Jonathan Knight The Story of WoodGrain Farm’s Hand Made Grain Mill I like good technology. I don’t mean my smart phone (I don’t have one) or the latest gene spliced varieties, but rather the tools and innovations that have evolved over decades or centuries of use to make life easier. Appropriate technologies reduce daily drudgery,… Keep Reading
Bob McCoubrey Gary Judd is passionate about his work. As a researcher in tree fruit entomology at Agriculture Canada’s Summerland Research Station, he works hard at balancing his passion for doing the research with his enthusiasm for sharing his knowledge with growers—particularly organic growers, many of whom he has come to regard as good friends.… Keep Reading
Lucy Sharatt In March 2015, Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF) got approval for its GM non-browning Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples in both Canada and the United States. The US government also just announced approval of the GM Fuji, and a GM Gala is coming next. After having said in August 2016 that 1,000-1,200, 40-pound… Keep Reading
Marjorie Harris BSc, IOIA VO, P.Ag. with many thanks to Zbigniew Wierzbicki of Elderberry Lane Farm for sharing his knowledge and experience Turning Wood into Long Term Soil Fertility Hooray! Biochar has arrived in the new PSL Nov. 25th 2015 edition! Biochar is considered an excellent way to increase long term soil fertility. As an… Keep Reading
Rochelle Eisen, B.Sc.(Agr), P.Ag We asked farmers transitioning to organic for burning questions they’ve been dying to ask. From paperwork to fence posts, standards junkie Rochelle Eisen has the answers they — and you — have been seeking! Q: How much detail does my record keeping require for the inspector (crop seeding, planting, rotations, dates,… Keep Reading
Darcy Smith The Shifting Paradigm of Land Access in Southern BC At Blue Heron Organic Farm on Vancouver Island, Kris Chand and his wife Maria had been farming organically for several decades. The couple was starting to think about retiring; at the same time, they saw a rising demand for organic food. Happy with the… Keep Reading
Bob McCoubrey A Succession Planning Story After more than 35 years of growing tree fruits and vegetables on our small farm in Lake Country, it was time to think about retirement. Our joints were telling us to ease up on the physical work and our son and daughter had moved on to other towns and… Keep Reading
Jonathan Knight If you walk out the back door of the little blue farmhouse at WoodGrain Farm, past the acre of market gardens and the old log outbuildings and barns, and back through the forest high along the banks of the Skeena River, there is wilderness. This is real wilderness, where one could follow ancient… Keep Reading
Shauna MacKinnon Scaling Up Ecological Seed Production British Columbia is home to a vegetable industry worth $2.8 billion annually, but nearly every seed planted to grow those veggies is produced outside of Canada. While local, organic vegetable production is on the upswing, seed production is lagging. That may not appear to be a problem when… Keep Reading
Michelle Tsutsumi Community members who visit local farmers’ markets are increasingly asking food growers very pointed questions such as, “Are you organic?” We hear that at least once every market – and it’s so much simpler to be able to answer with a clear “yes!” Once we decided to engage in the organic certification process,… Keep Reading
