Watch Me Grow! Growing food in the city

Being a new parent I am witnessing the incredible experience of raising children with an understanding of where their food comes from. Turns out that many people are looking for a similar experience for their children -- and there's a lot of help to do this.

A new book, Watch Me Grow: A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City, is a resource to help introduce children to urban agriculture. Written by Vancouver children's writer Deborah Hodge, the book is engaging. It introduces children to food in the city, asking questions about how the readers experience the growing of food, and suggests activities to help develop a closer relationship to food and growing.

Exploring everything from where food can be grown in the city to how the food can be shared, the book is an inspiring tour of the ways city dwellers can get a bit closer to the sources of their food.

Illustrated with photos by Brian Harris, the book is visually stunning. Brian captures the colour, diversity and beauty of food communities. Anyone who attended the Museum of Vancouver's Home Grown exhibit or who has purchased a FarmFolkCityFolk calender in recent years knows Brian's work.

In his work, Brian attempts to capture the essence of human relationships to each other and the natural world. He is not interested in fetishizing food, but rather celebrates the richness of community built around growing and nurturing our selves and our environment.

This new release is a companion to last year's Up We Grow: A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm.

Just in time for this blog post, today it was announced that Up We Grow! is a finalist for the Christie Harris Award (children's illustrated book category) in the BC Book Prizes. Also, The American Library Association has just listed Up We Grow! as one of the Top 10 Books on the Environment for Youth.

Of course, some of my excitement about these books comes from the fact that our farm is featured in some of the photographs and the text of Up We Grow! was largely researched at our farm. We're thrilled to be part of such an exciting, educational celebration of local food.

I have copies of both books available for sale. Just let me know and I can get them to you.

Great book on human-scale farming

We are excited about the release of a new book about small-scale, local farming. Up We Grow! is written by Vancouver author Deborah Hodge for children ages 4-7. The book features photography by Brian Harris, showing small farms and farmers from around British Columbia.

The book is excellent for its portrayal of the human side of food production. Too often discussions of local food focuses on pictures of food. Up We Grow! shows the people who grow food in our communities. This is a feature of Brian Harris' photography; he captures the community and cultural elements of farming. Deborah's text engages children with questions about how they celebrate the seasons and inquiries about their favorite foods.

What we especially like about this book is that it features our farm. The text is based on visits the author did over a one-year period, documenting the activities of the farm. The farm in the book is a composite of many farms, using Brian's spectacular photography.

The book is available at bookstores around British Columbia and beyond. Kidbooks in Vancouver is hosting a book launch on Thursday, 26 August from 7-9 p.m. Check out their amazing window display here.

We have copies of the book for sale at our farmers market stands at Lonsdale Quay (Saturdays 10-3), White Rock (Sundays 9-1), Langley (Wednesdays 3-7) and New Westminster (Thursdays 3-7).