Harvest Moon Society Newsletter
Spring 2023

Winter is (finally?) coming to an end. We’re beyond excited to turn the corner into growing season and have you out to the Harvest Moon Learning Center. Scroll down to see some of the fun events we have planned.

Summer planning in full swing!

No Mow May

In the hopes of encouraging biodiversity and giving our pollinators a fighting chance, we’re aiming for a No Mow May at the Harvest Moon Learning Center. This movement started in the UK a few years ago and has spread to other countries. Not everyone is in favour, but this Q&A with Nature Conservancy Canada’s senior conservation biologist Dan Kraus convinced us.

Work Bee

Come out and help us get the Harvest Moon Learning Center looking its best as the seasons change and we turn our focus towards the growing season.

Bring some tools and gloves, or just bring yourself and we’ll have plenty of jobs, big and small, for anyone looking to pitch in.

Weather permitting, we’re aiming for Saturday, April 29. Reach out to info@harvestmoonsociety.org if you plan on coming out! Accommodations available.

HMS Scholarship deadline approaching!

Harvest Moon Society is excited to offer three (3) scholarships of $500 each to youth aged 17-21 who reside within the boundaries of Manitoba for furthering their knowledge or education related to regenerative agriculture, sustainable food systems, and environmental stewardship. Examples of further education may include, but are not limited to: tuition at an educational institution, and/or registration for a course or conference. 

Applications will be reviewed by a panel of judges from the Harvest Moon Society. Deadline for application is April 30, 2023. Successful applicants will be notified by May 31, 2023.

To apply, please answer the following question: How would you use $500 to further your knowledge or education in the areas of regenerative agriculture, sustainable food systems, and/or environmental stewardship and why is this important to you?

The format of your application is up to you: you could answer in an essay, video, slideshow, or in any other format in which you feel comfortable. We ask that you limit your application to the equivalent of 2 written pages or 2 minutes of video/audio.

Applications can be submitted at www.harvestmoonsociety.org/scholarship.

Square Loom Workshop

Next up in our Fibre Arts Series is a Square Loom Workshop.

Pat Lovatt will be at the Harvest Moon Learning Center on Saturday, May 6 from 1pm to 4pm to guide you through making a hat on square loom.

Cost is $25. Spaces are limited (as we only have access to so many looms!)

Recently Graduating Art Students Invited for a Two Week Residency

Harvest Moon Society’s Artist-in-Residence program has developed over the last few years after hosting established professionals Kyle Scheurmann (July 2021) and Rachel MacFarlane (May 2022). They both delivered talks to students at University of Manitoba’s School of Art. Those talks and that relationship has led to the development of the Harvest Moon Recent Graduate Residency, designed to provide a professional knowledge-sharing experience to emerging artists. In their final semester, fourth year students were invited to submit artist statements and proposals outlining how experiences at Harvest Moon would affect their emerging practices.

A jury consisting of artists, faculty of the School of Art, and Harvest Moon members assessed the applications and evaluated the proposals. After deliberation, Rae Swan and Alice Hamilton were invited to Clearwater, MB for a two-week residency and were each awarded $1,000 to facilitate their stay at the end of May.

Rae Swan is an interdisciplinary artist living on Treaty 1 territory of Métis and European-settler descent. Their art explores the interconnected themes of identity, memory, place, and permanence/impermanence. Rae works in many mediums and art forms including performance, poetry, photography, beadwork and installation, and approaches their work in a playful way, letting the material and process guide them. Rae is looking to come to Harvest Moon to engage in explorative play and begin the process of a multi-media tapestry piece that combines photography, cyanotype and natural dyes and toners.

Alice Hamilton is a mixed media artist living in Winnipeg Manitoba, Treaty 1 Territory. She works with foraged materials to celebrate the cycles of nature in relation to the human body/ mind. Her art is sculptural and handmade, varying from painting and textile to installation and carpentry. This work is inspired by the science of nature, healing through art, and experimental living. Alice’s proposal centered on exploring the question: “How can we best listen to the land for guidance, in this increasingly fast-paced world?”

During their time in Clearwater, Alice and Rae will engage in shared learning opportunities with land stewards, regenerative farmers, and elders and historians. They’ll also work with HMS staff and interact with the community while having plenty of time and studio space to work. Near the end of their stay, on Saturday, May 27, the public is invited to hear them talk about their practice and their experience at the residency, from 2pm to 4pm. That day will also be Harvest Moon’s Perennial Exchange event where people are encouraged to bring and take some plants, from 11am-2pm. Both residents will also be invited back in September to deliver a workshop as part of the 22nd Perennial Harvest Moon Festival.

Visit the following links to learn more:
www.alice-hamilton.glitch.me
www.reannaswan.glitch.me

Perennial Exchange / Artist Talks

A highlight of the HMS calendar is approaching: the Perennial Exchange.

Come with your garden plants to exchange or give away (or seedlings, or houseplants, or seeds)As always, we will have delicious cupcakes from @clearwatercountrymarket !

Join us for a fun and informative day in Clearwater at the Harvest Moon Learning Centre May 27th.

This event will be followed by Artist Talks given by our Recent Graduate Artists-in-Residence from 2pm-4pm.

Garden Luncheon

Last year we rolled out a new event that was a real hit. Our Garden Luncheon featured tours of the gardens and grounds, lawn games (though it turned out to be way too hot!), and musical entertainment featuring Garry and Heather Gardiner and a lunch of sandwiches and dessert for $5. We’re planning to do it all again so mark your calendars for Thursday, June 22. Contact info@harvestmoonsociety.org for more info.

New Moon Kids Camp

Registration is open for this year's New Moon Kid's Camp, being held July 11-13 at Harvest Moon Learning Center in Clearwater, MB for ages 7-11. Register before July 4 for an early bird price of $80 and join Lauren for three fun-filled days of outdoor learning, crafts, and games. Lunch and snack will be provided all three days. Send an email to info@harvestmoonsociety.org to reserve your spots.

HMS Field Trip for Homeschoolers

On Friday, June 9 we’re inviting homeschool families to Clearwater, MB for a Harvest Moon Field Trip.

Our Education Committee along with our Education Liaison and Land Based Learning Interpreter have planned out a day of programming (10am - 4pm) that includes garden and greenhouse tours, a guided hike on our Lessons from the Land nature trail, and some educational activities centered around native tree species identification and learning about the role of Riparian zones in our prairie ecosystem.

The activities will be geared toward students aged 12+, but siblings and parents are welcome to take part as well. There will be a cost of $10 per student or $25 per family.

Overnight accommodations can be arranged for RVs/trailers or tents, and we have the dorm rooms available as well (each room has a bunk bed that would sleep two on the bottom and one on the top).

Registration is limited to about 25 students. To register, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact info@harvestmoonsociety.org

Looking ahead…

22nd Perennial Harvest Moon Festival

The Harvest Moon Festival Board is hard at working planning this year’s Festival for the weekend of September 15 to 17. Tickets are set to go on sale in July.

Applications for market vendors and workshop hosts are now being accepted.

Visit www.harvestmoonfestival.ca for more info.

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