Blog Category: Uncategorized

Young Agrarians

Posted by Sara Dent on September 08, 2014

Article by Courtney White, originally published by A Carbon Pilgrim  | AUG 27, 2014 and adapted from Grass, Soil, Hope: a Journey through Carbon Country. “The agrarian population among us is growing, and by no means is it made up merely of some farmers and some country people. It includes urban gardeners, urban consumers who are buying food from local farmers, organizers of local food economies, consumers who have grown doubtful of the healthfulness, the trustworthiness, and the dependability of the corporate food system – people who understand what it means to be landless.” – Wendell Berry A few years ago, I traveled up New … Continue reading Young Agrarians →

Are you on the MAP?

Posted by Lizzy Karp on November 20, 2013 1 Comment

Mapping resources for new entrants into sustainable agriculture We are proud to  launch our UMap, an online farmer resource map created for the Young Agrarians community. The first of it’s kind in Canada, the resource map pulls together 13 different search categories of information into one mapping platform with a focus on certified or uncertified organics and farmers in start-up. Located at youngagrarians.org/umap, the resource map acts as an online hub to connect and engage Young Agrarians by highlighting a diverse array of projects across British Columbia. While the baseline data for the map has been pulled together through research, … Continue reading Are you on the MAP? →

Creative Education for Grassroots Agriculture

Posted by Laura Hannant on October 24, 2013 1 Comment

Registration for the Kootenay Farm School Beginner Farmer Training Program Opens October 28: College of the Rockies Kootenay Farm School is the region’s first centre for sustainable agriculture and food security learning. Guided by the motto “Creative education for grassroots agriculture,” we bring together innovative agriculturalists and passionate educators to cultivate knowledge, skills, and networks for food production on a human scale. From our home in the Creston Valley, KFS facilitates dynamic community-rooted learning for gardeners, homesteaders, farmers, and food systems builders. The Creston Valley is tucked among the Selkirk, Purcell, and Thompson mountain ranges in the southeast corner of … Continue reading Creative Education for Grassroots Agriculture →

The NFU and The Nouveau Youth of Canadian Agriculture

Posted by Alex on January 08, 2013 1 Comment

A few years ago my partner and I started a small market garden, Wind Whipped Farm, on Southern Vancouver Island. Like many new farmers, we didn’t come from farming backgrounds, didn’t have much money and had only a few years experience working on a farm. Critically, we had support from other farmers in our community who shared their time, knowledge, equipment, and manure.  They helped us get started and encouraged us to keep going.  Our experience made us realize how crucial it is to be part of a community of farmers: to learn from each other, to help each other … Continue reading The NFU and The Nouveau Youth of Canadian Agriculture →

Farm Co-op Initiative on Southern Vancouver Island seeks Farmers

Posted by Jordan Marr on December 29, 2012 1 Comment

A good friend, colleague, raw dairy advocate, and all-around bovine enthusiast recently sent me the below announcement about the group she co-founded that intends to establish a farm-based community on Southern Vancouver Island. More details can be read on the group’s blog. OUR VISION OF A COMMUNITY FARM In order to address our concerns about the future integrity of our planet, we want and intend to create together a way of life that encourages people to learn and grow toward a more sustainable future. We envision an interdependent, cooperative and learning community that strives to: preserve and protect the land and water; provide … Continue reading Farm Co-op Initiative on Southern Vancouver Island seeks Farmers →

Agroforestry Project at UBC

Posted by Sara Dent on December 29, 2012

Call for collaborators- UBC Farm Agroforestry Project  UBC Farm, in consultation with industry partners, and UBC Faculties of Forestry and Land and Food Systems will develop an Agroforestry Production Development (APD) Tool to aid farmers/land managers in assessing the viability of specific agroforestry ventures. The tool will help determine what ventures are likely to be economically (and ecologically) feasible, given each producer’s unique circumstances. The tool will be scalable and replicable throughout BC. There is space for one to two more rural and / or peri-urban farms to participate. The project will take place May –December 2013. UBC Farm will … Continue reading Agroforestry Project at UBC →

Hugelkultur at the Malachite House | Vittles

Posted by vivavittles on December 28, 2012

Hugel-what? This autumn, the midwives in Kelowna decided to replace their two front lawns with annual and perennial food plants, as well as medicinal herbs.  I said “hugelkultur!” And they said “what?” Hugelkultur is a German word meaning “hill culture”.  It is a raised garden bed that can be created by placing large pieces of wood into a shallow trench and then layering upside-down turf and soil on top. Why would you want to do this? The wood behaves like a sponge, sucking up water in the winter months and then slowly releasing it into the bed during the drier … Continue reading Hugelkultur at the Malachite House | Vittles →

Essay: A Fairy Tale Retold (or: the challenges of leasing farmland)

Posted by Jordan Marr on December 11, 2012 2 Comments

The Homestead Organic Farm on a late November Afternoon

My partner Vanessa and I (and that’s partner in both the professional sense and the hubba-hubba one) do not own the land we’re farming. We’re on a lease at The Homestead, an organic farm in Peachland that has been under the care of Joe and Jess Klein for nearly 30 years. That we would start out our farming careers on leased land was inevitable. Much of BC’s best farmland is also coveted real estate. And so, land prices being what they are (Keith Richards high), and returns on farming being what they are (Barry White low), the die is cast … Continue reading Essay: A Fairy Tale Retold (or: the challenges of leasing farmland) →

It Depends.

Posted by Adam Huggins on December 07, 2012

Writings from Adam Huggins on his journeys. Adam put much love into urban permaculture cultivation at the Purple Thistle project in Vancouver’s DTES. http://sunfishmoonlight.wordpress.com The symphony which nature composes from its detritus is a fruit embodying the distillation of eons of death, decay, and fermentation – the doing and undoing of a multitude of bodies across time. In planting these words, I am conscious that each sentence, each word, each step, I am treading upon the backs of the many authors of oral, literary, and figurative traditions extending back into memory. As with the host of irreducible gifts granted us … Continue reading It Depends. →

16 Going On Farmer

Posted by sophiavartanian on November 19, 2012 7 Comments

When it comes to young agrarians, I’m one of the younger ones. Sixteen, going on seventeen in the depths of winter, dreaming about summer harvests: vivacious ruby streaks and bursting blueberries, gentle butter lettuces and glowing golden peaches. Farming is my passion. I got my start at the UBC Farm & Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, a gorgeous twenty-four hectare farm nestled away in old coastal hemlock forest. Many Vancouverites don’t know it exists. I didn’t, before I started volunteering there last summer. While the generations before me are considered digital ‘immigrants’, needing translation in their interactions with technology, I’m … Continue reading 16 Going On Farmer →