Monthly Archives: July 2011

Researching a New Book

When I was researching my recent books on small, local farms and urban gardens, I visited a wonderful community garden called, World in a Garden Project.

Like many of the gardens in the Vancouver area, they use earth-friendly practices to grow their food, and believe in showing children the growing process “from seed to table.”

If you are in the area and have children who might enjoy some gardening activities, you can check out a couple of their summer programs here.

This photo is from my book, Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City. It was shot by photographer, Brian Harris, and shows a boy harvesting rye at the World in a Garden community project in Kerrisdale.

Happy Growing!

Sunshine — and a Nomination!

I think summer may have arrived in Vancouver. Hooray! The past few days have been sunny and warm, leading me to believe I can finally pack away my winter sweaters.

Besides the sun, I have another reason to celebrate: Up We Grow! A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm has been selected as one of the five finalists for the Information Book Award of Canada. Hooray again!

I’m thrilled with the nomination, and delighted to be named in the company of such wonderful books: 50 Burning Questions: A Sizzling History of Fire by my friend and talented author, Tanya Lloyd Kyi; Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton; Canadian Railroad Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot and Ian Wallace; and Canada’s Wars: An Illustrated History by Jonathon Webb. Congratulations, all! And a sincere thank you to the Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada for my nomination.

If you’d like to read more about the award, go here or here.

Sunshine and books! Could life get any better than this?