Certification is Helping Define Best Practices Travis Forstbauer This article first appeared in Country Life in BC and is reprinted here with gratitude. Soil health is the foundation of any healthy organic farm. While modern agriculture has primarily focused on nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, soil health from an organic perspective focuses on the health and… Keep Reading
Katie Selbee “Natural” has always been a concept at the centre of our cider production, and over the past year I have been able to bring that ideal into our most basic equipment: fermentation vessels. Just over a year ago, we were at a point of deciding whether to invest in more wood barrels or… Keep Reading
Emma Holmes The Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes (SAL) Lab at UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems is taking a collaborative approach to research that supports producers in making management decisions that are science-based and regionally grounded. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Sean Smukler, DeLisa Lewis, Amy Norgaard, and Raelani Kesler from… Keep Reading
The Year the Butterflies Came Back: A Story of Transition at Tulaberry Farm Hailey Troock I picked up the phone one cold winter day in 2019 to a request from the owners and operators of Tulaberry Farm in the picturesque riverside community of Passmore, BC. Judi Morton and Alex Berland wanted to find some young… Keep Reading
Anna Helmer I exhibit a strong spring Biodynamic practice. I have all the time in the world for stirring BD 500, tending to compost piles, and dutifully attempting to follow the planting calendar. In the summer things will likely slide, and the fall is very Biodynamically weak for me. Winter comes and at that point… Keep Reading
The Birth and Evolution of Forstbauer Farm Natalie Forstbauer Bare feet, dirty nails, cheeks caked with dry soil, clothes weathered by the elements, the smell of earth lingering on me…getting lost in long grass, playing hide and seek in fields, singing camp songs while pulling out weeds…sitting under a canopy of blueberry branches while filling… Keep Reading
Mary Alice Johnson When I first ventured into growing fresh produce commercially on lower Vancouver Island in 1991, I was fortunate to connect with a number of folks who were also farming on small acreages in the area. Like myself, they had grown up in rural areas but had followed careers other than farming as… Keep Reading
Corinne Impey The start of 2021 marks year two of using iCertify, COABC’s online organic certification system. Last year, over 150 members used iCertify to apply for, or renew, their organic certification. This year will see more members and more certification bo dies using the system for the first time, while many operators will be… Keep Reading
Andrew Adams As the sun began to exert its warmth upon the land in the late August midmorning hours, I went for a walk through my fields. Every morning I go for this walk. The sweet smell of cannabis plants engulfs me upon arrival. It’s not too overbearing, nor is it “smelly” as some would… Keep Reading
Living in Harmony with Nature Marjorie Harris “Biodiversity is biosecurity.” – Paul Stamets “Living in harmony with Nature by 2050” is the world’s new collective relationship goal. This is an invitation to a new concept of relationship between all of humanity and all of Nature’s ecological biodiversity, both terrestrial and aquatic. This global vision, along… Keep Reading
