After COVID arrived in the Spring of 2020, someone gave the Quadra ICAN ‘Squash The Curve Project’ the use of 2 acres of land for a year. Local residents were provided with squash starts, or seedlings, and supportive tips from more experienced gardeners. The food they did not use was freely distributed to the wider community.
This year ICAN was offered use of the property again, to be used by its Garden Share Program.
Continue reading Progress on 2 acres given to ICAN’s Growing Together Project
The Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) recently hired Kate Maddigan as its new Economic Development Officer (EDO).
Colin Funk, the President of CCEDA, explained, “I have known Kate pretty much the entire time I’ve been on Cortes, I think I’m coming up to my 10th summer here. I’ve been on a few boards with her when I was active with Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI). We live pretty close together in the south end of the island. So like many, we bump into each other at the store or on the trails and such.”
Cortes Currents asked Maddigan about some of the work she has done in the community.
Continue reading Kate Maddigan, CCEDA’s new Economic Development Officer
Quadra ICAN started up two food security initiatives last week.
The Garden Share program is designed to increase the amount of food grown on Quadra Island.
Marc Doll, a local farmer and one of the candidates during the last election, said Vancouver Island grew about half of its food prior to the Second World War. He believes this statistic is currently closer to 4% or 5%.
ICAN Coordinator Ramona Boyle explained that this is the Garden Share program’s second year.
Continue reading The Garden Share and Food Recovery Programs on Quadra Island
On Saturday, 14 volunteers turned out to plant the first batch of hazel-nut trees for the Quadra ICAN Nut Tree Project.
The organizer, Jennifer Banks-Doll, explained, “For a few years now on Quadra, we’ve been working towards increasing food security. There’s been lots of different ideas about how to do that. From perhaps the more obvious, perhaps not more obvious ideas about gardening workshops and learning how to preserve food — different types of gardening, things like that.”
“Then we thought, one of the gaps here is really plant protein and oils. How do we address that gap? You can’t really produce a lot of oils in this climate or on a small island because they require expensive equipment. Actually it was my husband, Mark Doll, who came up with the idea of planting nut trees.”
Continue reading Quadra Ican: The Nut Tree Project
According to the 2021 census, 36% of Quadra Island’s population is 65 years old or older. That’s 10% higher than throughout the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) as a whole, which has a considerably higher proportion of seniors than most of the province. The only Area in the SRD with a larger percentage of seniors is Cortes Island, where that number is 38%. Some might regard that large number of retirees as a problem, Quadra ICAN’s new Coordinator, Ramona Boyle,’ describes them as an asset that was responsible for much of her organization’s accomplishments during 2022.
Continue reading What Quadra ICAN accomplished in 2022
