UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
JANUARY PENDER POST - FOR FARMERS’ INSTITUTE AND FALL FAIR
FARMERS' INSTITUTE
The Pender Island Farmers' Institute is very happy to announce that we are now on the Tru Value Spirit Board at #3, and we would like to thank Tru Value for this opportunity! We are one of many community groups on the Spirit Board and we will put the funds raised towards additions to our programs, and improvements to our Farmers' Market and Farm Food Hub.
We have been invited to the South Island Farmers' Institute Farmer to Farmer Week from January 26 to January 30. This will include farm tours - Glanford Greenhouses in Saanich, a walking tour of the compost facility at Farm to Garden Organics in Saanich, Northbrook Farm blueberry production and wash/pack station tour on Mt. Newton, a masterclass in fencing and a seed production operation in Sooke, and a tour of a large scale irrigation set up, as well as a conference on January 29 at Saanich Fairgrounds. Topics to be covered include winter vegetables, IPM, flower crops, greenhouse vegetables, drought and dry farming, livestock biosecurity, carpentry, equipment, and more.
Farmer to Farmer Week is followed by the Islands Agriculture Show at Cowichan Exhibition on January 30-31. District A Farmers' Institutes will have a booth there.
We have a link to these events and information at pifi.ca. All our members are invited; you can apply at pifi.ca. Pender Island Farmers' Institute memberships are due December 31 and are still only $5.00 each. Our AGM will be held in March and if you are interested in being on the board, volunteering, or being on our email list please contact us at penderislandmarket@gmail.com.
A Food Safe course is being planned, please let us know if you are interested in joining us. The summer Farmers’ Market is May long weekend to September Labour Day weekend. If you are thinking of becoming a vendor this year, there is information on our website. We are also looking for a Market Manager so if you are interested, please send us your application.
FALL FAIR
We are excited to announce that we are now also on the Tru Value Spirit Board at #35! This would be an easy way for you to donate to the Fall Fair, and we are grateful to Mike and the team at Tru Value for making this happen for so many community groups.
The Fall Fair has also received a Gaming Grant this year from the BC government, and we are putting this funding towards fair activities and improvements.
The 2026 Pender Island Fall Fair will be August 29th (the weekend before Labour Day).
Our first Fall Fair meeting of the year will be January 4th from 4 pm to 5 pm. If you are interested in joining our team, please meet with us at the Community Hall Lounge. You can also contact us at penderislandfallfair@gmail.com
NEW EDUCATIONAL AWARD BEING DEVELOPED
We are extremely grateful to an anonymous donor who matched our Fall Fair Raffle funds raised this year, and is contributing to a third educational award that is being developed with the help of a committee of dedicated volunteers. The Judy Williams Corbett Award recipient will be selected from the applicants to the Neptune Navy Grimmer - Ashton Ross-Smith Bursary and Ellen Willingham - Tekla Deverell Bursary.
2026 FALL FAIR - AUGUST 29, 2026 - WE ARE WELCOMING NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS. CONTACT penderislandfallfair@gmail.com to learn more. Our first meeting of the year is January 4 from 4-5 pm at the Community Hall lounge.
2025 FALL FAIR NEWS: More than 2000 people came to enjoy this year's Fall Fair! Over 100 hardworking volunteers helped set up, worked on Fair Day and assisted with taking it down after. We so appreciate the amazing support from the Pender Island community coming together and making this event a success with donating time, goods, services and sponsorships. There was great music, fun activities, exhibits, animals, food and with the hot day, record ice cream and beer garden sales. Photos from the Fair can be found on our Pender Island Farmers' Institute website at pifi.ca
And now we begin planning again for next year's Fall Fair- August 29, 2026. Please consider joining the team and lending a hand. It's easy to get involved in small or larger roles and be a part of this long-standing Island tradition to showcase our community’s agriculture, abilities in art, crafts, baking, sewing, preserving and youngsters creations.
The 2025 Fair received approximately 650 entries for exhibit, (up from last year). The fall and winter are a perfect time to work on your next year's entries and we encourage more, more, more. Thankyou to all exhibitors who used the online AssistExpo platform and the paper form in the printed version of the Fair Catalogue to register your entries by the deadline (which is usually the weekend before Fair Day). We had a much better idea on space considerations and it made entry afternoon go the smoothest I've ever seen.
Please see our Trophy winners in this issue. Special thanks to all our sponsors- local businesses and organizations, CRD and Province of BC grants, raffle and anonymous donors. A complete list will be in the November issue of Pender Post.
Next Fall Fair meeting is Tuesday, October 14, at the Hall lounge at 7 pm and is open to all.
-Michelle Marsden,
Fall Fair Committee
SUCH HAPPY TROPHY WINNERS!
PAST EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
FALL FAIR - AUGUST 23, 2025
SEEDY SATURDAY - MARCH 22 10 AM TO 1 PM, HALL.
FARMERS’ INSTITUTE AGM - MARCH 29 1:30 PM AT THE HALL - SPECIAL SPEAKER FROM YOUNG AGRARIANS TO TALK ABOUT THE LAND MATCHING PROGRAM, BUSINESS PLANNING AND MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS. LEARN ABOUT WHAT THE FARMERS’ INSTITUTE IS UP TO AND BECOME INVOLVED! WE ARE LOOKING FOR BOARD MEMBERS AND VOLUNTEERS.
FARM FOOD HUB - OPEN MOST SATURDAYS FROM 9:30-1 BEHIND THE HALL. Contact us at penderislandmarket@gmail.com if you would like to sell your products there or to find out more about it. Everything is made, baked, grown on Pender Island - member of BC Farmers Markets
WORKSHOPS - CONTACT ROZ rozkempe@shaw.ca IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND MARCH 12 AT RAVEN ROCK. GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR NETWORKING AND LEARNING FROM OTHER FARMERS WITH MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE SUPPORT.
FALL FAIR COMMITTEE MEETINGS - EVERYONE WELCOME. NEXT MEETING IS APRIL 8 TH, 7 PM AT THE COMMUNITY HALL.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY : FARMERS’ MARKET MANAGER - For Farmers’ Market during the summer. For more information please email penderislandmarket@gmail.com Open to all ages.
Farmers’ Market - May long weekend to Labour Day weekend 9:30 to 1 pm - check out our market pages
Fall Fair - August 23, 2025.
FOOD SAFE, FEB 25TH. Laura Cullen, instructor. $70 including lunch, workbook and exam.
Field days at Braeloch Farm and Avondale Farm.
November 8th - Free Water Workshop at Raven Rock Farm. November 7th on Galiano - Drought workshop and field day, Galiano Island and Pender Island. With BC Ministry of Agriculture. To learn how do deal with less water in the growing season - drip irrigation, dryland farming, improving soil conditions to hold water - will be among the topics to be discussed. Visit to local farm for demonstration. Brought to you by the Gulf Islands Food CoOp, the Pender Island Farmers’ Institute, the Galiano Farmers’ Institute, and the BC Ministry of Agriculture. Refreshments to be provided, registration is free but required. Contact rozkempe@shaw.ca to register.
Farmers’ Market - Saturdays, 9:30-1 at the Community Hall from May long weekend to Labour Day weekend, after that the Hall runs the market inside, the Farmers’ Market is behind the Hall until winter. Member of BC Farmers’ Markets.
Wednesday Food-Only Market - Wednesdays 3-5 behind the Community Hall in the Farmers’ Institute barn until October 30. Member of BC Farmers’ Markets. Barn will be open on Saturdays as well from 9:30-1 nearly year round.
Fall Fair “THEN AND NOW” - Saturday, August 24th, 2024!
Fall Fair Wrap Up Meeting - October 15th, 7 pm, Hall
- Employment Opportunity : Farmers’ Market Assistant Manager - to assist with set up and running of Saturday and Wednesday Markets during the summer. For more information please email penderislandmarket@gmail.com or check this link for full description. Any age can apply, but it is also suitable for Canada Summer Job Program - age 15 to 30. 35 hours/week, $20.00 per hour, 8-16 weeks.
CLOSED - please apply: Employment Opportunity: Fall Fair Event Coordinator Assistant - to assist with organizing and managing the Fall Fair on August 24. For more information please email penderislandmarket@gmail.com or check this link for full description. Also suitable for Canada Summer Job Program - age 15 to 30. 35 hours/week, $20.00 per hour, 8-16 weeks.
Seed Planting at the School, May 16th
Farmers’ Market Vendor Meeting - April 6th at 1:30 pm- Pender Island Community Hall
Seedy Saturday March 30th, 2024. Saturday, 10-1 at the Community Hall.
October 27, 2018: Sheep Shearing Class
A group of sixteen sheep producers and wool enthusiasts came to Karl Hamson’s barn on Pender Island for the first Wool Classification course in BC, taught by wool education coordinator for the American Sheep Industry Association, Dr. Lisa Surber.
The course was to improve wool education for producers and fibre enthusiasts and to assist in improving the overall quality and economic value of the Canadian wool clip.
The participants came from around BC and the US for the course held October 25-27, joined by two local farmers, Jodi Schamberger and Austin Davies, who provided the sheep for the shearing demonstration and hands-on wool classification.
The course was organized by Charlene Thompson, a wool enthusiast who saw a need and a way to support the growing interest in local fibre and the new mill in the Saanich Peninsula.
Lisa McKinley Surber, PhD, a certified wool classing instructor, has been offering this curriculum across the US. The potential for increasing the value of BC and Canadian wool, diversifying products from wool, including non-textile products, were emphasized.
Dr. Surber was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta and went to Montana State University, receiving a BS in Animal Science, a MS in ruminant nutrition, and a PhD in forage genetics. She worked in the wool lab at MSU for 7 years. She took every opportunity “to see more wool”, becoming a level 4 wool classer by visiting ranches and farms in her spare time to practice her classifying skills.
“A wool classer is a professional who provides expertise to growers, shearers, and wool marketing agencies, following an industry-accepted code of practice in the preparation of wool and sorting by quality,” says Surber.
Pieter Demooy was the shearer for the course, adding his own expertise as a professional shearer. Peter was trained in New Zealand and Australia and has sheared sheep for 40 years. He shears most sheep on the Pender Islands and is a regular attraction at the Pender Island Fall Fair.
One market to explore is non-textile wool products, including felting around new trees, roadside reclamation and prevention of erosion, pelleted wool as a garden amendment, insulation, and wool booms to clean up oil spills.
Dr. Surber added that sheep should be promoted more as part of a multi-species improvement enterprise, given their role in controlling noxious weeds and reducing forest fire risk through grazing.
The course was supported by the BC Sheep Federation Sheep Industry Development Fund, Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers, Canadian Sheep Federation, Inter Island Sheep Breeders Association, the Southern Gulf Islands Community Resource Centre, and the Pender Island Farmers’ Institute.
Many thanks to Charlene Thompson for organizing this event, to Karl for providing the venue, to Jodi and Austin for providing sheep, Karl, Jodi and Barb for set up and take down, and the sponsors who made this event possible.