January 13 & 14: Alix, AB – Young Agrarians Alberta Winter Mixer

Posted by Dana Penrice on December 01, 2017

Are you an aspiring or new farmer working on building a regenerative, ecological farm? Are you looking for opportunities to learn and connect? Join us at the Alberta Winter Mixer for two days of workshops  on accessing land, building relationships with mentors, getting starting in livestock and market gardening, communicating with farm partners and creating a regenerative business model that supports your farm and your livelihood. Share ideas and stories through farmer slideshows and test your know-how in the Farmer Fails and Hacks Championships. There will be farmer yoga, tobogganing, camp fires and more! JOIN US! Everyone is welcome!

When: Saturday, January 13 – Sunday January 14, 2018

Where:  Deer Valley Meadows Camp located half mile south of Highway #11 on Range Road 230, near Alix, AlbertaFind it on Google Maps.

Cost: $55 + GST/person includes overnight accommodation and meals sourced from local, ecological and organic farmers. Work trade options are available. Can’t make it for both days? A day rate is available too.

REGISTER: Click here to buy tickets and don’t forget to join our Facebook Event.

Questions? Please contact Dana: alberta@youngagrarians.org

ACCOMMODATION & MEALS

  • Delicious lunches and Sunday morning breakfast featuring local ingredients will be provided (please inform us about dietary restrictions in the registration questionnaire)
  • If you are staying over night guests are asked to please bring their own bedding, towels and toiletries. Rooms are shared with space for 2 – 4 people per room. Showers are available to guests. Please inform us that you are staying overnight in the registration questionnaire. Rooms are available for Friday and Saturday night. 
WHAT TO BRING: 
  • travel mug for your coffee or tea (this will help us to do fewer dishes!)
  • Potluck dish for our Saturday night potluck social – invite your friends! A small kitchen will be available for heating up food and refrigerating potluck dishes.
  • Bedding, pillow, towel, toiletries.
  • Notebook for soaking up all the farmtastic wisdom!
  • Warm, winter clothing for walks outside and tobogganing.
  • Yoga mat if you want to participate in Farm Yoga

WORKSHOPS & SPEAKERS

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How to Save the World Through Farming and Not Become a Penniless Martyr – Takota Coen, Farmer & Permacultural Designer

Saturday Presentation: Regenerative Farm Business Principles: The High Cost of Poor Business There is an ecological, social, cultural, spiritual and financial cost of not running a farm like a profitable business. In this presentation Takota will share 10 Regenerative Farm Business Principles that can help guide new and experienced farmers to design and manage businesses that are regenerative, profitable, and enjoyable.

Sunday Presentation: Regenerative Farm Business Principles: Marketing That Feels Good Do you wish you could just farm and have your product disappear? Does the thought of direct marketing make your stomach churn? In this presentation Takota will use his family farm as a case study for how the Regenerative Farm Business Principles can be used to help make marketing your products your favourite farm chore.

TakotaTakota Coen was born, raised, and now helps steward Grass Roots Family Farm. Using his experience with permaculture design and Holistic Management, Takota works to empower others with the tools and resources to design and implement resilient living systems that are earth restorative through his business Deep Roots Design. 


From Vegan Urbanites to Organic Regenerative Ranchers – Tristan & Aubyn Banwell, Farmers, Spray Creek Ranch

traistanandaubynTristan and Aubyn Banwell  manage Spray Creek Ranch, a certified organic, diversified 260-acre farm in the Upper St’at’imc Territory near Lillooet, BC. This spectacular land lies along the Mighty Fraser River in the rain shadow of the Coast Mountains and produces cattle, pigs and poultry on pasture, along with a verdant homestead garden. Their enterprises include a growing on-farm abattoir and meat shop, providing local markets with diverse meats of known provenance and unparalleled quality. 


Cultivating and Sharing Your Farm Story – Ian Griebel, Farmer, Redtail Farms

ian-griebelIan Griebel operates Redtail Farms whose motto is “three generations looking seven generations forward”.  The farm is  located on the prairie grasslands of east central Alberta, where Ian and his family raise and finishes grass-fed beef, pastured pork and pastured chickens. The farm’s foundation is built on regeneration, relationships and responsibility. To slightly paraphrase an old adage, “We do not [only] inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children”.


Clean Slate Bison Ranching –  Cody Spencer, Farmer, Sweetgrass Bison

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Cody Spencer started his grass-fed bison venture, Sweetgrass Bison, in 2014 after seeing the potential bison have in helping to conserve native rangelands whilst providing healthy, ethical meat. Since then, he has grown his herd on both the Mackenzie Ranch in southeastern Alberta and the Tacarsey ranch near Pincher Creek. He raises and markets grass-fed bison directly to consumers and through Urban Grocer, a grocery store in Lethbridge operated by his wife Julia. Having worked with the Oldman Watershed Council helping ranchers achieve a higher level of land stewardship, Cody is driven to restore degraded grasslands while providing the room for bison to roam their former territory.


Crop Planning for the New Market Gardener – Jodie Van Nistelrooy and Moira Watson, Farmers, Fork in the Rowed

IMG_4127Co-owners Jodie Van Nistelrooy and Moira Watson began farming Fork in the Rowed, a certified organic vegetable farm 3 years ago just outside of Coaldale, AB. They grow a variety of crops to fill their CSA boxes and their tables at the farmer’s markets in Lethbridge and Calgary. Learn about the farming techniques they have honed, successful crop planning strategies and how to build a farm business model through a partnership.


Farm Finances for New Farmers –  Kelly Sidoryk, Rancher, Holistic Management Educator

People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. An integral part of the farming process is financial planning. Learn more about planning a profit, generating income, selecting the best enterprise, a cash flow plan, monitoring, debt, record keeping and accounting.

Sidoryk-Kelly_cmykKelly Sidoryk  is a partner in Hi-Gain Enterprises (JV), a cattle ranching operation with locations at Lloydminster, Alberta and Victoire, Saskatchewan. She is also a freelance writer, facilitator, certified Holistic Management Educator and Past Chair of Holistic Management International. She is a partner in KT & Company, creating unique, locally inspired events. 


Farmer Yoga –  Kolby Peterson, Farmer, Yoga Instructor, YA Apprenticeship Program Coordinator

IMG_2291Kolby Peterson grew up on a farm, but had not considered venturing into the agricultural realm until the final semester of her B.Sc. in Environmental Science. She audited a course called Spirit of the Land, which focused on rebuilding our connection with the land as a community. The idea of regenerating our soils and our communities through farming became quite captivating, and so after university, Kolby apprenticed on an off-grid, market garden operation in British Columbia. This experience launched her to pursue building a life and livelihood off the land and land-based education. This last year, Kolby farmed in central Alberta, helping raise grass-fed and finished cows, pastured pigs and chickens, milking cows, and leading tours and workshops. She has now moved back to her old stomping grounds in the Peace Country, where she will working in rural extension and learning to farm with horses.

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OTHER SPONSORS

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