Posts tagged as:

Calgary

Purpose and Product: the Beginning of a CSA Part III

August 10, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

Last weekend, a few of our CSA members headed out to Linden, Alberta for another visit to Oxyoke Farms. We’d been out a month or two before that and had a great time.
I took a few videos from this last trip, but Windows Vista didn’t seem to like them, so I’ve been struggling for the [...]

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Planting a Food Forest in Calgary #yyc events

Thumbnail image for Planting a Food Forest in Calgary #yyc events July 16, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

Rob Avis of Ravis Sustainable Consulting will be leading his Introduction to Permaculture class in transforming a Calgary lawn into a viable food forest. He already has enough help to do it, but anyone who would like to check out the progress is welcome to stop by.
“It is a pretty powerful message and great to [...]

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The First Delivery: the Beginning of a CSA Part II

Thumbnail image for The First Delivery: the Beginning of a CSA Part II July 13, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

The following is part 2 in an ongoing series documenting the inaugural year of the “Knox-yoke” CSA, a collaboration between Knox United Church and Oxyoke Farms. You can view photos of the visit to Oxyoke in mid June here.
The garden at Oxyoke is big, but not unusually so. Robby steps between the rows, grabbing his [...]

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Calgary Cowbell – New Independent Media

June 25, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

I’m sure many of our readers have come across David Wilson’s work by now. I’ve been a fan of his viewpoint articles in Fast Forward Weekly for the past few years. More recently, David launched a Blogspot blog called “Calgary Cowbell,” the goal of which was to “[ring] in a more sustainable, equitable, and democratic [...]

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Finding Oxyoke Farms: the Beginning of a CSA Part I

Thumbnail image for Finding Oxyoke Farms: the Beginning of a CSA Part I June 24, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

The decision to visit was somewhat spur-of-the-moment. A family friend, her two children, my wife and I piled into a Subaru station wagon one afternoon and took off toward Linden, Alberta, not knowing what exactly to expect. It’s about an hour drive from Calgary. We pass through Beiseker (past their statue of “Squirt” the skunk, [...]

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Corporation with a New Location?: Calgary Farmers’ Market Update

Thumbnail image for Corporation with a New Location?: Calgary Farmers’ Market Update June 8, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

Our friend Wade Sirois, of Fuse Catering/Forage Foods reported a while ago that the Calgary Farmers’ Market was looking into becoming a for-profit corporation for when they move locations. Most sensible people concerned with local food issues would probably be opposed. I would highly recommend checking out his blog, as he has provided several updates [...]

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Vermi-composting Presentation #yyc events

Thumbnail image for Vermi-composting Presentation #yyc events June 5, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

From the website:
Compost in your home with red wiggler worms! This one-hour workshop helps take the mystery out of indoor composting. Participants learn about different bin types as well as the role that worms and microorganisms play in vermi-composting. After the presentation participants will be able to build, maintain and troubleshoot a worm bin.
The cost [...]

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Outdoor Composting Workshop #yyc events

Thumbnail image for Outdoor Composting Workshop #yyc events June 4, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

From the website:
Compost is a valuable soil amendment. It has a high organic matter content and helps return to the soil many properties which are lost over time and with use.
Compost is produced through the recycling of organic materials. Food scraps, leaves and yard trimmings, paper, wood, manure and the remains of agricultural crops can [...]

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Radiant City: Suburban Sprawl and Cultural Malaise

May 28, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

Several years ago I had the pleasure of viewing the film Radiant City at the Uptown Stage & Screen. Sufficed to say, it completely transformed the way I viewed what could be termed the “sprawl problem” facing the majority of our North American cities today. I had never approached the problem of the suburbs–even though [...]

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Calgary Farmers’ Market Goes Corporate?

Thumbnail image for Calgary Farmers’ Market Goes Corporate? May 14, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

The Calgary Farmers’ Market has become a fixture of the Calgary culinary and local food community. In fact, it was the place where I eventually discovered the joys (and pricey-ness) of local food fare. Some of my favourite farmers still sell there, like Valta Bison and the Innisfail Growers co-op.
However, the Farmers’ Market has always [...]

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Towards Sustainability: One Couple’s Working Model (Part II)

Thumbnail image for Towards Sustainability: One Couple’s Working Model (Part II) April 6, 2009 by Jonathan Wright

This is part 2 of a series of articles penned by Jonathan Wright, a Calgary area farmer and co-founder of one of the city’s first community supported agriculture programs. Jon operates a zero-emission farm called Thompson Small Farm near Carbon, Alberta with his partner Andrea.
Thompson Small Farm has different ideas about “sustainable” from those of [...]

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Introduction to Permaculture 12 Hour course – #YYC events

Thumbnail image for Introduction to Permaculture 12 Hour course – #YYC events March 31, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

From the website:
In a world of fluctuating food and energy costs, Permaculture design offers a positive sustainable way forward. This course will show you how to apply sustainable design to many situations from the patio to the pasture. Come and get a taste of what Permaculture has to offer.
Learn how to design and redesign all [...]

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Concerns about backyard chickens are valid, but solutions exist

Thumbnail image for Concerns about backyard chickens are valid, but solutions exist March 31, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

A while back, the Georgia Straight published an article by Leanne McConnachie, director of farm animal programs for the Vancouver Humane Society, opposing the legalization of backyard chickens by Vancouver city council. McConnachie argues that many people lack the “financial resources, husbandry knowledge, or permanency in their housing situation to properly care for their animals”. [...]

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