QB Seedy Saturday 2024 Speakers
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Michalina Hunter of Cicada Seeds
Title: All About Perennial Vegetables
Description: Discover vegetables that you plant only once and harvest for years (sometimes decades). Perennial vegetables can be less work, more nutritious, and more resilient in a changing climate. We will discuss:
• what is a perennial vegetable?
• benefits for the planet, gardeners, and eaters
• an overview of different categories of perennial vegetables: trees and shrubs, leafy greens, roots, vines, shade tolerant, drought tolerant, aquatic plants, native plants, and more
• a few of my favourite ways to eat perennial vegetables
• educational resources and suppliers of seeds and plants
Bio: Michalina Hunter has a deep love for interesting perennial food plants. She grew up gardening and saving seeds with her mom on the Sunshine Coast. She launched Cicada Seeds in 2021 to supply hard-to-find perennial vegetable seeds and plants to gardeners. She lives in Errington on a small hobby farm with her partner, various pets, and lots of chickens.
Contact info: Website: https://cicadaseedsshop.etsy.com | Email: cicadaseeds@gmail.com
Bonnie Zand of Bonnie’s Bugs IPM
Title: Gardening for BC’s Native Bees 
Description: We all know that bees are important pollinators, required by many plants to set seeds and grow fruits, but did you know that there is much, much more to bees than just honey bees? Join Bonnie Zand to learn about the 500+ species of native bees that occur here in BC. By understanding their diverse lifestyles, nesting habitats and flower specializations you can attract a plethora of bees to your yard, improving pollination in your garden in the process!
Bio: Bonnie Zand is an RPBio based out of the Comox Valley. She works in the intersections of pollinators and agriculture, running an IPM consulting company and leading the Pollinators in Vancouver Island Agriculture Project. Bonnie is also a board member of the Native Bee Society of BC and is the BC instructor for the Master Melittologist Program. In her free time she plants for native bees, and raises goats, garlic and a seven year old on her hobby farm.