I am Melanie Mills, a founding member of Plan B and the current director. I also own the property at 61 Owen Street in Lanark Village. Often my home is used for various Plan B initiatives, from French classes to food preservation. The kitchen is often bustling with folks making their products, making my home certainly a happy and busy one, but also making it complicated to make lunch sometimes. We needed more space.
In 2020 a new kitchen was added with the help and support of some very generous donations. Although privately owned, the intention of this kitchen is to share with the community. Participants of Plan B events are often involved in projects involving food, and primarily the kitchen is for these projects. Of course, the wider community is welcome to make use of it as well, just reserve it.
At the same time, I converted an old cistern into a root cellar, as food storage for Plan B can get overwhelming. Community members are welcome to make use of this space for short term food storage.
Anyone using either the kitchen or the root cellar will need to assume responsibility for themselves and anything they use, and the space will need to be left as they found it.
Kitchen Equipment
Plan B has purchased or has had donated various pieces of equipment that are available to use in the kitchen. Food preservation equipment can be expensive and rarely used so it only makes sense to share. We have available dehydrators, everything needed for pressure or water bath canning, fermenters, tomato seeder/peeler, and so on. We hope to add to the list annually allowing our community to benefit from this resource.
Please let us know if you would like to help add to the list or have suggestions of what might be useful.