Name Change for Carrot Creek Urban Farm!

We moved to Alberta – 80 acres of land to grow whatever we want on! So we’re not an “Urban” farm anymore, although the urban techniques (SPIN Farming) we used will be transferred to a large format.

I’m exceptionally excited about this as I’ve had heavy backlash from Big Corporate farmers that tell me it can’t be done.

Wrong.

So I look forward to posting the progress of this vegetable production farm through the years. You’ll see a LOT of changes to everything: pics, headers, offers… I will also be posting daily available produce for my local Alberta customers.

It’s exciting, inspiring and as always, healthy choices – just a whole lot more of them!

Our address:  Carrot Creek Farm – 29034 Highway 587 Bowden Alberta TOMOKO (phone number coming soon…) It’s only 2k east of the Bowden/Hwy 587 exchange (between Red Deer and Olds: 55 minutes from Calgary). Easy to find!

Curtis Stone – Spin Farming is in and profitable!

For those that don’t know who Curtis Stone is, he spin farms in Kelowna (Green City Acres), and has learned how to take 1/2 an acre and turn it into gold. He gets calls from all over the planet from doctors and lawyers on how to make money farming. This is why I want to introduce you to Curtis. If we can show a viable and profitable industry and hungry market for fresh local food (I believe it’s here: demand is higher than supply) then we can change the landscape for monoculture and mass factory farming. I’m not saying get rid of it: I am thinking it needs a bit of revision. We should not be paying farmers peanuts from our tax dollars (middle men take money from us and the farmer). They should profit without subsidies, as all farmers should. And live a good life.

Community Dan Jason on Seed Saving: How to Organize for a Resilient Future

Dan Jason from Salt Spring Seeds came to Richmond for a talk on Friday January 21. This was the overview of his comments – we all must start to save seeds NOW. This is how:

Communities are talking a lot about local food security these days because of the increasingly uncertain times in which we live. Many people have even started using the term “food sovereignty” instead of “food security” because it conveys the idea of becoming self-reliant in food rather than simply having stockpiles of dubious food shipped from far away.

A fast growing movement that’s spreading across the globe involves people organizing together in “transition towns” to address the challenges of climate change, peak oil and economic instability. You can get more background at transitionnetwork.org or you could google transition Salt Spring, Victoria, Guelph or Peterborough, for examples. The aim of these transition towns is to create the ability to manage one’s own affairs in the midst of the huge transitions we are facing. Not surprisingly, every transition community lists locally grown food as a first priority.

Adopt a family farmer

What is adopting of a “Family Farmer”

Acquiring or adopting a family farmer is analogous to but different from having a family doctor with the common theme of health promotion in both of them. Both are kinds of business partnerships arrangements of contacts. It is time that everyone worked on adopting a “family farmer.” More importantly, It promotes not only the health of the Earth`s ecosystems but also the personal health. This is becoming more and more important for protecting our all ecosystems, water security and food security through conscientious agricultural practices. There are several advantages to this procedure as listed below. A technical term used  for this adopt a farmer is Community-supported agriculture (in Canada it is called Community Shared Agriculture) (CSA) which happens to be a socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution.  A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. CSAs usually consist of a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables and fruit in a vegetable box scheme, and it may even include dairy, poultry and meat.

Benefits of adopting of a “Family Farmer”

How to make $12 a square foot producing food

I get asked all the time how I figure out how much I make on my production gardens. So here is the magic, or actually, the hard work that makes it all happen. I am using kale as the plant example, and using containers and raised beds. Hope you love math…

Black Kale, the Ancient French variety: I grew 4 plants within 6 square feet. I started them early and planted them as fairly big starts. I already had seeds from the year before (2009). Because kale is biennial, I harvested 21 thick bunches from the year before in the early spring and sold them for $2/bunch – $42. Or $7 a square foot, which alone is a great number.

I Need Your Help Finding a Farm! And Farmers!

Hi everyone! 2011 has come with a BLAST out of the gate, for me anyway! I have found a great new “foodie” friend to grow food with at her property. CSA’s, here we come! I now have 2 properties in Langley to grow on, but unfortunately, I don’t live on.

So – I’m looking for a farm/acreage property, preferably in Langley (BC Canada), but it’s all about the farm more than the location.

I’m looking to rent 5+ acres. House a 3+ bedroom. Land to grow food on. A barn. Fencing.

Plus, I will be training horses there as well.

I was once a General Contractor, and although my projects were smaller, I can build a house, barn, outbuildings, and generally transform any property into a much higher resale value. And I’m willing to do that!

I’m also looking for 2-3 others to join me in this venture. I will be living there pretty much full time (I’ll still work the Carrot Creek Urban Farm). The rent will be cheap. The work will be fun and rewarding. Together we can accomplish much – farm gate market sales, CSA’s, workshops and more.

I’m asking you to tweet, Facebook and generally send this on to anyone that may be interested. Anyone that secures me the humans to inhabit the home gets a free CSA for 2011. Anyone that finds me a property gets one too!

Together, let’s stop worrying about the future and let’s get on with making it what we want it to look like!

April Reeves – email me at – april reeves at shaw dot ca – if you find something!!!

‘Farmpreneurs’ Grow the Bounty

Investing in small-scale processing on the farm can make a big difference in its bottom line.

By Jeff Nield, 9 Dec 2010, TheTyee.ca

Just north of a sharp bend in the Puntledge river on the edge of Courtenay sits Nature’s Way Farm. Arriving at the farm-gate, there are two options for entry. One is through the welcoming door that leads to Tria Culinary Studios and the retail outlet for Blue Moon Winery.

I veer to the right, bypassing this obvious choice and enter through a slightly skewed wooden gate and am quickly set upon by Gattie, a hefty Bernese Mountain dog who promptly sits on my foot in a maneuver she’s learned to demand attention. Once satisfied, Gattie releases her hold and I walk through to a central courtyard that offers a view of the 5.7-acre farm. Blueberry bushes, dormant for the season, sit straight-ahead, a farmhouse with cedar shingle siding is to the right and to the left is a building that I’ll soon discover doubles as an office and a winery. It’s in this final, also cedar clad, two-story building that I find farm owners George Ehrler and Marla Limousin hard at work on one of their many ventures.