Salad Fest, photo by Samantha Lucchetta
The sky is grey, the trees are bare, and the city is very, very cold. Winter is here. Although harvest time is now behind us, the last of the campus’s veggies were able to make a colourful, final appearance at Salad Fest on November 29th.
Salad Fest was a collaboration between Dig In! and the University College Literary & Athletic Society’s Sustainability Commission. The University College Commuter Student Centre was the cozy venue for the event, from noon until two. A small crowd of students had trickled in just in time for lunch to take a small break during this stressful time of year. The menu consisted of salad made of various herbs and leafy greens from the Anthropology Greenhouse and the Huron Sussex Community Garden, such as kale, collards, sorrel, chives, spinach, and arugula. Garlic and onions were sourced from Dig In! Coordinator Kristy Bard’s Pomona Farm, and some pickled radishes grown near Meaford at Eden in Season was an excellent addition. We also had various dried and fresh herbs on hand, such as mint, lemon balm, golden rod, yarrow, lilac, catnip, pennyroyal tea and stinging nettle for concocting medicinal teas.
To kick off the event, cutlery courtesy of the Sustainability Office were given out as prizes for correctly answering agriculture-related trivia questions. The reusable cutlery consisted of a set of chopsticks, a fork, and a spoon conveniently packaged in a small carrying case. After the trivia session, Salad Fest participants tucked into platefuls of salad with their new, reusable utensils.
As people ate their salad and sipped their tea, the kitchen area of the Commuter Student Centre buzzed with conversation. Overheard were discussions on campus spaces available for gardening, how to get university students and staff more involved in sustainability initiatives, and a permaculture workshop Dig In! is planning for scheduled for early 2018.
Although this is a listless time of year, Dig In! will continue to host activities and prep for planting season. As an increasing number of people at U of T become interested in urban agriculture and sustainability, we look forward to an exciting growing season this coming spring and summer!
~Sam Lucchetta, Dig In! volunteer