CANCELLED – Slugs, Bugs and other Thugs in the Garden: How to Manage Common Helpers and Annoyances Using Earth Friendly Methods.

With Arzeena Hamir.

“What is eating my veggies?!” can be a common refrain. Learn how to identify what pests are in your garden, who is there to help you, and when it necessary to take action.

The control of aphids, slugs, cabbage worm, late blight and powdery mildew will provide gardeners with the framework of how to prevent these pests in the first place, including through garden design.

You will also learn how to assess the damage if you have pests, and the least toxic method of controlling them.

Gardeners are encouraged to bring their questions for other pests that they’re dealing with.

About Arzeena Hamir:

Arzeena is truly a renaissance woman! She is a teacher, a farmer, an agronomist, a food security activist, a politician, and a mom. As one of BC’s most popular garden club speakers, she discourses on a wide range of useful organic gardening and food security topics.

Arzeena earned her Bachelor’s degree in Crop Science from the University of Guelph and her Master’s degree in Sustainable Agriculture from the University of London, England. She worked abroad for many years as a CUSO volunteer in Thailand and as a researcher in Jamaica, India, and Bangladesh where she encouraged sustainable and integrated agriculture, composting and natural alternatives to pesticide use.

Arzeena became staff agrologist for West Coast Seeds in the late ’90s and then ran her own seed company, Terra Viva Organics. From 2008 to 2012 Arzeena was the Coordinator of the Richmond Food Security Society where she oversaw a number of community projects which included a proposal to the City of Richmond to declare itself a GMO-free Zone.

Arzeena’s family farm, Amara Farm, is one of the outstanding market gardens in the Comox Valley and their produce is sold at the Comox Valley Farmer’s Market.  She also teaches soil science at North Island College and is Founder and Chair of the Mid Island Farmer’s Institute and a Director of IAFBC (Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC), an industry-led, not-for-profit organization working to foster growth and innovation across BC’s agri-food industry.

Most recently, Arzeena won the 2018 election to become Area B Regional Director in Comox, BC.