Anna Helmer I guess everyone knows the main claim to fame of a perfectly-run Biodynamic farm is that it is a closed loop system. Everything needed by the farm is produced within the farm. Going outside the gate, especially for fertility, indicates a problem with farm health. Biodynamics, and particularly the preparations, are intended to… Keep Reading
Linda Edwards [Editor’s note: As of 2024, Organic BC is more than three decades in the making, and younger sister the BC Organic Grower is on it’s 27th volume! What better time to look back on some original content from the early days of this magazine? Read on for an early-2000’s series on predator insects… Keep Reading
Stacey Santos The robots have arrived to help with weed management on the farm, but where do you start? How do you know what’s right for your crop, your acreage–and your budget? Thankfully, a number of options have emerged for managing agricultural tasks with robots, along with a crop of experts who are working on… Keep Reading
By Anna Helmer I have hauled out my Biodynamic books to perform my annual winter Biodynamic brush-up. Brush-up isn’t the right term to use because it implies that I once understood it all, and now just need to remind myself of a few things. If only that were the case. No, it’s more of an… Keep Reading
By Annelise Grube-Cavers This fall, as part of the BC Organic Conference, attendees had the opportunity to tour the Summerland Research and Development Centre. It was quite exciting to wander around the 80s era research center perched on a hill above Okanagan Lake (if you get excited about that kind of thing, of course, and… Keep Reading
Effects of Organic Amendments on Soil Health Indicators in an Indigenous Farm in the Northern Peace River Region of Canada By Tiffany Traverse [Editor’s note: This research was presented at the First International Forum on Agroecosystem Living Labs, October 4-6, 2023, Montréal, QC, Canada, and is shared here with gratitude. This article was prepared with… Keep Reading
The Coffee Company that Wants Us All to be on Level Ground Darcy Smith Can coffee be sustainable? If you have ever asked this question about your morning cuppa, you are not alone. It’s a question Stacey Toews, co-founder of Level Ground Coffee Roasters, gets all the time. People “feel helpless in the global machine,”… Keep Reading
Jordy Kersey The Alaksen National Wildlife Area (Alaksen) is a protected wildlife area in Delta, BC that utilizes agricultural production to provide habitat for migratory birds and other protected species. The area is unique in that the farmland is used to produce forage and habitat for the migratory waterfowl as well as cash crops (annual… Keep Reading
Stacey Santos Since 2012, Niki Strutynski and her husband Nick Neisingh have grown organic mixed vegetables at Tatlo Road Farm, located south of Crofton on southern Vancouver Island. With years of experience working on other organic vegetable farms throughout BC, plus Niki’s degree in Agroecology from UBC, they have created a robust nutrient and nitrogen… Keep Reading
By Brynn Hughes The Glen Valley Organic Farm in Abbotsford, run by the Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-operative (GVOFC), sits on 50 acres of prime agriculture land. The Co-op purchased the organic farm in 1998, and today it hosts two organic vegetable businesses across twelve acres, twenty-two acres of peat bog pasture, and eight acres… Keep Reading
