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Koots Calendar |
Chairman’s Report
to the
2011 Annual General Meeting
First memberships in the society were taken in September 2008; we are now in March 2011. That means that only 2½ years have passed since the society started and we have come a very long way.
In March 2010, the Tool Library started operation due to a grant from the CBT. It got off to a slow start, due to the cold and wet spring last year but picked up momentum throughout the year. Some of the equipment has been distributed around the area and the details of what is where can be seen on the Tool Library section of the web site.
It is interesting to note that we have been contacted by people in Abbotsford, East Kootenays and the Okanagan for details of how the tool library works as they are interested in following our model and setting up their own Tool Library for their region.
In December 2010, we were lucky to obtain a Grant for Beekeeping from a Chicago based private charity, who had heard about the society’s work on beekeeping. This grant of US$1,000 was spent on buying an exhibition hive, various bits of hive equipment and posters for the Beekeeping courses, and some new books for the library.
In March 2010 the Growing in the Kootenays web site was launched giving details of how to grow vegetables here in the Kootenays. This was funded by a grant from the CBT. The site and the publication have been updated over this winter and a new version of the publication “Vegetable Growing in the Kootenays” has been produced and there are number of copies available here at the AGM for sale as a fundraiser for the Society.
It has been interesting to watch the usage of this web site – over 1,596 unique individuals have been on the site more than five times over the last 12 months and over 870 other individuals have visited it at least once. The guide and workbooks have been downloaded 976 times over the last 12 months – so it appears to be a valued resource for some people.
Kootenay Mountain Grown, as you are aware is the Certification arm for the Society.
The certification for 2010 went well with no problems and we had 15 farms certifying under Kootenay Mountain Grown.
The outlook for 2011 looks good with an expected 25 farms due to certify with us.
The first farm signs have now been produced and are available for sale for the first time at this AGM. We have produced two versions – one for hanging up at the farm and one for displaying at the farmers market. For those certified members – please take advantage and get your farm sign and display it proudly.
The Society founded a Beekeeping forum in May 2010 – due to interest by our beekeeping members. It is widely used and is freely available to anyone keeping bees in the Kootenays. Nette runs and maintains it – keeping hackers, the adverts for Viagra and other unmentionables off the site.
There were a few courses held in 2010. We were unable to obtain funding, which in retrospect was a good thing as there was an awful lot of other stuff going on.
Ron Howard came across from Alberta to do his Vegetable Pests and Disease course which was held just before last year’s AGM. For a free course it was poorly attended but for those of us that attended – it was a great learning experience.
We did the Beekeeping for Beginners course again which was fully booked. Another 38 hives were brought into the area. It is interesting to note that whilst in the rest of BC, beekeeping and the number of hives is falling, according to the Provincial Apiarist – the Kootenays is the only area where beekeeping is growing thanks to Dave Johnson and the work of the Society.
The Society held a course in Kaslo on Holtzer Permaculture, taught by Ernst Huber. This went down very well and was well attended.
We also held a course on Mushroom Cultivation, held in Kaslo by Peter McAllister. This also was well attended.
We also did some work in publicizing the Society. The Society took a booth at transition Nelson and at the Castlegar Garden festival, both of which were manned by Nette.
In addition a Facebook page for the Society was set up in April after pressure from the younger members of the society (younger than me – and I make no pretence in understanding this social networking system). From what I understand – there are 85 people using it regularly which to my uneducated eye seems quite a lot but only 17 of these are members, so go figure that one out….
As to memberships – we started 2010 with 54 members and finished the year with 101. By February this year our membership list stands at 84 renewals and new members. Today we broke last years record of 101 members - we now stand at 102.
It is apparent that we need to do some more work both in retention of members and in obtaining new members.
It would be nice if each member should be tasked with adding 1 new member to the Society’s roll and each director undertake the task of adding 4 new members to the Society each year.
It should be borne in mind that the 1st January 2009 saw the Society with 17 members, 1st January 2010 with 54, so the growth rate has been reasonable – especially with the conflicts and confrontations in our first 2 years. The target membership for the close of 2011 is 150. It would be nice if every member took it upon themselves to try and break the target. The more members we have – the more influence we have and the more we as a society can do.
The Influence of the society is spreading. There is a fledgling society starting up in the Boundary area called Kettle Valley Grown. This is modeled directly on the Kootenay Mountain Grown certification system. The Kettle Valley Food Co-op in Grandforks is using the Kootenay Mountain Grown standards as their buying guidelines and is in full support of both the Kootenay Local Agricultural Society and Kootenay Mountain Grown and of course their own Kettle Valley Grown certification system.
Whilst we have already accomplished a lot, it is not in the nature of our Society to sit still. Some of the major developments and activities planned for 2011 are:
- New equipment for the Tool Library (4 new dehydrators courtesy of a grant from Interior Health)
- We are starting work on the expansion and market recognition of Kootenay Mountain Grown. More will be revealed on this as we go forward in the newsletter.
- We are starting work on an Agricultural Infrastructure survey – again more will be revealed on this as we go forward in the newsletter.
- We have created a fully funded schedule of courses for 2011 courtesy of funding from the CBT. Full details of this program in in the newsletter and on the courses page of the web site.
- We have commenced work on a Seed Registry for the Kootenays in conjunction with other societies, and again, more will be revealed on this as we go forward in the newsletter.
As the Society moves forward, we are in need of members to help and assist in both the development and the day to day work of the society. If you are interested in helping please let the office know – we will be compiling a list of volunteers who can be called on to help with specific projects.
Jeremy Lack