Tag Archives: farm tools

How to Select Vegetable Varieties for Greenhouse Growing

Posted by Michalina Hunter on June 04, 2021

Got a new greenhouse or poly tunnel and wondering what varieties to plant? Experiencing issues with low yields or disease in your greenhouse? Check out this interview with Gemma McNeill, Owner-Operator of Zaklan Farm, a suburban microfarm in Surrey, British Columbia. Once you’ve gleaned some wisdom from Gemma, you may want to learn more. We recommend you follow up by reading an outline on how to select vegetable varieties for greenhouse growing, plus recommendations for the best greenhouse tomato, pepper, cucumber, eggplant, and lettuce varieties to try, from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Photo above is of Gemma by Zaklan Farm. Greenhouse … Continue reading How to Select Vegetable Varieties for Greenhouse Growing →

How to Plan a Market Garden

Posted by Michalina Hunter on February 04, 2021

This post covers the basics of planning a market garden (or backyard garden), including tools from Johnny’s Seeds for calculating the amount of seed you’ll need and crop yields. An Intro to Johnny’s Seed Quantity Calculators & Yield Charts • How to measure • How much of what to plant • How far apart • To produce just so much? Planning your market garden layout is one of the more challenging annualized tasks of vegetable production, because multiple goals must be rolled into the planning process. Rotations, planting dates, days to maturity, duration of harvest, labour resources, and even microclimates … Continue reading How to Plan a Market Garden →

Ecological Workshops for Small-Scale Farmers – Vancouver Summer 2019

Posted by Michalina Hunter on June 25, 2019

Are you a small scale farmer in Metro Vancouver, looking to learn more about ecological farming methods? Check out the following workshops from SPEC coming up this August. Registration is free! Tuesday August 6: Cover Cropping Workshop 1:00 pm at Tsawassen Farm School (4996 28th Avenue, Tsawwasen) If you are a small-scale farmer in Metro Vancouver interested in increasing your knowledge about Cover Cropping Practices, this is the place for you! We are bringing together three experts in this field: Art Bomke is a Professor Emeritus at UBC and has spent decades studying local cover crop varieties; Corine Singfield is a local farmer, … Continue reading Ecological Workshops for Small-Scale Farmers – Vancouver Summer 2019 →

2019 South Coastal BC Compost Guide -SPEC

Posted by Michalina Hunter on April 16, 2019

South Coastal BC Compost Guide Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) has released a fantastic compost guide, updated for 2019. It contains information on identifying quality compost, how much to apply, and where to buy in the Lower Mainland. We hope this is helpful resource as you plan your farm amendments this season! Download the Compost Guide here: What is this Compost Guide about? This publication is an updated version of the 2018 ‘Composts for Farm Use Survey’ SPEC document created with the purpose of pursuing the issues relevant to the evaluation of local composts for farm use. For more in-depth … Continue reading 2019 South Coastal BC Compost Guide -SPEC →

EVENT RECAP: Columbia Basin Farm Business Planning 101 Workshop

Posted by Hailey Troock on February 18, 2019

On February 2nd, 2019, 16 farmers with a range of experience levels came together at Vallican Whole Community Center for a Farm Business Planning 101 Workshop. The workshop was prepared and given by Paul Kelly from the Community Futures Central Kootenay Self Employment Program. Paul holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Business and Entrepreneurship. He has managed large retail food operations including the Kootenay Co-op, production and processing at Fieldstone organic granary, and operated a local biofuel and feed commodity business out of Winlaw. Paul began his presentation by setting the regional labour market context. December 2018 saw the lowest … Continue reading EVENT RECAP: Columbia Basin Farm Business Planning 101 Workshop →