Lynn Bishop's blog

         A small crew of four went out one day this week to gather a few more promising boards.. this is a blog in pictures. Thanks Pat and Ernie of Baba Link Farm! Thanks gatherers!
 

It wasn’t until the end of the day that I realized my double entendre for the workbee we had last week, pulling out, sorting and de-nailing barn board at Baba Link Farm (http://www.babalinkfarm.ca/).

Baba Link are a producer member of the co-op and vendor at the market through much of the year. Their lovely aged barn was on its last legs, and Pat kindly offered the salvageable wood for use to use for shelving in the store.

We put out a call for volunteers on a short timeline and true to form the WEFC community responded.  8 people left the city in cool -3 degree weather last Saturday and drove out to Babalink Farm in the Flamboro area. The day started out cool, but it wasn’t long before we were taking off our coats and hats due to the physical nature of the job. Pulling sheet metal off strapping, moving gorgeous beams (at least the ones we could lift!), and gathering up some lovely old planks that were used on interior walls. We’ve started to put together a nice pile of lumber for our carpenters to work with.

For lunch we treated ourselves with a hot bowl of squash soup prepared by our own Ayal Dinner (what were those secret herbs and spices??), a warm cup of tea and enjoyed getting to know each other. That is when I realized this was more than a workbee, it was indeed a gathering.

A Barn Board Gathering.

With chalk in hand we've consulted chefs, planners, architects and engineers, staff, volunteers, and friends of friends. A big white square here, a blue rectangle there, a little erase over, here a little more chalk on the floor over there and finally, we have come up with a plan. Thanks to David Oleson of Oleson Worland Architects for his architectural expertise our blue prints have been submitted to city hall.  The final layout allows both the kitchen and the store to work in a complementary way and includes:

• an accessible washroom
• a “mop room”
• a veggie prep room
• a cafe sitting area/workshop space
• an office
• a walk in cooler

all in just over 2500 sq.ft.. oh yes, and there is even room for a pantry for the kitchen!

Most recently we’ve been talking with engineers and HVAC professionals (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) to ensure the co-op is kept at a proper temperature to facilitate the running of all our coolers. We've been looking at equipment, and are starting to get a clear idea of how our budget will meet our needs. Now, this is shopping I can enjoy.. hand blenders as tall as me, and mixers.... well.. as tall as me! and sinks, and ovens, and fridges and stoves. Needless to say Ayal is having even more fun than I am, and is already baking up a storm in his mind.

In other "big news" we received an industrial dishwasher as a donation from the City of Toronto’s Peer Nutrition. In return for the dishwasher we will be running The Peer Nutrition Program in our kitchen, this is a free Toronto Public Health nutrition education program offered to parents and caregivers from ethnically and culturally diverse communities in Toronto. Another perfect partnership for WEFC!

And so, along we go, once our drawings come out the other end of the city hall machine we will be ready to erase those chalk lines and start to build it!

Well, it has been three weeks since my first day as West End Food Co-op Coordinator and it is feeling as comfortable as an old shoe.. well comfortable, if your idea of comfort is being super busy, busy, busy, meeting, planning, thinking, writing, drawing, talking, and learning ever so much! Ayal and Sally have done a wonderful job introducing me to many of our fabulous community partners, other WEFC staff, the current board, and a ton of the many many volunteers that make this organization such an amazing entity. Its been a whirlwind, but it's all making perfect sense!

So, some talk of the big picture, and much work on the next steps. I've been meeting with architects and engineers, plumbers and electricians, as well as Melinda from Fourth Pig who will be our general contractor and will head up the renovation.  The most fun of all has been sketching out the kitchen appliances and store layout with input from various staff and professionals. Most recently two chef friends of Ayal's, Jennifer and Joshna, came to see our layout and gave a few suggestions. It was amazing to get their input, and really reassuring when they didn't have any big changes to suggest! Here is a picture of them "working" in the proposed kitchen.

So, things are starting to take shape and we are beginning to see how this space is really going to work.... and work it is!! So stay tuned, as we move forward in the coming months, I will post pictures of our progress, so you can all enjoy the process.