Flora & Fauna Podcast 4: Indigenous Gardening

For over a century, scientists at the Summerland Research and Development Centre have studied sustainable agriculture in B.C.’s Okanagan region, focusing on crops like wine grapes and fruit trees. Supported by federal funding, the centre launched its first Indigenous demonstration garden two years ago.

This project aims to revitalize food plants that hold traditional significance for local Indigenous communities, including the Syilx Okanagan Nation, as part of their commitment to reconciliation.

Mehdi Sharifi is a research scientist at the Summerland Research Station in British Columbia and Dana Johnson was a research assistant there who was partially responsible for developing the first federal Indigenous Demonstration Garden at the site.  Shauna Dobbie, editor of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, talked to them both about planning and instituting the garden.