importantly, we would lack the opportunity to connect and acknowledge the land that we live on. I truly hope that I will be able to see more community gardens in my neighbourhood, as I would love to volunteer in them and contribute with fellow youth. I learnt so much during this event and would love to be able to attend another event like this. Thank you so much to the organizers of this event for this awesome opportunity!
For our Trees & Seas festival event, we went to the Renfrew-Collingwood Food Justice Garden. There, the speakers shared their knowledge of the different plants in the garden, as well as the ecosystems involved in distributing nutrients around the garden. I found it really interesting how nature has its ways of providing for itself. For example, animals would take fish from rivers and creeks deep into forests to eat. As the leftover fish decays, the soil is able to take in nutrients from it, which then provides a fertile environment for plants to grow in. In this situation, not only do animals benefit from a meal, but plants (some of which are far away from where fish would normally die and decay) also benefit from more nutrients. In addition to learning about the various roles of forests and oceans, there was a station where we made our own medicine bags. For my bag, I included a bit of each of the four sacred medicines (Sweetgrass, Sage, Cedar and Tobacco) and some lavender seeds. I like how each of these plants have their own stories and ways of helping to release ourselves of negative feelings and energies. Out of the five plants set out for us, the one that caught my attention the most was the Sage. I've only ever heard of Sage before, so I was surprised with its unique appearance. The Tobacco plant was also pretty cool, as we were told that it had been grown from a seed that is around a thousand years old! I got to learn a lot of fascinating things at this event, so thank you to speakers, programmers and everyone involved in organizing it!
The Trees & Seas festival was such a beautiful and insightful experience to have! The three leads from the food forest were so knowledgable, and their passion for the things they were teaching us about was obvious: from learning about how our forests and oceans are connected, to the Four Sacred Medicines, and the importance of food forests and the history of this particular one.
I especially liked how the festival was rooted in Indigenous knowledge and perspective. It was so interesting to learn more about the colonization of green spaces in the parks, forests and gardens we’re used to today, and why food forests challenge those notions by being more natural in terms of ecology and design and open to community foraging/use. We started the morning off with talking about the history of the forest and land, learning that the garden was actually situated on an underground creek and ravine. We then were gifted tobacco to give back to the garden as an offering for today, and learnt more about the Indigenous practices around traditional medicine.
The variety of activities for the 3 workshops was very enjoyable, as well as having time to walk around the food forest on our own and ask questions about all the wonderful plants and trees that were growing there. My favourite activity was definitely making medicine bags and learning more about the 4 Sacred Medicines: sage, sweetgrass, cedar and tobacco. While making our bags, we were taught about the purpose and use of them, as well as how we should continue to leave offerings to the land using the medicine in our pouches and give the bags to others if we feel someone else may need the gift more than us.
Places like the Renfrew-Colllingwood Food Justice Garden allow us to not only be closer to both our trees and seas, but to acknowledge and be grateful to its caretakers and all nature provides for us. I’m immensely appreciative to everyone who put in so much effort to make this event come to life! I wouldn’t hesitate to attend another experience just like this one and have more time to volunteer at the food forest.
This reflection is quite late, but better late than never I guess. Anyway, the Trees & Seas festival, though quite simple, was arguably my favorite event so far. Simply because of how straightforward it was and the aura the environment and people around us brought forward. It was quite pleasant to me, as we rotated through several activities each enjoyable in their own sense. My favorite I would say would be the one that involved digging holes, I say this because the group I was with was entertaining and fun, so the activity was fun as well. I also enjoy building/renovating areas into something better and having an opportunity to do that at the Trees & Seas Festival was great, I even plan on visiting this place in the future if I have the time too. Furthermore, learning the properties about different herbs/medicines was quite cool, as I have many friends that use medicines such as sage (one of the medicines at the event), so learning about these medicines was beneficial to me at least. Also the tiny sacks we made were nice, I still have mine and it still smells nice. Overall the event was great and I plan on going there again if the opportunity comes again.
Our forests are more connected to our oceans than we realize. Despite their differences being more apparent, they are part of the same ecosystem and depend on each other to maintain a balanced environment. As the salmon dies, it fills the water with nutrients that the trees will absorb to grow much taller and stronger. When animals bring salmon into the forest, they are also helping this important cycle that makes our trees greener and more resistant. My favourite station at the event was the medicine bag one, where I learned about the four sacred medicinal plants (cedar, sage, tobacco and sweetgrass). I learned that the nations from the west in whose territories we live in, use cedar as their main medicinal plant. We talked about smudging with sage and brushing with cedar, and it was really cool to receive all that knowledge and connect with the land. I would definitely attend another event like this. I'm already planning to go back to the food forest to work with the organization. I was interested in learning about native plants and how to deal with invasive species like Himalayan blackberries. I learned that by planting native sword fern, which have spongy superficial roots, around blackberries, you prevent the blackberries' roots from spreading. It was also crazy to think that we were standing on top of a river!
Jenna Bevacqua
Aug 11, 2021 at 12:15 PM