For the first time ever, Michael Wolfe led a December eco-tour of the Garden City Lands in 2011. It was called the Harmony Tour to reflect the new stage of the Garden City Lands issue. Because of popular demand, he led another one, Harmony Tour 2, a week later. The groups included many influential and insightful participants.
In the above photo, Michael is answering a question from Shelly Xu (right). The identifiable participants include Richmond School Trustee Norm Goldstein and Dr. Kent Mullinix, Director, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security, Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Also visible is Bardia Khaledi, who is involved in several ways at the Terra Nova Sharing Farm and brings a unique perspective exemplified by his 2010 MA thesis topic, “The Colonial Present: Botanical Gardens as Sites of Nationalism, Environmentalism and Aboriginality in British Columbia.”
On the first December tour, Michael was able to add bunchberry (also called “dwarf dogwood”) to his inventory list of edible plants on the Garden City Lands, as the mowed condition of the lands made that low-lying plant easier to spot. On the second tour, which followed a very different route, Michael identified bunchberry again, far from the first location. The native species found on the lands are part of the heritage that many knowledgeable citizens want to protect.
