We spent the last two gorgeous days welcoming new Experience Partners to the FAN Collective and learning from the best in the most diverse "classrooms" throughout the Annapolis Valley 🌳
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Our days were complete with the most delicious zero-waste lunches from Ayzhia of Basin & Bloom Cookery.
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Stay tuned for what these new hosts will bring to FoodArtNature - we can't wait!!
#foodartnature #annapolisvalley #novascotia #discoverannapolisvalley #visitnovascotia #trainingdays
Have you ever attended a conference or a professional development or training session about a specific topic and then realized that the way that the entire event was orchestrated demonstrated exactly what it was aiming to teach? That the event itself became a perfect example of all the material covered?
I attended a three day tourism conference about creating and enabling legendary experiences and at the end of of it all, it occurred to me that we had all just witnessed the impact of that work in real time. The organizers of the conference essentially created a truly legendary experience for 48 participants (visitors) in the Annapolis Valley.
The conference had all the elements and ingredients, it was immersive and engaging, it highlighted local storytellers and rooted us in place, it had surprises and ah-ha moments, it prioritized a nature connection as well as a connection to our local indigenous knowledge sharers and probably the most impressive of all, was it's commitment to being low waste and climate conscience. The carbon emissions were tracked and estimated and then offset with a $500 donation to local organizations who are doing the good work of preserving and protecting Nova Scotia's wild areas.
The conference was about creating experiences that are, on average, a few hours in length and creating them in a way that makes space for transformation of the guests - with a new perspective or appreciation and or knowledge that the guest can then take back into their own worlds, having left the community a better place than when they arrived.
This conference was a 3 day experience in itself and to everyone else who attended, as a participant, now it's time to take those meaningful encounters and knowledge back to our own home communities and integrate it into the work that we are already doing, so we can make it better, for the locals who live there and for people who will visit. Because when locals feel safe, connected, and supported, they have the energy an
Learn from a local with FoodArtNature. Our hosts will welcome you into their worlds and bring you back to yours with more than just memories.
Do you enjoy meeting locals when you travel?
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #annapolisvalley #novascotia #visitnovascotia #discoverannapolisvalley #travelexperience #responsibletravel
I have a flashback friday for you today! ⚡️
On May 11 2023, foodartnature was featured by @paulanthonybrothers, and we hit the ground running!
#launch #anniversary #launchiversary #foodartnature #becomeafan #responsibletravel #tourismns #discoverannapolisvalley #annapolisvalley #novascotia
Introducing your hosts and guides, Sarah and Kenny Macalpine of Two Birds One Stone Farm
Their experience is:
🌼 Bay of Fundy Botanical Casting Adventure
Next chance to attend:
🗓 July 21, 2024
🙌 Sarah and Kenny are first-generation farmers who quit their jobs and sold their house in the suburbs to grow flowers instead.
🤌 They design flowers for weddings, attend farmers' markets, and offer bouquet subscriptions as well as host experiences.
👏 Their farming philosophy is rooted in sustainability as they grow everything organically and are committed to responsibly stewarding their acreage.
🫶 Sarah says her favourite flower depends on the season: fancy daffodils in the spring, peonies in June, foxglove in the summer months, and dahlias in the fall.
👌 Kenny also has a hard time narrowing it down and says his top three are nigella, strawflowers, and specialty tulips.
Thank you, Sarah and Kenny, for all the beauty you bring to the Annapolis Valley!
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #meetthehosts #gardening #annapolisvalley #novascotia #flowerfarm #botanicalcasting #flowerfarmers
Introducing your hosts and guides, Sue Earle and Troy Turple of Tipsy Toad Grove Farm.
Their experiences are:
🐐 South Mountain Goat Walks & The Great Goat Escape
Next chance to attend:
🗓 June 19, 2024
👋 Sue and Troy are outdoors enthusiasts who came to farming later in life. Passionate about food and nature, Sue left a university job to figure out the ropes of sustainable farming.
👌 She produces spray-free vegetables, which are sold through a CSA program and used as ingredients in the burritos she cooks and sells at the local farmers' market.
🙌 While Troy still works away from the farm, he spends his downtime helping to make hay, feed animals, and lead goat walks.
🤘 In the occasional free moments they find between fixing ancient machinery, mending snapped fence posts and squishing squash bugs, Sue and Troy enjoy mountain biking, kayaking, hiking and cooking up a storm to fuel the next adventure.
Thank you, Sue and Troy, for bringing the goats to the FAN team!
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #GOAT #goatwalking #annapolisvalley #novascotia #thingstodoinnovascotia #meetthehost #travelexperience
"Humans, as a culture, need to have a strong and healthy relationship to nature. These experiences are a great way to start working on that."
And what better time to work on it than the Earth Month of April. Your Forest Therapy Guide, Wil from @soft.pine.forest.wellness, is offering his nature connection events both this weekend and next weekend if Earth Day has you feeling the pull toward the forest to rekindle that ancient connection that we all have inside of us.
These experiences will leave you feeling refreshed like never before ✨️
Feel free to send this to someone you'd like to explore this practice with.
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #annapolisvalley #novascotia #nature #natureimmersion #forestbathing #foresttea #shinrin_yoku #natureconnection
Introducing your host and guide, Michelle Wolf of Herbal Hill Farm.
Her experience is:
🌱 A Sacred Ecology of Plants & Place
Next chance to attend:
🗓 May 10, 2024
👏 Michelle is a community developer and naturalist who holds a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from York University.
🙌 For over 25 years, she has been living in the Annapolis Valley, where she has built two successful homestead businesses as an organic gardener, writer, seed saver, workshop facilitator, and herbal crafter.
🫶 She loves sharing her land, gardens, ecological lifestyle, tea ceremonies, and plant knowledge with other people and her community.
Thank you, Michelle, for all the knowledge you bring to foodartnature!
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #meetthehosts #herbalteamaking #gardening #biodiversity #annapolisvalley #novascotia #homesteading
Introducing your host and guide, Angie Oriana Jenkins.
Her experience is:
🔮 Evangeline, Expulsions, Enchantment & Elixirs
Next chance to attend:
🗓 June 23
👋 Angie is a herbalist with over 25 years of experience. Her interest in plants began as a hobby in her native New Brunswick, where she was studying to become an English Lit. Professor. In order to relieve academic stress, she relaxed by going on nature walks & connecting with the local flora.
👏 On moving to B.C. several years later, her more formal training began with an apprenticeship program & as well as a correspondence course with the esteemed Rosemary Gladstar. She switched her career focus & became a full-time Herbalist. She has traveled & studied with a variety of Indigenous teachers & branched out into Shamanic Herbalism.
🙌 In moving to N.S. several years ago, she began learning about Mi'kmaq traditional medicines & now shares her knowledge at a variety of First Nation communities. While doing some genealogical research, she was shocked & excited to discover she has Acadian heritage dating back to the 1600s in Nova Scotia & that many of her ancestors lived in the nearby region of Grand Pre!
🫶 She currently runs Sister Lotus Herbal Self Care Products & Services, which includes natural bodycare products, health consultations, Yoga, & Dance.
Thank you, Angie, for the light you bring to foodartnature!
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #meetthehosts #herbalism #evangeline #landofevangeline #grandpre #annapolisvalley #novascotia
This Easter weekend, I hope you'll enjoy some food with the people you love.
These words from Ian @herbandfeatherns remind us of the power of food - and when it's local food, the power only grows⚡️
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #localfood #supportlocal #annapolisvalley #novascotia #longspellpointfarm
The FoodArtNature experiences are all designed to be regenerative, meaning they:
☝️ prioritize sustainable practices
✌️ aim to restore and enhance the ecosystems, cultures, and communities involved, and
👌 create positive impacts for both participants and hosts.
So you can feel really good about becoming a FAN. Send this to someone you think would appreciate it ❤️
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #annapolisvalley #novascotia #regenerativetourism #regenerativetravel #experience #gardens
Introducing your host and guide, Andrée-Anne Bédard.
Her experience is:
🌿 Herbal Medicine of the North Mountain
Next chance to catch it:
🗓 May 15, 2024
👋 Andrée-Anne is a clinical herbalist who lives in beautiful Baxter’s Harbour with her family. She has been nurturing relationships with plants for as long as she can remember, and continues to learn from them everyday!
👌 She operates a thriving herbal clinic, teaches in a few post-secondary institutions, and offers workshops in her community on the art and science of herbal medicine.
👏 She is the co-founder of Medicine of the People, the largest herbal gathering in Eastern Canada, that has for mandate to celebrate and disperse the gifts and teachings of the plants.
🫶 She is a mother of three, is actively engaged in her community and is known amongst her friends and family to be of a caring and inquisitive nature.
Thank you Andrée-Anne, we look forward to your experiences this spring!
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #meetthehosts #herbalism #medicinalplants #experiencenovascotia #visitns
What we mean when we say "hands-on" experiences ✌️
Working with our hands does wonders for our brains so c'mon, get your hands a little dirty with us!
#foodartnature #becomeaFAN #handson #experience #visitnovascotia #travel #travelinspo #discoverns
Introducing your host and guide, Rachael Robertson of Robertson's Farm & Apothecary.
Their experience is:
🌱 Soil to Soul Workshop
Next chance to catch it:
🗓 April 7th, 2024
👋 Calum and Rachael Robertson are Scottish expats living in rural Nova Scotia with their 2 sons, Hamish and Fearghas.
👌 The family share their farm with about a dozen Highland cattle who help work the land by nourishing the soil, providing them with beef, and are non-stop entertainment for the farm's cattle-herding dog Muireach.
🫶 Botanical formulations are Rachael's heart's desire. Encouraging people to experiment with lotions and potions from garden grown herbs, botanicals, and vegetables is Rachael's favourite pastime.
Thank you Rachael and Calum for welcoming us and all your FANs to your farm and home! ❤️
Introducing your host and guide, Chris O'Neill of the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts.
Their experience is:
🔥 Forest Shadows & Light - a North Mountain Experience
👋 Giving voice to the arts, Ross Creek is a unique institution in Canada, bringing together the best in arts education for youth with community and professional artist programs.
👏 Ross Creek is a research and development center for the arts of all disciplines and cultures and is proud to help facilitate the development of new art from around the world in wonderful facilities on a spectacular farm in rural Nova Scotia.
🫶 Spanning about 175 acres, the farm rests mostly on Wabanaki (Acadian) Forest in the Sipekni'katik region of Mi'kma'ki.
Thank you Chris and Ross Creek for all that you do in our community!
Introducing your host and guide, Wil Brunner, owner of Soft Pine Wellness.
His experiences include:
🌲Annapolis Valley Forest Bathing, and
🌲Nature Immersion in the Acadian Forest
👋 Originally from the Muskoka region of Central Ontario, Wil has found inspiration and support from the natural world since he was a child.
🙌 Throughout the years, Wil has helped to
restore fish and forest habitat, educated on the environment to youth and adults, and provided wilderness-based mental health counseling and mentorship.
🤝 Wil was formally trained as an Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guide in 2021, which brought together his passions of supporting people's relationships with the natural world, with each other and with themselves.
🫶 Experiences led by Wil always feature gentle and mindful acts, adoration, and respect for nature, and a hospitable and joyful atmosphere.
🫵 Wil loves nothing more than guiding others on their own journey of discovery within the beautiful landscapes and ecology of the Acadian Forest, Bay of Fundy and Annapolis Valley.
Thank you Wil, for everything you bring to the foodartnature team!
There are only 2 dates left for this experience at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts: Saturday February 3rd and March 2nd. Don't miss your chance to experience this unforgettable evening ✨️
Tickets for Forest Shadows and Light - A North Mountain Experience are available at foodartnature.ca
#foodartnature #annapolisvalley #visitnovascotia #becomeaFAN #experience
Have you ever tried forest bathing? 🌲🍄🌿
If you have any questions about it or wish to share your experience, let us know in the comments!
#forestbathing #shinrin_yoku #becomeaFAN #FANbase #foodartnature #tourismns #novascotia #annapolisvalley #visitnovascotia #discoverns #discovernovascotia #tourismnovascotia #regenerativetourism #travelexperience
