Calgary Urban Agriculture

Our Dwindling Food Variety

2012-01-26T19:33:00.004-07:00

A very telling graphic about crop and seed diversity, from National Geographic:

It’s like growing potatoes in a barrel…

2012-01-04T13:15:00.001-07:00

4 Simple Steps to Grow a Hundred Pounds of Potatoes in a Barrel.

Edible Education 101

2011-12-22T08:17:00.006-07:00

Edible Education 101 is a complete course in modern food production. Video lectures at UC Berkley are available for free online, featuring the likes of Michael Pollan himself. It's required viewing. Check it out here.

'Straight From the Farmers Mouth'

2011-10-08T21:49:00.003-06:00

Kris Vester is a farmer from the Calgary area. He was kind enough to sit down with me and share his perspectives on the current state of food in our region. Please keep in mind that this is only 5 minutes of a 45 minute interview. I should have the unedited version available soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_50ieC3qJU

Volunteer Call

2011-06-04T16:37:00.001-06:00

A note from Jodi at the Garden Path:

Hello everyone---

I may have talked to some of you this past weekend, but we are looking for volunteers for our annual fundraising opportunity this summer. During the Stampede (July 7-17th this year..), our volunteers take shifts selling raffle tickets on behalf of the Kinsmen. Other than the Sneak-a-Peek Thursday, there are three shifts a day -- morning, afternoon and evening. Its an easy, fun way for us to fundraise, and admission to the Park is taken care of.

The Kinsmen pay us per shift worked, so if you are interested, please volunteer as many times as you can!!

A big thanks to those that have already volunteered; I will be in touch with further details a little closer to the date. Happy gardening!

All the best,

Jodi Lucas

Funds and Granting Director

Garden Path Society

You can email Jodi for more details and shift times at jodijets65@hotmail.com

Permablitzes

2011-05-31T17:51:00.002-06:00

“Permablitzes change urban landscape, one garden at a time” is a report from Adrienne Beattie about permablitzes — “a day in which a group of people converge on an urban space to install a permaculture design.”

On farmers markets in Calgary

2011-05-02T10:30:00.003-06:00

Calgary Herald writer, Jeremy Klaszus, has written an article “City Hall can help markets grow” about the farmers' markets situation in Calgary.

Down Season

2011-01-05T12:04:00.005-07:00

Hey everyone, Just a quick hi-and-hello in the off-season for CUA. I wanted to point out a great resource for all of you urban ag minded folks: Salt Spring Seeds.

Not only can you buy your heritage and heirloom organic seeds via this Canadian company, their website also offers plenty of articles and instructions related to gardening. It may still be pretty dismal outside, but I know that I'm not the only one dreaming of warmer days ahead.

Getting downtown office towers to grow food

2010-04-22T16:28:00.002-06:00

The CBC has an article today about a building downtown that is converting its planters to food production: “Vegetables sprout in Plus 15 planters”.

A farmers’ market in downtown Calgary?

2010-04-21T14:48:00.002-06:00

A post by Paula Arab on her blog at the Calgary Herald asks: “Would you walk to an Urban Farmers’ Market in the heart of Calgary? It could be closer than you think.”

Community Garden Benefit Concert

2010-03-11T11:18:00.001-07:00

Hello Gardeners! Community Crop is sponsoring a concert of fabulous live music--local musicians of renown--and it is taking place right here in our own community, at the hall. The great thing is, all proceeds benefit our Currie Booster Garden. Please see the poster below or check out out facebook event page.

Saturday April 3rd - 7 pm

South Calgary Community Hall (3130 16th St. SW)

Featuring live performances by: Ellen McIlwaine , Clea Roddick , Clinton St. John , Thighs , and Wheat & Water .

There will also be a silent auction featuring amazing art pieces from local artists.

$10 at the door.

Event is licensed.

All ages welcome.

Co-hosted by South Calgary Community Association

and made possible by a generous grant from The Calgary Foundation.

If you are interested in volunteering for this event contact us at info@communitycrop.org

Great Article, from Lelani: Crop Mobbing!

2010-02-25T15:49:00.002-07:00

Read it here!

I love the idea of flash mobbing for productive ends.. If there's anyone with interest in this kind of activity, as the season rolls around, let me know! I would be happy to help organize events!

From the article:
“The more tedious the work we have, the better,” Jones said, smiling. “Because part of Crop Mob is about community and camaraderie, you find there’s nothing like picking rocks out of fields to bring people together.”

2009-12-03T14:13:00.002-07:00

Hi everyone,

As many of you may already know, the reason that I'm able to devote time to initiatives like Calgary Urban Agriculture and the "Rachel Grows Project" from last May, is because I have been supported by a scholarship from the Millennium Foundation. This means that instead of a full time job, I'm lucky enough to work with different volunteer and community initiatives.

This year, the foundation is closing its doors. It has been running for 15 years, and is at the end of its funding. All the scholarship recipients will receive the remainder of their funding. However, the Foundation will no longer be able to provide the programming it used to which kept all of us laureates in touch with each other, offering support and knowledge for the wide variety of programs we are interested in.

It has been an inspiration to me to see some of the laureates coming forward to bear the torch- we have organized and planned, and have been able to set forward a plan for the new Millennium Network. The Millennium Network will continue the programming (as best we are able,) for years to come. Part of what we're doing to put together an initial investment is competing in the Aviva Community Fund Competition, for a potential $50,000 worth of funding. We've already made it to the semi-finals, with over 4000 votes over 2 weeks. Aside from the competition, we have already raised nearly $10,000 nationally. Winning this competition would give us a level of stability that most startup not-for-profits don't see for years.

So- this is something of a solicitation for help. We're not looking for donations, just for a few minutes. If you could sign up (just an email address and name) at http://www.tinyurl.com/voteMN to vote on the competition, I would really appreciate it. The last round was really down to the wire, so every vote we can get counts. Whether having your help means a few votes, or a vote once a day, or forwarding this message to all of your friends and asking them to vote as well, I'll be really happy for any help at all. If you're interested in a daily reminder to vote throughout the competition, please feel free to let me know.

Thanks so much for all of your support and friendship. It means a lot that I have a community to look to for support.

Rachel

South Calgary Community: Fall Harvest Potluck!

2009-11-11T17:19:00.001-07:00

Just got this email today:

Everyone in the community is welcome:

gardeners and volunteers, families, friends, and neighbours, and those interested in gardening with us next season.

Bring your favourite dish - share your company and meet others in the community. Talk about gardening or find out more about communtity gardening for the 2010 season. There will also be a wine bar.

Sunday, November 15th

6pm to 9pm

South Calgary Community Centre Lower Hall

3130 16th Street SW

RSVP would be extremely nice but is not essential.

Email us at info@communitycrop.org

A reminder from Gael

2009-10-28T16:42:00.001-06:00

You Are Invited! A reminder for...

"Cheating the Calgary Climate: An Evening with Lyndon Penner on how to
extend the food growing season"

Sunday November 1, 2009 7:00-9:00PM
Unitarian Church of Calgary, 1703 1st Street NW
*See Attached Poster For Details*
Admission is free
Dessert and beverages provided
Families Welcome
Bring your Friends

Reservations urged by e-mail to garden.harfest@gmail.com

What's happening in the off season?

2009-10-28T09:19:00.002-06:00

It seems that things with CUA always start to slow down this time of year. It's always very appropriate, as the winter rolls in and we work a bit more, we seem to lose touch with the gardening community.

Veronika made an interesting comment on the google group recently. She expressed an interest in greenhouses, with the idea of extending the growing year. Here are her comments:

"I think we need to look at creating year round greenhouses in which we can grow mass veggies and fruits within the city. We should try and see if we can start looking for space and advocating for this within Calgary. Maybe even a muli-level green house, green space for families to come and help grow their food year round and just hang out in."

This seems like a really timely idea. I'd love to hear if there is more support for this within the community. I would be happy to start doing some research if there were more people wanting to get involved.

Updates!

2009-09-12T19:00:00.002-06:00

A note from Paul:

The Calgary Food Policy Council & Big Rock present The Calgary Food Summit on World Food Day, 16Oct09

The Calgary Food Policy Council is hosting the groundbreaking Calgary Food Summit (CFS) on World Food Day, October 16th, 2009. The CFS is an inclusive opportunity for all those actively involved and working towards improving our local & regional food system.

The objective of the CFS, the first ever event of this type for Calgary, is to discuss progressive policy that will create and build an enhanced food security, food justice, food efficiency, urban ag, community garden & sustainable ag landscape in Calgary.

As we often conduct our affairs independent of other local initiatives, bringing all the participants in our food systems together is an ideal way for our communities to celebrate World Food Day. The timing for local convergence's is fantastic, being on the heels of an amazing summer, harvest & the unparalleled growth, awareness and development of the sustainable food movement in North America.

If you are interested in attending or volunteering, please contact Paul Hughes.

Looks important

2009-09-11T12:40:00.001-06:00

An email I just received from Kirti Bhadresa, via Tavis:

(I edited it down a bit for brevity.)

Hi everyone,

Some of you may know Kris Vestor of Blue Mountain Biodynamic Farm, and may already know about this event. Kris is an amazing local farmer and individual who has been a strong advocate for local healthy food for a long time (among other things that he gets involved in as an activist).

His farm was hit by a recent storm and most of his crops and buildings were destroyed. Arusha, along with The Coup and Sunnyside Market, are putting together this fundraiser for Kris. The bands are great - and it'll be a super fun night. The event info is attached.

Also, Dave Robinson is looking for volunteers (so you'd get in for free)! If you could volunteer, please email him at videogrp@telus.net

And Tara may still be looking for donations for a silent auction. Her email is tara_sukut@hotmail.com if you have any items to donate.

See you there next Friday! It'd be great if you could also pass the word around.
Kirti Bhadresa, Calgary Dollars Coordinator

A message from Gael of the Community Garden Resource Network

2009-08-28T19:09:00.002-06:00

Thrive: Calgary's Community Economic Development Network
Join your voluntary sector, business and government colleagues with an interest in promoting community in Calgary because community economic development helps to create sustainable cities!

You are invited to join The Garden Path Society of Calgary as they share how they contribute to community well-being and sustainability through community gardening. Enjoy a locally-grown, after work snack from the garden as we learn about how the Garden Path Society contributes to CED practice by:

- Operating the Urban Garden Cooperative, which provides Calgarians a place to grow and harvest their own vegetables. Profilts from the u-pick are reinvested back into the Society

- Operating Cornucopia, which distributes the garden's abundant harvest to Calgary-based charities.

- Providing a welcoming way for community members to reduce their environmental footprint through local, organic gardening.

Date: Thursday, September 10, 2009
Time: 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Location: Garden Path Society of Inglewood
2297 17 Street SE
(Behind the Colonel Walker School Yard)

Please RSVP by Friday September 4

For more information please contact:
Brenna Atnikov
403-204-2668
www.thrivecalgary.org

The Tyee’s new series on urban agriculture

2009-08-18T09:52:00.004-06:00

The Tyee, out of B.C., has launched a new series of articles on urban agriculture.

The two posts so far go into the motivation behind the series, and “Why Urban Farming is the Future”.

CJSW Features Gurrilla Gardening!

2009-08-04T11:18:00.005-06:00

Urban Agriculture has gotten loads of attention this summer from all the media outlets in Calgary, thanks to the efforts of everyone involved in community gardening and guerrilla gardening this summer. Today, CJSW posted this feature with video clips from our very own city! Thanks to Cody for sending to the CUA google group.

Natural lawns gaining support

2009-07-24T15:21:00.005-06:00

A legal battle in Ottawa has advanced the cause of moving away from traditional water- and chemical-intensive lawns toward more sustainable approaches.

Some recently found items of interest

2009-07-24T13:16:00.005-06:00

With all the recent attention given to the push for legalizing chickens in the city, This Magazine’s recent article may be of interest: “Be an urban chicken farmer in 5 easy steps”

“Square foot gardening” presents an approach to growing food that can really simplify things — making gardening much more approachable for people new to it, or just too busy to deal with more complicated setups. The CBC has a useful story on this approach: Another take on urban gardening.

The Eat Well Guide is an online database of local, sustainable and organic food sources (farmers, shops, community gardens, restaurants, organizations, etc.) for Canada and the U.S. They don’t have any listings for Calgary, yet, but you can add listings. Another spot to promote our local resources.

Citizens Market “is a non-profit user-generated website for ethical consumption.”

SPIN Farming — urban backyards for commercial organic farming

2009-07-04T03:11:00.003-06:00

SPIN Farming is a business and growing model that converts multiple residential backyards into a commercial organic farm. Benefits include local food production (100-mile diet type stuff), organic growing, energy consumption reduction, community economic development, and neighbourhood quality of life improvements.

REAP Calgary has an article on SPIN Farming.

Who controls the seeds?

2009-06-22T11:52:00.007-06:00

One of Phil Howard's information graphics

Control and development of seeds is a critical issue in agriculture. Philip H. Howard at Michigan State University has produced some very telling information graphics that help illustrate the dangerous control of the seed industry. Particularly troubling is the dominance of chemical companies like Monsanto, DuPont, Syngent and Dow. Please take a moment to have a look at this scary reality.

Thanks to The New Resilient for their Twitter post about this.

Green Roofs in Canada

2009-06-07T15:48:00.002-06:00

CTV has published a story on green roofs in Canada.

What would it take to get a change to Calgary’s land-use by-laws, and the provincial building code, to strongly encourage — if not require — that new building roofs incorporate green roofs and/or solar or wind power collection?

The article mentions Greenroofs.com, a site dedicated to the field. They have a couple videos up. Here’s a short one promoting the idea of living roofs:

Free Composting Workshop! (thanks Grant!)

2009-05-29T09:53:00.000-06:00

The City of Calgary offers a free composting workshop:

Learn how your lawn, garden and city can benefit from your kitchen
scraps while discovering all the do's and don'ts of successful
composting. Join a Master Composter volunteer from Clean Calgary
Association for suggestions and resources on getting started, what to
do and equipment required.

Saturday, May 30, 2009, 10:30 a.m. - noon
at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Sunday, June 28, 2009, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

More info here!

Toronto passes green roof by-law

2009-05-27T14:04:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, Toronto’s city council passed a “By-law to Require and Govern the Construction of Green Roofs in Toronto”. I wonder what it would take to get Calgary to follow suit?

Mayor's Letter

2009-05-27T12:49:00.001-06:00

A couple days ago, I asked people to send a letter to the Mayor, requesting that he make a point of meeting the the CFPC.

Scott and Vi have both let me know that they have sent letters, and I know that Paul has sent a few. I'd like to reiterate the importance of this issue, and ask again that letters be sent. Please feel free to personalize the email I sent and to email it to themayor@calgary.ca

You can read it here.

Updates!

2009-05-27T12:47:00.000-06:00

From the Cornucopia garden:

"Hello fellow Cornucopians!

There is still more planting to do in the garden.
We will be in the garden the following times this weekend:

Saturday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Sunday 9 a.m. - noon, followed by a potluck (Please bring something to
share, enough for about 10 people, although there may be more than
that.)

Please also mark your calendars for a Cornucopia meeting on June 6th -
more information to come on this very very soon.

We are looking forward to seeing you in the garden!

Sincerely,
Your friends at the Cornucopia community garden

Abandoned flyer boxes into planters

2009-05-26T19:32:00.000-06:00

Posterchild in Toronto has been converting abandoned flyer/newspaper street boxes into planters. A neat addition to the guerrilla gardening arsenal.

Via Craftzine, via @trasie.

Workshop!

2009-05-20T17:23:00.001-06:00

Growing Food for the First Time Part 2: Raising Fruit and Herbs in Calgary

Wednesday June 3, 2009
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Scarboro Community Hall
1727 - 14 Avenue SW
Parking is free, transit is nearby and there is wheelchair access.

Join master gardener and organic market gardener, Elaine Rude, to learn
how to grow organic herbs and fruit in Calgary.

Elaine has extensive experience with hardy varieties of fruit trees, berry
bushes, herbs, native plants, water-wise food gardening and high-yield
intensive planting methods.

This workshop is designed for community gardeners new to growing
fruit and herbs and covers garden preparation, soil amending, getting the
most from your garden and individual fruit and herb varieties that thrive
in Calgary.

A suggested donation of $5 is requested for this educational workshop.
Light refreshments will be provided.

RSVP by Monday June 1, 2009 to communitygardens@calhort.org or
403-287-3469 ext 227.

In the event that you are not able to attend, please cancel your
reservation to accommodate gardeners on the waiting list.

This workshop is made possible by the Community Garden Resource Network (a
project supported by The Calgary Horticultural Society, The Calgary
Foundation and Evergreen).

A letter to the Mayor's office

2009-05-20T12:59:00.000-06:00

Hi guys-
I just got an email via the google group. It sounds like Mayor Bronconnier has not been able to meet with the CFPC yet, which is unfortunate. The role the CFPC has to play in developing food security in Calgary is vital - and can only be achieved in collaboration with city hall.

I've sent an email to the Mayor's office, urging him to meet with the CFPC. I would appreciate very much if everyone here could take the time to do the same. The email address is themayor[at]calgary.ca I know that you all have busy schedules, but I also believe strongly that the 15 minute time investment is very worthwhile. Here is the message I sent- you are absolutely welcome to simply enclose it in your email with a few words of support, if that is what best fits your schedule.

I would like to emphasize the importance of working with city hall on these issues- I know that there are sometimes differences of opinion, but the best way to find middle ground is to work together and talk it over.

Dear Mayor Bronconnier,

I would first like to congratulate you. It most satisfying to see the City of Calgary taking its first steps to ensure greater food security on behalf of its citizens. Calgary, having been a "have" province for many years now, is in a unique position to set an example as a City that is not afraid of change. There is great economic and societal benefit to taking advantage of the "green" movement, and using it to strengthen our community.

It recently came to my attention that you have been unable to meet with the Calgary Food Policy Council, a volunteer group which represents the growing interest in Calgary for a stronger foundation of food security. In the past year, the interest in urban agriculture and local food systems has grown. You must be aware of the activity- as the City of Calgary recently approved four new community gardens. We all saw this as an encouraging sign that your office has taken an interest in the longevity of our communities and the stability of our food supply.

I would like to add my voice to what is sure to be a chorus as this movement continues to grow. Food security is important to the people of Calgary. The mayors of Toronto and Vancouver meet with their Food Policy Councils on a regular basis, because the development of a plan for greater health, wellness and security is integral to their roles. It would be most reassuring to see that you feel the same way.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,

Rachel Simpson
Student, and concerned citizen

I have not been especially involved in the work of the CFPC, but I do think that their organization is important, and I support the work they do. Once again, you can send your email to themayor[at]calgary.ca,

Cheers,
Rachel

City of Calgary on healthier yards

2009-05-14T18:43:00.000-06:00

The City of Calgary has posted a public service announcement today: Plans for your yard this weekend? Consider developing your own healthy yard.

Corporatization of the Calgary Farmers Market???

2009-05-13T23:48:00.000-06:00

The at the root blog has a post titled “the calgary farmers market goes corporate”. Very troubling.

Greening the Desert

2009-05-10T23:52:00.000-06:00

Given the potential for loss of the Bow River due to the accelerated melting of the primary glacier that feeds it, and given the aridness of our land area, being able to address growing in desert territory may eventually become relevant locally.

Regardless, the process for transforming desert to garden shown in this video is fascinating:

Cedarbrae Community Gardens

2009-05-07T09:58:00.001-06:00

This weekend, we'll also be going out to help out at Cedarbrae community gardens.

http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=97195904739

I hear speak of free food...

Cornucopia Updates!

2009-05-05T11:33:00.000-06:00

From Jacqueline:

Our season has begun at Cornucopia. We are allowing anyone in Calgary to come Grow Your Own Food at 2297 17th Street SE (behind Colonel Walker School). More information can be found at www.calgarygardenpath.ca, or they can contact me personally.

Right now we have times set up for everyone to be in the garden together growing food. These are Saturdays and Sundays 9:30am-3:00pm. No previous experience is necessary, this is a 1/2 acre of land ready for planting by those interested in growing their own food. We focus on communal sharing of food, ideas, education, resources and land. Communal projects require people to take their own initiative in adding ideas, work and organization. This coming weekend will be the time to start planting and many hands make light work. I will be there this weekend if anyone has questions, but all that is needed is to show up!

Those of us already involved would love to see new faces and new ideas. Leadership is shared, like the food, we need people to show that working together does work!

National Geographic Green Effect Competition

2009-05-04T12:57:00.001-06:00

National Geographic is holding a competition for the greenest idea for someone's city. The winner, who submits and idea for greening their city, will win 20000 dollars to do it! Very exciting stuff. Any ideas?

Brentwood community garden!

2009-05-04T09:39:00.000-06:00

Those lovely folkins in Brentwood are starting a community garden! If you live in Brentwood and would like to come to their first meeting, send an email with your name, your phone number, your email address and your home address to commgardens-14-announce@meetup.com.

Vegetable gardening workshop

2009-05-04T09:36:00.001-06:00

I just received this updates from the Calgary Community Gardens Meetup Group. Thanks cody!

What: Growing Food for the First Time: An Introduction to Organic Vegetable Gardening
When: Monday May 11, 2009 - 6 pm to 9 pm
Price: CAD5.00 per person (suggested donation)

Join master gardener and organic market gardener, Elaine Rude, to learn how to grow vegetables successfully in Calgary. Elaine has extensive experience with hardy varieties of vegetables, native plants, water-wise food gardening and high-yield intensive vegetable planting methods.

This workshop is designed for community gardeners new to growing vegetables and covers garden preparation, soil amending, getting the most from your garden and individual vegetable varieties that thrive in Calgary.

A suggested donation of $5 is requested for this educational workshop. Light refreshments will be provided.

RSVP by Thursday May 7, 2009 to communitygardens@calhort.org or 403-287-3469 ext 227.

Unfortunately, this venue is not wheelchair accessible.
More info.

National Geographic on Green Roofs

2009-04-28T17:14:00.001-06:00

National Geographic has a new article looking at Green Roofs.

Vertical farming skyscrapers

2009-04-25T16:34:00.000-06:00

A video about designing skyscrapers as vertical farms.

Cedarbrae Community Gardens

2009-04-25T13:11:00.000-06:00

The city recently announced the approval of 4 new gardens (a small but promising step forward.) One of those gardens is in Cedarbrae, and they'll be constructing their beds from the 8th to the 10th. I'm thinking that we should organize a field trip out to give them a hand. (I'll facebook that notion:)) They also have a blog up: http://cedarbraegarden.wordpress.com/

It's short notice, but I just heard about this event, happening today:

"We will be celebrating Earth day and introducing the new Community Garden at the Cedarbrae Community Center from 12-3 pm on April 25th, 2009. We will have water wise displays, brochures and general information for maintaining your house, lawn and garden during the hot summer months."

So go out and see the space, and get pumped for a season of community gardening!

New Herald Article

2009-04-19T15:30:00.000-06:00

I was really excited to see this article, about the need for more community gardens in Calgary. It's amazing to see so much interest develop so quickly.

I think that one of the things that needs focusing on is making these newly developing gardens socially sustainable- that is, we want to make sure that they become lasting hubs for community development and engagement. It would be fantastic to organize a group field trip to one of the gardens to give them a hand getting started.

Does anyone know anyone involved in these gardens? Could we make a trip out to one?

Event: LOCAL 101 - Eating Food You Know, From People You Know

2009-03-25T15:49:00.000-06:00

Just got this message from Grant, and wanted to share!

Info: http://www.foragefoods.com/local-101/

LOCAL 101 - Eating Food You Know, From People You Know
an afternoon of presentations on local food and agriculture featuring
local farmers and cooks
this event is for everyone who eats!

Saturday, March 28th at the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Center - Social Hall
Doors Open 1:00PM, Event Begins 1:30PM
featuring a cash bar and samples of food from local farmers and producers sponsored by Slow Food Calgary, Forage, and SAIT Hospitality and Tourism

$15 Advance Tickets available from Forage
In Person (cash, debit, Visa, Mastercard)
Over the Phone (between 10AM and 7PM), (403)269-6551 (Mastercard, Visa) and we’ll have a Ticket Pick Up Table at the event
Tickets are also available at Sunnyside Grocery until Friday, March 27th

$20 Tickets at the door are CASH ONLY $10 Students

The Agenda:
1:00 PM Doors Open
1:30 PM Welcome and Introduction
Wade Sirois – Forage and Infuse Catering
Food You Know

1:45 PM Alberta Products and Availabilities
Jennifer Cockrall-King – Edible Prairie Journal and Food Writer
what are our local products and when are they available

2:00 PM Where to Find Local Products
Dee Hobsbawn-Smith
farmer’s markets, at the farm, retail, CSAs, etc.

2:15 PM What Does It Cost?
Mark Klaudt – Route 40 Soup Company
a frank look at the costs associated with agriculture on a small and sustainable level, regulators, certifications, marketing boards, processing, restaurants

2:30 PM The Importance of Bees
Cherie Andrews – Chinook Honey and Chinook Arch Meadery
a holistic look at the importance of bees and issues like CCD and GMO
crop contamination

2:45 PM Break
bottled water, tap water, fruit, veggies offered
From People You Know

3:00 PM The Experience From the Kitchen
Wade Sirois – Forage and Infuse Catering
a cook’s viewpoint on working with local products in the home kitchen and the professional kitchen

3:15 PM The Experience From the Farm
Kris Vester – Blue Mountain Bio-Dynamic Farm: a farmer’s viewpoint on providing local products

3:30 PM The Future of Farming in Alberta
Peter Haase – Buffalo Horn Ranch
the opportunities and challenges for the future, succession, regulations, land use, young farmers, seed)

3:45 PM Who is Your Food From?
introduction to the local farmers/producers/cooks in attendance who will come across the stage and introduce themselves

4:00 PM Question and Answer Period
moderated by Tony Marshall – Highwood Crossing

4:20 PM Closing Comments
Tony Marshall – Highwood Crossing

4:30 PM Mix and Mingle
cash bar with Wild Rose Velvet Fog Beer, Chinook Arch Mead, Kayben Farm Black Currant Ginger punch, Okanagan wines
sampling of local foods presented by Slow Food Calgary, SAIT Hospitality and Tourism, Forage
5:40 PM Bar Closes
6:00 PM Event Complete

This looks like it will be a fabulous event, and I wish I were in town to attend!

"Group Calls for Urban Chickens"

2009-03-17T09:58:00.000-06:00

Metro Calgary published a story today about the push to legalize chickens in Calgary. Unfortunately, they confused a few of the details (I'm not involved in CLUCK- as much as I would love to be associated with the work they're doing,) but it is really great to see media starting to pick up on specific issues related to urban agriculture. Thanks Jennifer!

Here's the story, written by Jennifer Hillicker:

If you can’t afford to buy fresh meat in today’s economy, one Calgary group has a solution — raise it at home.

The Calgary Liberated Urban Chicken Klub (CLUCK) wants city council to update the Calgary Municipal Code in order to permit the responsible raising of backyard chickens.

“The major benefit of backyard chickens is food security,” said Rachel Simpson, who is involved with CLUCK through Calgary Urban Agriculture. “It’s pretty key, especially in Calgary right now. Calgary is a little bit lacking as far as how much food we get locally and how much food people grow themselves. The idea of growing your own food develops a pride in your community.”

The group is petitioning city council to follow in Vancouver’s footsteps, which approved bylaws to legalize the keeping of urban hens on March 5.

They say benefits include the fact that chickens produce a rich fertilizer by-product, they eat table scraps, reducing municipal organic waste, and they produce fresh, healthy eggs.

Baby steps...

2009-03-13T00:29:00.000-06:00

It's very exciting to note that the city of Calgary has approved 6 new community gardens on parks land, and has put together a process for communities who want to apply for garden space. There is a long way to go in making Calgary a more liveable city with a strong foundation of food security, but this is a huge step in the right direction.

Check out the application here.

Workshops workshops workshops!

2009-03-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to let you know what kinds of exciting workshops are available to all of you in the next little while.

First off, Seedy Saturday is coming up on March 21st, so get ready for an exciting event! Admission is only $2, and there will be a variety of Free workshops for attendees. It will be held at the Montgomery community centre. Here's what they have to say:

"This family event will have displays by local seed savers, prairie seed companies, native plant collectors, conservation groups, community gardeners, organic growers; as well as, a seed exchange table, refreshments, presenters, entertainment, and a kids corner"

Integrated Pest Management and Seed Saving workshops will be held - and I believe a few more are being lined up... Anyone know details?

Check them out on facebook.

You can also attend the Calgary Horticultural Society's Garden Show for an amazing variety of workshops, clinics, consult-an-experts and more! There's a summary of what's happening on their website here.

We also have some interest in the composting workshop we'd like to host, but if there's anyone else who would like to be involved, please feel free to comment, or drop me a line.

Clean Calgary Workshops

2009-02-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Another quick note on workshops. There are a few run by Clean Calgary.

Composting, at $8 a person, is something I've heard a few people mention. If you're interested, as always, let me know. The Green Cleaning might also be popular. Also $8.

Last Meetup, Workshops and Meetup Promotion

2009-02-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
Midterms and projects are eating up my time at the moment, but I wanted to take a bit of time to get us all up to speed on what's happening.

The last meetup was apparently a success, I've heard that lots of you showed up to chat and share info. Hooray! It's always nice to hear that things can run smoothly without me around. Thanks to Grant for making that happen.

I've been hearing a bit of interest on the vermiculture workshop, if there are others who would like to be involved, we still need a couple more responses before I can book it. It's only $5/ person with our group discount, so it's a great opportunity. Drop me a line or leave me a comment if you'd like to be included.

I've also been getting comments that we should promote our meetups more widely, which I think is an excellent idea. I'm always open to suggestions, and I love it when people take initiative. Let me know if you have an idea, or would like to do something to promote the event.

That's all for now, folks!

CUA meetup, January!

2009-01-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

Yet another CUA meetup is happening on Monday January 19th at 6:30 PM, in the community room at Eau Claire Market. I'm excited to say that while I won't be in Calgary, Grant has agreed to chair the meeting. Hooray! Thanks Grant!

Please chat about workshops you would like to have, and things you would like to learn. Pass these things on to me, and I'll try to make them happen.

CUA meetup report

2008-12-20T12:58:00.001-07:00

This Thursday was our most recent CUA meetup, and I was very pleased to see about a dozen hard core participants come to chat about the latest happenings in Calgary. Thanks to everyone who braved blistering winds and subzero temperatures to show up during the busiest time of the year - your commitment definitely brightened up my day. Also, thanks to Grant for coming, as always, to help with the meeting and to push me into learning how to organize groups on my own.

It's December, and despite the freezing weather, a surprising amount is going on with urban agriculture. There are a lot of plans being made, campaigns being formed, and a great deal of interest in making progress. We met a teacher from Rundle who is planning a garden with students, for example. We discussed the reasons why we thought of urban agriculture as an important movement (which I will talk about in my next post.) There was also interest in the facilitation of some workshops in relation to agriculture, which I will be looking into in the coming months. If you, or someone you know, has some area of knowledge or expertise, please feel free to drop me a line. I like to get teachers and students together.

I'm also looking into getting some small funding, to see if there is more than can be done in that area. As usual - if you have any connections, ideas or plans please let me know.

Baking soda and vinegar

2008-12-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today filled an old shampoo bottle with a half and half mix of vinegar and water (about a cup total) which could be dabbed on a cloth for general cleaning or squirted into nooks and crannies that were really gunky. I used this on nearly everything that needed cleaning in approximately the following order: the walls, the cabinets and shelves, the basin, the surfaces in the shower, and finally the cleaner surfaces of the toilet. This dealt with the majority of scum and residues wonderfully. In some places I had to let the water and vinegar sit for a bit, so I would rub a bit on and then go and work elsewhere for a while before coming back to give the problem spot a good scrub.

The baking soda was used on the pervasive blue stains in the sink and the shower tiling (Why blue? Who knows... I'd guess that your stain colours may vary). I had heard that you could use the soda with a cloth but that didn't seem to work as well as just rubbing it in with my hands so I ended up pouring a couple table spoons of soda onto a plate and taking pinches of it and rubbing it in by hand. Yes, I loosened the majority of grunge build-up by scrubbing with my hands. It was immensely satisfying and I have yet to notice any ill effects on my skin (other than a slight soapy feeling until I washed my hands in the sink). After such handy scrubbing it just took a bit of a wipe with the vinegar cloth to finish up.

Conclusion? I feel more comfortable working with things that I'm happy to put in my food. It also did a perfectly respectable job of cleaning as judged by my intuition, visual check, and sense of touch. And I'd recommend everyone try it at least once.

Updates!

2008-12-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

CFPC

The CFPC met yesterday to talk about plans for a 2011 Calgary campaign. This campaign will play off of goals in cities like London and Vancouver to have over 2000 community gardens in the city by said year. In the new year, the group will be continuing to grow, become more organized and start to promote itself- beginning with an article in the Herald. This is an exciting plan, and one I'll be keeping you informed about as it progresses.

2012 urban gardens in London by 2012

CUA Meetup!

Thursday the 18th will be our next Calgary Urban Agriculture meetup! We invite everyone out to share what they're involved with, projects they're working on, or just to come learn about what's happening around urban agriculture in Calgary.

Details on Facebook

Personal Research

In Vancouver, I've been beginning my research to design a microhome, with closed-loop food and waste processing systems, higher energy production than consumption and passive heating/ cooling. This is obviously a demanding project, one which will take me on many adventures over the course of the next2 years. Feel free to chat with me about the project, whether you are simply interested, have questions, or would like to share experience/ technical expertise. All interest is welcome!

Interview with Andy Nichols

2008-12-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a correspondence/ interview I've had with Andy Nichols, a Journalism student at SAIT. I thought I would post the questions and answers.
-------------------

Ms. Simpson,

Hello my name is Andy Nichols and I am a second year photojournalism student at SAIT. I am working on a feature story for class about the recent rise in Locavores, and people following the "100-mile diet".

Essentially I was wondering if it would be at all possible to interview you (as admin of the Urban Agriculture group on facebook) regarding eating only local foods, the method and practice of urban agriculture and the general mentality of exclusively eating from local sustainable sources.

The interview can be done electronically and the resulting article would not be published in a publication, in case that is a concern. It would be strictly used for class and if it were to ever move toward a publication I would most certainly ask all sources in advance.

Thank you in advance for your assistance and for your time.

---Cheers, Andy Nichols---

Hey Andy,

I would certainly be happy to speak to you about the merits of urban agriculture - though the philosophy of this movement is not necessarily based solely on eating locally and encompasses other ideas regarding self-sufficiency and space issues. I can definitely provide some insight on the Urban Agriculture movement, and do have a strong understanding of issues that go hand-in-hand with eating locally.

I myself am not a locavore, being more of a freegan (I'm an art student, it comes with the turf.) I'm concerned with food economics- food waste, the hegemonies of our eating habits, and why we have become so detached from food production. Again, this goes hand in hand with local food as well as the slow-food movement.

You might also be interested to hear about the 100 mile dinner that's happening at Emily Carr, as well as a personal class project in which I fed 20 people with food from dumpsters and food waste bins.

Cheers,
Rachel Simpson
--------------------------

Hello Rachel,

Thank you again for being willing to help me, I greatly appreciate it. Insight on the Urban Agriculture group would be great, and any info you can give me about the locavore philosophy would help out quite a bit.

Also your personal class project sounds extremely interesting. I have heard of Freegansim but only very little. As a part of the feature we have to write a 500 word secondary article related to the primary subject and I could see covering the ideology as a major possibility. The idea of eating only free foods, when I heard it, intrigued me ( I believe that is how it works, correct?). My sister worked for awhile in the bakery department of a Safeway and would often lament the locked dumpster behind the store that was full of perfectly fine cookies, breads and cakes, as it was store policy to purge the shelves of any and all baking at the end of every day. They locked it to keep away animals, they claimed. And probably to maintain demand, since to be honest a know many people who would happily get their wrapped garlic bread from a dumpster for free rather than a shelf for a price.

Did you dinner go well? Was it a surprise/ experiment to see whether or not people could tell the difference? Where did you get the food? Did you have to prepare it all? I am very interested by that idea.

But I digress. Below are a few questions about urban agriculture and locavorism. Please try to be as expansive as possible, and thank you again.

1. Who are you?

2. What do you do?

3. What is urban agriculture?

4. How and why did you become involved with urban agriculture?

5. What are the major downsides to industrialized, or large scale agriculture?

6. What are the major upsides to urban agriculture?

6. What is Locavorism (at least, what is a general summary)?

7. Is urban agriculture related to the ideology of locavorism?

8. Are you yourself a locavore, and/or could you define Freeganism?

8. Do you know of any health benefits of eating locally (either personally or from people you know)? And do you know the downsides to eating industrialized meat and produce?

9. Why do you believe North American society has become so departed from local eating?

10. Where do you see agriculture and eating habits going in the future?

11. Any extra comments on issues related to local eating and the current state of agriculture in Canada?

Also some info regarding Freegansim would be greatly appreciated. Such as where you get your food, how often, what do you say to people who find the idea "unhealthy", etc. I know this a lot to respond to, and I thank you again in advance for helping me.

I hope to hear from you soon, and if you have any questions feel free to ask me.

---Cheers, Andy---

I should probably first state that Calgary Urban Agriculture is not a group or organization in the standard sense. We have no mission statement, no real hierarchy and we don't meet regularly. We aren't all working on one project or towards a specific goal. It's original purpose was to serve as a forum for people already working with urban agriculture and on projects surrounding food security, and to get more people involved with those groups. You can take a look at calgaryurbanagriculture.blogspot.com to see all the blog posts I have made. When I originally created the fb group last summer, we had an overwhelming response. We hosted a couple meetups at Eau Claire Market and were pleasantly surprised with an (almost-too-big) turnout.

The question about who I am is, I'm afraid, rather anticlimactic. I'm a student studying Industrial Design at Emily Carr University, originally from Calgary. I've been involved in community and volunteer work for a long time and in various ways- from working on the steering committee of a website aimed at helping youth be more active in the community to volunteering for CJSW and The Gauntlet, and a whole bunch of other projects.

What I do is study Industrial Design, which seems rather contradictory considering the fact that I'm fairly anti-materialism and not a huge fan of the corporationalist turn our democratic/capitalist structure has taken. The reasons for the program I'm in have to do with learning about restructuring our systems of consumption and coming up with alternatives to the marketed lifestyles we find ourselves participating in. I'm also interested in integrating micro-housing and urban agriculture to make a high standard of living more accessible to a wider range of people. That's the nutshell statement anyway.

Urban agriculture is the practice of growing fruit, vegetables, herbs, and other plant resources in urban centres. This can be small scale- like a backyard garden, it can be "revolutionary" like Guerrilla Gardening, it can be rooftop gardens, school gardens, window ledge pots or planter boxes. It can be large or small scale. An excellent example of a city that has harnessed the power of collective Urban Agriculture is Havana, Cuba. I'm not an expert, but I did attend an excellent talk given by Marella Falat at a conference recently. It was quite impressive to see the progress the Cubans have made in such a short period of time.
Here, just read up:)
http://bss.sfsu.edu/raquelrp/pub/2000_aug_pub.html
http://www.cityfarmer.org/cuba.html

The real extent of my involvement in Urban Agriculture has been to get others involved in urban agriculture. Besides volunteering at the UBC Farm a few times, I've been most devoted to getting some push behind the movement in Calgary. I worry about my hometown. The state of food security is disconcerting, the small-town values that people used to talk about seem to be disappearing. Neither of these things bother me as much as what I see in light of my research on the building of sustainable cities. The question is, when the oil boom is over, what reason will people have to stay in Calgary? As a car-oriented city, costs of living are high. Housing costs are high. Public transportation is not a priority, things are not built on a human scale and so on and so forth. I feel that Urban Agriculture has the potential to bring people together on a community scale and allows them to work for the security of their future together. It's a very powerful thing, working to meet basic human needs as a community.

Large scale industrialized agriculture certainly has its downsides- largely that it can be done in a non-sustainable way (when I say sustainable, I mean that it can't keep going on as it is forever) and that businesses like the well-known Monsanto are working to undermine farmers' self-sufficiency. But frankly, I think it's more important to focus on the benefits of empowering action that individuals can take to be more self-sufficient.

The upsides of urban agriculture are pretty numerous. Primarily, the integration of urban agriculture into our lifestyles (like, say, the victory gardens of WWII to use a common example) will lead to greater food security. This frees us from dependence on outside food sources, leaving us less vulnerable to global food or economic crises and attacks on our sovereignty. (When I say attacks on our sovereignty, I mean disadvantageous trade agreements, for example.) In addition to self-sufficiency as a society, there are also the advantages to self-sufficiency on an individual level. Ability to provide our own basic needs makes individuals less vulnerable to economic crisis, providing a safety net- just in case.

There are also numerous benefits to having access to fresh vegetables and fruits whose origins you have control over. There are the benefits of a healthier diet, as well as less ingestion of pesticides (as long as you choose the organic route and take proper precautions against contaminated soil.) Gardening also encourages individuals to get outside, be more active, get more exercise and engage more in their physical surroundings. Community gardening encourages active engagement and cooperation with neighbors, strengthening bonds with those who live in your immediate area through mutually beneficial activity.

In addition to these immediate improvements to quality of life, I also believe that urban agriculture has the potential to reshape the priorities of societies. As we live today, we are detached from our systems of production, from our communities and from our physical needs. These series of detachments appear to have major impact on our personal health, both mental and physical. A steep rise in stress and obesity disorders specific to western society are two excellent examples of the downsides to our sedentary nature. Disengagement from the role corporations play in putting food on the table is also an issue that needs to be addressed, but is so deeply a part of cultural hegemonic values that it is nearly invisible. Urban agriculture creates more engaged, active individuals whose desire to participate could address all these problems and more.

Which all leads nicely into Locavorism!
Locavorism is, to put it simply, eating locally. The hundred mile diet is a good example of this.

Reasons to eat locally include:
-cutting down on carbon emissions by buying food that hasn't been shipped from somewhere far away, or been shipped for processing
-better awareness of where your food is coming from, and what it has gone through to get to you
-this often means making the choice to go organic, or simply to avoid food contamination scares that come with big-factory processing
-supporting local economies, and having less of what you pay go into the pockets of middlemen
-supporting family farms, who often (not always, but often) have better practices than factory farms
-making producers accountable for how they behave, how they treat food, and what impact they have on communities

Urban agriculture, by definition, is locavoristic. You produce the food that you eat, locally. In some cases, food produced locally is sold to nearby towns- this benefits local economies, and is far better than the transport for processing and distribution often exercised by factory farms.

(I just want to note that, despite my criticism, I don't think large farms and farm businesses should be eliminated. They play an important role in our food systems. I do however think that diversity in our food systems is more balanced, stable and secure both on a basic food security level and on an economic level.)

If I could, with ease, choose to become a pure locavore, I probably would. It's cheaper, fresher, more accountable produce that would be good for my conscience. The reality however is that it's very difficult to know where your food comes from. Packaging requirements allow food that is packaged in Canada to say "Canada" on the label, even if the food itself has come from say South America. Good ways to eat more locally include buying from farmers markets when they're open, and of course, engaging in Urban Agriculture.

Freeganism is the practice of eating for free. Historically, it's based in gleaning, the practice of allowing less fortunate people (or anyone really) to gather leftover produce from fields after harvesting has taken place. I've actually been seeing some articles about farms in the states returning to this practice, which is thrilling. Waste not want not:)

As it applies in an urban setting- freeganism means scavenging in dumpsters, getting food from businesses that throw things out at the end of the day, and sometimes getting friends who are employees to collect food that would otherwise be discarded. Businesses like Safeway and IGA throw away a disgraceful amount of food daily, which they destroy and put in locked dumpsters. They do this, they say, to protect themselves legally- but it is likely also to protect themselves financially. While there is nothing wrong with a business protecting itself and its stockholders, this practice of creating an enormous discarded surplus clearly represents a major flaw in food distribution systems, and is utterly horrifying in the face of struggling food banks and poverty in our cities. Smaller, local businesses are more accountable in the sense that they can often be convinced to donate the food they discard to food banks and shelters. Larger companies like Safeway chalk it up to company policy, and are therefore harder to penetrate. This is not to say that they are evil- I have heard of these companies changing their minds in some places. It all comes down to communities being aware, and taking action to hold these businesses accountable for their impact.

Health benefits of eating locally are related to better awareness and accountability in your food systems. Smaller farms and businesses have a smaller customer base, so they are more likely to take good care of those customers. They are also more likely to be community members themselves, so they have a stake in how their business impacts the people and environment around them. This makes them far less likely to engage in destructive practices- like farming that destroys the soil, pesticides and chemicals, poor waste disposal, destruction of communities, local resources.. the list goes on and on.

9. Why do you believe North American society has become so departed from local eating?

That's a pretty enormous question. There are quite a few factors that have directly contributed to our new-found distance from our food production systems, convenience likely being the most important. It is becoming less and less convenient to eat locally. Large corporations, like Safeway, buy food from wherever they can access it least expensively. In many cases, this means that it's cheaper to ship it across the country. This can be done in very exploitative ways, with a high impact on energy resources. In recent times, there has also been a move towards factory farms, which are more economically efficient if you have the capital to start one. The downsides of these farms (as I mentioned) is that they often have enormous environmental impact, questionable treatment of animals and they undermine smaller operations. These smaller operations tend to return more money to the local economy, "spreading the wealth around" better than larger companies, where more of the money travels up the pyramid.

I don't want to describe this as a black and white issue- it's far from it. Corporations are not evil, they just exist to make money. Small business is not saintly. Again, I think it's important for us to rely on many different businesses for our food, in order to support everyone in our society in a balanced manner. That said- buying local and organic whenever you can puts pressure on those companies, be they large or small, that are not adhering to standards of food production that, ideally, would be universal.

For a very basic view on the dangers of factory farming, check out The Meatrix: http://www.themeatrix.com/

10. Where do you see agriculture and eating habits going in the future?

It seems as though people are becoming more aware of food issues lately, as they go hand in hand with the economic downturn and the push for more sustainable living. I believe that community supported agriculture and urban agriculture will gain a great deal of momentum in the coming years, as food shortages make their way into Canada and the United States. In Calgary and Vancouver, I have been seeing more attention and interest in growing food and finding local produce. Times of scarcity can push people apart or pull them together. My internal optimist is ever hopeful that these coming years will help us change our ways for the better.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/health/02well.html?_r=3&emc=eta1

About my class project:

Did you dinner go well?
Yes, it went surprisingly well. Everyone at the table WAS told ahead of time where the food they were eating had come from. 17 out of 20 people ate.

Was it a surprise/ experiment to see whether or not people could tell the difference?
Not really- it was more of a statement about food standards, waste, and our connection to where our food comes from. It was about urban gleaning.

Where did you get the food?
There were various sources. Organic dumpsters heading for compost and businesses that give away things they intend to throw out were some of the places. I also told a couple major companies that I needed some waste food for a sculpture project, and was able to access their room full of waste bins, "as long as it's not going to be eaten." Yes, that was rascal-like behavior, but I wanted to know more about how much food we waste, and what gets done with it.

Did you have to prepare it all?
Yes. I cooked it all in my tiny apartment kitchen, with the help of my partner Zack. It took a long time.

It was a fully vegetarian meal. The full cost came to less than 5 dollars, for things like cooking oil, eggs and spices. We made salads, an eggplant and tomato dish, potatoes, and a few others that have since slipped my mind. We drank water and sat around a fancy set table, with reusable dishes and cups. It was served formally by a few of my friends dressed as waiters.

I would be interested in performing the piece again in different places. If you, or someone you know is interested, feel free to drop me a line.

Legalizing urban chickens

2008-10-10T10:27:00.000-06:00

I've been so excited about the recent enthusiasm for trying to get the keeping of chickens legalized. It's a great idea, the benefits of which would be enormous for those of us interested in producing our own food sustainably. All the hubbub began with an article Angela posted on her blog. After that, there was an article in ffwd, which probably should have referenced her.

There has been talk recently about orchestrating the movement - writing letters, getting the support of local businesses, which seems like an excellent direction to take it. Here is the email sent by ravis, which outlines an excellent step-by-step plan we could use.

Hi All,

I have just recently come back to Calgary and have been following this
thread as I am also interested in getting chooks in the future. Why
don't we take a slightly different approach to gaining support from
the alder people? We should leave the Guerilla method in our back
pocket and definitely whip it out if needed, but only if they are
wearing leather outfits and spike collars like Lindsay suggested.

To gain the support of the aldermen/women we need to build support in
a similar fashion to that of a pyramid. These alderpeople have
nothing to gain right now by agreeing to allowing chickens into our
neighbourhoods. We should start getting letters of support from non
profit groups like clean calgary, sympathetic CEO's, and local
businesses. This will take time as we need to get a lot of them.
Then as far as the petition goes we should focus on areas of the city
where we know a lot of people would get into urban chook farming.
Luckily we have large numbers of ethnic people who may very well have
had chooks in their home country and may want to have them here. I
bet you that there are 70,000 people that go in and out of T n T
market on a Saturday and Sunday for food. My point is if we start to
haggle the aldermen without getting support from a number of different
sources he is going to push the issue aside and focus his attention on
things that "matter" like arresting cats that are peeing in your
garden. Lets start a list of people in high up places that would
support this. We can also get a petition going in parallel. In
addition we need to write a letter on good management practises for
keeping chickens. We don't want anyone to think that sanitary
conditions are going to be compromised by keeping chooks. To test
this best management practise we get Lindsay set up with some Guerilla
chickens, doesn't monsanto already make these??:)

Here is the start of support list.

Natalie Odd, Clean Calgary
Lindsay Ross
Provincial Green, Liberal and NDP candidates
I will write a letter as www.ravissustainable.com
Calgary Garden Path
All of the other community gardens
Hip businesses on 17th and in Ingelwood
Rivas Ecostore
Green builders
Arusha
YEP Calgary
Green drinks
Landscaping centres??
Home Depot (they might sell chicken coops)
Rona (dido)
Pet stores( they will sell the chicks)

This looks like a great way to get started.

For those of you interested in getting involved, comment here. Join the facebook group, or send letters to your MPs! Let us know what you think about meeting up and getting started!

Calgary Garden Path talk

2008-10-03T18:57:00.000-06:00

More emails to pass on:

I will be giving a short presentation on Sunday night at 5:00 pm @ Sunday Night at Calgary Garden Path, about how to justify the 67 dollar tomato and why it is important to persevere with urban ag and small scale permaculture projects. I will be discussing peak oil, climate change and food security and the real costs of food that are hidden from everyday life.

Hope to see you there.

Regards
Rob Avis

Garden Rescue!

2008-09-26T12:35:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! I received this email this morning, and thought I would pass it on to you:

A garden is being rescued, rejuvenated and transformed into a community garden at the Calgary Alternative High School. Are you interested or available to help on either of two upcoming work days Friday October 3 and Saturday October 4? Please see the attached poster.

Could you please share this email with other people that might be interested in helping a garden in early October with work that will enable it to become an active garden in 2009...

Thank you so much for your help on this!

Gael Blackhall
Community Garden Resource Network
403-287-3469 ext 227

Garden Events!

2008-08-30T21:18:00.000-06:00

Hello volunteers (and soon to be volunteers when you see how beautifully the garden is growing!)
There are some events and workshops coming up for the garden that we would like to make you aware of, some really cool stuff including Yoga in the Garden, Eat Your Whole Garden, Fall Festival, and more (see calendar attached) and info below.....

In addition to these events I would like to call out once more for volunteers.

Harvesting: We need help harvesting for charity. It is the BEST time!
On harvest days you can help gather 50lbs of Fresh Produce to donate to:
The Sheriff King Home, Salvation Army, The Alex, and Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids.
Harvest times:
Every Wednesday 5pm-dusk
Every Sunday 9:30am-2pm
email to let us know when you will be coming to help: Linda- lindarisa@hotmail.com

Autumn Garden Gnomes Needed:
No experience necessary. Great way to learn about edible plants, harvesting, planting seeds for winter crops etc.
The Garden takes extra care and preparation in the fall, ensuring an early frost doesn't damage the crops we've taken such good care of.
As well there is the focus on getting ready for a new season, saving seeds, cleaning up plants that are finished producing, composting.
We can use your help:
Every Tuesday 4pm-7pm
Every Thursday 10am-1pm
email to let us know when you will be coming to help: Linda- lindarisa@hotmail.com

With an Exciting Fall Festival planned for Sept. 13th we are asking your help in preparing for it.
We can use your help on the Pre Festival Crew
Sunday, September 7, 12-2pm and/or
Tuesday, September 9, 6-8pm
Location: Garden (or Blackfoot Diner if it is raining)
Tasks: Making signs for Fall Festival, Garden Cleanup, and more.
Please email Linda: lindarisa@hotmail.com

More soon about the Fall Festival. Stay tuned

More news and Events:

All of the plants are thanking all of you who helped for taking care of them this summer. When harvest time comes they will be ready to nourish many people with all of the nutrients they need, vitamins,minerals, friendly bacteria. If you would like to share in this bounty, harvest shares are nearly bought up, but we may be able to squeak a few more members in.

YOGA IN THE GARDEN
with Jasmyn Steinke
Thursday Sept 4, 6:30-7:30pm (see calendar attached)
Limit 15 people. RSVP Please. lindarisa@hotmail.com
By Donation
BYOYG: Bring your own yoga gear :)

There are so many new foods we can experience by having access to fresh food from a local garden.
Nothing beats cutting up fresh basil for a homemade pasta, sprinkling edible flowers on a potato salad,
picking a bean off its beanstalk and popping it into your mouth. The FRESHEST OF FRESH! Many people
don't realize there are more edible foods in the garden, including some of our weeds, flowers,
and the plant stalks or leaves of some of our standard vegetables.

Learn more about how to.....................
EAT YOUR WHOLE GARDEN!
Workshop Sept. 7, 3-5pm. (see calendar attached)
By donation. RSVP and questions:
email Linda- lindarisa@hotmail.com

Urban Chickens; Composting Workshop

2008-07-18T06:37:00.000-06:00

There are two items of business today. The first is an article that appeared in Ffwd this week titled "Chicks in the City." You can read the article here. It's a piece about the movement to repeal the law against owning chickens in Calgary. Woo!

Also, check out The City Chicken.

I also recieved this general invite on Facebook from Lindsay of Calgary Social Change, and thought I would pass it along to you folks. For more details, or to register, drop her a line @ (403) 230-1443 ext 225 or by email at lindsay@cleancalgary.org.

Master Composter Course: 20 Hour Certification Course

Learn home composting techniques from trained Clean Calgary Association Master Composters and become one yourself! No experience necessary; just a willingness to learn. After completing the course, you will receive certification as a Master Composter.

Cost: $200 or $75 plus a 25 hour time commitment to volunteer, some subsidies available. Next start date: Tuesday, Sept 23rd, 2008 at 6:30pm. (6 consecutive Tuesday nights, except for Tues. Oct 7th. 2.5 hours per night. Includes two optional field trips.)

End date: Tuesday Nov. 4th. Saturday Nov. 8th, 2008 is an optional field trip and graduation lunch.

Location: Westwinds Superstore community room (Upstairs at the Superstore). The address is 3633 Westwinds Dr. NE. Registration Please register by Friday September 19th, 2008. Refunds will be provided to those who withdraw before 5pm Sept. 19th, 2008.

Last minute, but...

2008-07-06T07:16:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the slow moves on my part everyone, I've been busy dropping off the map this week. Gael posted this message on my last blog, and I thought I should get it up and publicized, because some may not read the comments. So here it is:

There's a new community garden at a Calgary Housing location that needs help finishing up the garden planting for this season. The work to be done is to plant shrubs and native plants around the community garden, plant a small medicine wheel garden and make trellises for beans to climb up in the vegetable garden. We are looking to do the work July 7 to 12 sometime between 9 am and 4 pm.

If you can help please email Gael at communitygardens@calhort.org
Thanks big time!
Gael
Community Garden Resource Network

June 23rd Meetup: News

2008-06-25T18:08:00.000-06:00

Another successful Meetup completed- thanks to everyone who made it out! We're happy to have such continued interest. It will allow us to keep doing what we've intended with these meetups: to inform people about projects going on in their city (and especially their own communities) and encourage them to get involved in order to support urban agriculture in Calgary.

A great idea came out of this week's meeting- we're hoping to hold future meetings at local community gardens, so that we can have a short work period afterwards. This will allow us to support projects, get people directly involved, and get our hands dirty. Woo!

If you're involved in a community garden that would like to host one of our meetings, please feel free to contact me or Grant, by posting a comment here or on our facebook group.

Next Meetup: June 23rd

2008-06-18T16:43:00.000-06:00

We've finally managed to book space for the second Calgary Urban Agriculture Meetup! It will be held on Monday June 23rd, at the Eau Claire Market Community Meeting Space from 7 till 9 pm. If you have trouble finding us, please ask at the info desk in the middle of the mall.

Information and updates will be presented about ongoing projects, and there will be an opportunity to present project ideas. This meetup is essentially an opportunity for Calgarians interested in urban agriculture to link up for information sharing and collaborations.

Projects this may include:
• Community Gardens
• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
• Food Not Lawns
• Food Security
• Guerrilla Gardening
• 100 Mile Diet
• 100 Meter Diet
• Permaculture
• Pesticide-free
• Rooftop Gardens
• Urban Livestock
• Urban Wetlands
• etc.

For more information, we can be found on facebook.

Please bring information about projects, your enthusiasm, and a few friends!

To those of you lurking in the shadows of the internet:

2008-06-16T20:45:00.001-06:00

So, here I am, sitting in front of a computer and trying to write something for a blog. Worse, the only thing I can think of doing is pulling that age old trick of writing about myself writing...

As such, I'm going to do something oh-so-novel and write about you reading this blog. Ha!

What are you doing here? I'll start by assuming that you are here because you're interested in making Calgary a better place through learning everything you can about urban agriculture and then going out and growing vegetables on every surface that you can find. Unfortunately, you don't really know how to go about planting and caring for a lasting garden, and so by silently stalking the internet you're hoping to learn enough to make a bountiful and lasting garden the first time you try. I mean, what's the point of planting things if they aren't going to grow into something right away?

I know what it's like, I still feel the same way myself, but perhaps the internet isn't the best place to learn how to garden... I'm going to step up and suggest that each one of you go out and volunteer with the next work party you have a chance to participate in. Just go and spend time in a garden with a bunch of gardeners and pick up what you can from them. If you can make yourself helpful at the same time then great! But even if you only show your face and meet some people with similar interests you'll have benefited.
You know what? I'll make you a deal, I'll do the same thing. As soon as I get back to Calgary next week, I'll put the same expectation on myself, and then I'll report back to you with what I learnt. Just remember, I expect the same from you. :)

Although... now that I think about it... I'm not sure where I'll go to find out about upcoming work parties...
Maybe if there's a blog somewhere on the internet that's keeping track of Urban Agriculture events in Calgary I can follow a link or two and find something...
Tell me if you find a site like that ok? You can just leave a comment with the link.

Thanks,
Scott

What is this if it’s not an organization?

2008-06-11T13:18:00.001-06:00

There seems to be some thinking that this “Calgary Urban Agriculture” might form into a new organization. To be clear, the intent that Rachel and I had in calling the first meetup was to avoid that — there are already plenty of groups and organizations in the city.

From a recent discussion about this:

We are here as a space to link and network people and projects. We are focused on supporting projects, education and dialogue to foster the broad range of things that can make up urban agriculture.

If we have a ‘mandate’ it’s to get people connected on these issues. There is no formal membership, no central hub, no rules for participation, no one is ‘in’ or ‘out’. We just want to get the work done so that there can be a much healthier urban environment and greater food security for everyone.

Green Roofing: Symposuim at the Zoo!

2008-06-06T11:06:00.000-06:00

An artist's rendition of the hanging gardens of Bablyon.

A green roof is a roof which is covered in vegetation, planted over a waterproofing sheet to prevent damage. This practice has many benefits, including improved passive heating and cooling, production of (often organic) fruits and vegetables, and increasing the lifespan of the roof by reducing its exposure to the elements. you can read more about it in the wiki, here.

On June 9th- 11th, there will be a symposium on green roofs in Calgary hosted by the Calgary Ecoroof Initiative, the Calgary Zoo and other local partners. Its goal will be to promote the green roof industry in Calgary, as well as to display existing green roofs. Check it out: Prairie Green Roof Conference and Tour

Connecting Urban Agriculturalists in Calgary

2008-06-03T23:10:00.001-06:00

My apologies for the delays getting everybody hooked in following last week’s meet — I’ve had an overwhelmingly busy week.

There’s now an email list/group for these projects in Calgary: Calgary Urban Agriculture group. Please feel free to join up and share your Calgary-area projects for urban agriculture. I encourage everyone to join this group — it is intended to be our main communication tool to make sure everyone is in the loop (since not everyone will keep up with the blog, and not everyone is on Facebook).

If you want to connect more, there are also some relevant groups on Facebook:
• Urban Agriculture Calgary
• Calgary Food Security
• Calgary Guerrilla Gardeners
And on Meetup:
• Calgary Community Gardens Meetup

And a wiki-page for urban agriculture on the Canadian Activism Archives.

First Steps

2008-06-03T13:40:00.000-06:00

On news outside the city, I've come across this pleasing little introductory guide on 50 Ways to help the planet. While it is in no way an exhaustive guide, it does serve another purpose.

Returning to Calgary from Vancouver was a strong reminder that introducing green practices and policies within the existing societal structures will be a challenge in some places. I feel very positive about the steps many of you are taking. I was inspired by those of you especially who have integrated green considerations into your lifestyles. This guide is excellent because it is a set of very easy first steps that we can use to introduce our friends and neighbors to the mindset of a lower impact life. Check it out.

Via: Treehugger, 50 Ways to Help the Planet

Amping up Urban Agriculture: Chickens!

2008-06-03T12:53:00.000-06:00

It was amazing to see such a strong response to the Urban Agriculture Meetup at Eau Claire last week, as it is to see those of you who are keeping up the good work by pursuing your own personal goals. By picking a specific personal project and sticking to it, we can gain a lot of momentum for the movement.

A great example of persistence on a very specific personal goal can be found Here. Mammacomic, who you may all remember as "the chicken lady," has been doing a ton of excellent work to change the bylaw which prohibits keeping hens within city limits. The letter template she has up is excellent, and I hear speak about a petition that's in the works.

Via: MAMMACOMIC: urban chickens calgary - aldermen

Meetup: May Twenty-Sixth

2008-05-29T12:20:00.000-06:00

The meetup this Monday went swimmingly, thanks to everyone who came out to Eau Claire Market. More than 40 people of the agro persuasion came down to talk shop- everything from Guerrilla gardening to urban chicken farming was discussed. Can I get a go team?

There will be more updates shortly, with information from the meeting on how you can get involved, including events and opportunities. I'm also looking for a few contributors to this blog from the Calgary community, so if you're interested please drop me a line.

K folks, keep it green!

Calgary Urban Agriculture

Our Dwindling Food Variety

It’s like growing potatoes in a barrel…

Edible Education 101

'Straight From the Farmers Mouth'

Volunteer Call

Permablitzes

On farmers markets in Calgary

Down Season

Getting downtown office towers to grow food

A farmers’ market in downtown Calgary?

Community Garden Benefit Concert

Great Article, from Lelani: Crop Mobbing!

South Calgary Community: Fall Harvest Potluck!

A reminder from Gael

What's happening in the off season?

Updates!

Looks important

A message from Gael of the Community Garden Resource Network

The Tyee’s new series on urban agriculture

CJSW Features Gurrilla Gardening!

Natural lawns gaining support

Some recently found items of interest

SPIN Farming — urban backyards for commercial organic farming

Who controls the seeds?

Green Roofs in Canada

Free Composting Workshop! (thanks Grant!)

Toronto passes green roof by-law

Mayor's Letter

Updates!

Abandoned flyer boxes into planters

Workshop!

A letter to the Mayor's office

City of Calgary on healthier yards

Corporatization of the Calgary Farmers Market???

Greening the Desert

Cedarbrae Community Gardens

Cornucopia Updates!

National Geographic Green Effect Competition

Brentwood community garden!

Vegetable gardening workshop

National Geographic on Green Roofs

Vertical farming skyscrapers

Cedarbrae Community Gardens

New Herald Article

Event: LOCAL 101 - Eating Food You Know, From People You Know

"Group Calls for Urban Chickens"

Baby steps...

Workshops workshops workshops!

Clean Calgary Workshops

Last Meetup, Workshops and Meetup Promotion

CUA meetup, January!

CUA meetup report

Baking soda and vinegar

Updates!

CFPC

CUA Meetup!

Personal Research

Interview with Andy Nichols

Legalizing urban chickens

Calgary Garden Path talk

Garden Rescue!

Garden Events!

Urban Chickens; Composting Workshop

Last minute, but...

June 23rd Meetup: News

Next Meetup: June 23rd

To those of you lurking in the shadows of the internet:

Further reading…

What is this if it’s not an organization?

Green Roofing: Symposuim at the Zoo!

Connecting Urban Agriculturalists in Calgary

First Steps

Amping up Urban Agriculture: Chickens!

Meetup: May Twenty-Sixth