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My name is Dustin and I’m the Coordinator for the Harvest Moon Society. I’ve been with the organization for almost a year-and-a-half now and I’m really excited about the momentum that we’re building. 

For those that don’t know, we’re an educational charity based out of the former Clearwater School (in Clearwater, MB) which has been transformed over the last 20+ years into the Harvest Moon Learning Center (HMLC). The HMLC features a full commercial kitchen, dorm rooms, classrooms and meeting spaces, a greenhouse, the Secret Garden, 2 rustic three-season cabins, plus so much more. Alongside our Board of Directors, Education Liaison Jo-Lene Gardiner, Promotions Liaison Katie McInnes, and our Summer Staff, we offer year-round experiential educational opportunities geared towards regenerative agriculture, sustainable food systems, and environmental stewardship.

We’ve recently rolled out a new website at www.harvestmoonsociety.org so please check that out if you haven’t already. We’re really excited to send out the first issue of our newsletter. We hope to do this quarterly to keep you up-to-date with our activities. We have a mailing list sign-up on the new website but for this first issue, we’ve included addresses of those who’ve attended our workshops and correspond with us over the last while. If you’d rather not receive these, please let us know (or unsubscribe here).

Spring Review

Rachel MacFarlane

In May, HMS was very excited to welcome our latest artist-in-residence, Rachel MacFarlane. Rachel is a Canadian-born painter currently working in New York City and she spent two weeks in Clearwater, meeting with land stewards and touring farms and learning from SLFN Elder and Historian David Scott. As part of her time in Clearwater, Rachel gave an Artist Talk at HMLC as well as giving a talk to the students of M.E. Sparks at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art. 

Her HMS inspired painting, Clearwater Lightning Storm, is currently on display at Hollis Taggart Art Gallery in Connecticut (Click here)

Perennial Exchange / Macrame

Our annual Perennial Exchange was held during the last weekend in May, and this year it was paired with a Macrame workshop. This ever-popular event brought out some familiar (and many new) faces to exchange perennials and houseplants. We gave some tours of the grounds and gardens and some even made plant hangers in a workshop led by Karen Potter, in conjunction with United Community Arts.

CCEY Field Trip

It was an absolute joy to host (former HMS staff member!) Ms. Johnson and the Grade 1-3 class from Crystal City Early Years School for a field trip day in early June. The kids learned about where our food comes from and the different roles people, critters, and the environment play in food systems. When they got back to school they made us the cutest thank-you cards ever!

Climate Action Plan

HMS hosted Manitoba’s Climate Action Team, who gave a presentation and discussion regarding possible emissions reduction strategies.

Garden Luncheon

We teamed up with Carol Simpson of Louise Community Support Services to put on a Garden Luncheon in late June. A group from the Miami Horticultural Society joined us, entertainment was provided by Heather and Gary Gardiner, and lunch was sandwiches and fresh veggies followed by homemade rhubarb pavlova for dessert. A perfect day!

Summer Activities

A big piece of our calendar at the Harvest Moon Learning Center is our summer programming. We had an excellent team on board this summer with Lauren Treble back as our Land Based Learning Interpreter and Celeste Grenier joining Karson McKay on our Green Team. This team, along with Education Liaison Jo-Lene Gardiner, tried some new things this summer (some worked, some didn't) while also running our usual offerings which were once again well-attended.

New Moon Kids Camp

We had a blast with 16 kids between the ages of 7 - 11 and 3 fun-filled days of outdoor learning, crafts, and games.

New Moon Youth Nights

On Wednesday evenings throughout the summer, Lauren, Celeste, and Karson hung out with twelve to eighteen year olds making meals, playing games, and taking farm tours.

Mini Moon Mondays

This new addition to the calendar was aimed at younger Mooners (ages 5-7) and scheduled every second Monday. We had some fun, learned some lessons, and will re-assess for next summer.

Outdoor Adventures

This new addition for 8-12 year olds was a gigantic hit! A day of outdoor activities that included critter dipping, slip-n-sliding, a humongous obstacle course and garden harvesting was talked about for quite some time.

Eco-Challenge

Our Eco-Challenge, held on and around the Lessons from the Land Trail on the north side of Clearwater, brought 67 students from 5 Prairie Spirit School Division schools to town. Experts from a variety of fields held workshops for the students in the morning and then they had to complete the Trail Quiz in the afternoon. The weather wasn’t great but the attitudes were. A great big thank-you to all of the volunteers who made the day possible as well as the sponsors who covered some travel expenses: Pembina Valley Watershed District, Border Agriculture Services Association (BASA), and Covers & Co.

Festival and Workshops

For this year’s Harvest Moon Festival, the Society’s Education Committee took on a larger role in organizing the workshops. We were very excited about the schedule that we put together and it was so rewarding to see how many festival-goers took them in.

Coming up…

Starting this weekend, you can join Carissa Quadfass, CYA-RYT200 for a morning adult Hatha Yoga class for all experience levels.
- When: Saturday mornings 10-11am, Oct 8-Nov 12
- Cost: $60 for 6 weeks or $13 drop in
- You'll need a mat, comfy clothing and any props, blankets etc you like to feel comfortable in your practice.
- Please register with Carissa at yogawithcarissssa@gmail.com by phone at 204-245-1191or find her on Facebook and Instagram @yogawithcarissssa

Lauren is planning a Halloween-themed Cooking in the Classroom event for Thursday, October 26 for ages 10-17. The cost will be $10. To register, email info@harvestmoonsociety.org.

In mid-October, we’re excited to welcome students from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba who will use the Harvest Moon Learning Center as a home base while doing farm tours and learning about integrating sustainable food systems into their architecture. Weather permitting, we hope to hold a Community Bonfire and Stargazing Night on Thursday, October 20 as part of their visit.

We’re planning an Education Committee meeting in November to begin planning our slate of workshops for the winter/spring and evaluating our summer programming ahead of 2023. If you’d like to get involved, feel free to reach out!