Author Archives: calskin

Here’s an update and pics on my garden plot!

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I was at my community garden last week and I made some massive changes to the soil.  I have a couple challenges at my garden plot.

One is water – as in too much of it.  I know this is a great problem to have, but apparently the nice people who have been gardening there for the last 3 years say it can make things a challenge.  What happens is, there is an alleyway that trains into the garden property, and then passes through the property to a dry storm pond set up by the city.

This can cause a lot of problems.  For example, when I first saw the garden, there was a white salty crust on top of the soil everywhere.  I believe this is coming from the run off, so I’m hoping it doesn’t sterilize the soil.  Anyway, here’s what I did to fix this problem.

Raise the soil

To keep the plants and soil out of the running water as much as possible, I’ve raised the soil.  I’ve done this by making hugelkultur beds.

Logs burried under the garden bed allows water to be regulated better.

Logs burried under the garden bed allows water to be regulated better.

I believe this will help because the logs will draw in the water over time like a sponge and release it at a more realistic rate.  Also, the added volume of logs and wood chips in the garden will allow water to stay in the soil better.

Here’s some pics of the work I did on the garden.  They were taken on my phone, so they’re not anything great, but I think you’ll get the idea.  I basically split the garden into quarters.  I dug a trench, threw the logs and branches in, then covered them with wood chips, and then covered the chips with soil.  I gained about a foot of elevation which I think will help a lot.

Mushrooms

After watching greening the desert, I learned that mushrooms can take salt out of soil.  I’ve also known that mycelium helps gardens and forests grow in ways we still don’t understand fully.  So in order to hopefully get some of these benefits, I’ve ordered some mycelium that I can inoculate into my garden plot.

Hopefully these changes will help me out in my ventures.  If you have any tips or comments, please let me know.

Thanks

Caleb

Simple Gardening Lessons Both On and Offline On The Cheap!

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Tinyplots.com is a local Calgary gardening website which is offering an instructional set of videos and exercises on gardening in the zone 3 climate.  The thing to understand about this is for many, Calgary is a difficult place to grow in.  We have short summers, and frosty springs and falls.  If you can grow successfully in Calgary, you can grow pretty much anywhere else considering most of the world has longer summers and warmer weather.

I’ve just started my membership with them and after watching a couple videos, I can tell already it’s going to be great.

The instructor, Jordan Brown, is a graduate of Verge Permaculture’s PDC, and I’m always stoked to see someone who’s applying their knowledge of permaculture, especially when it comes to informing the masses.

Check out the demo videos, I think you’ll really like this course.  Not to mention it’s cheap! $50 gets you a course that’s spread over 4 months.  These are simple lessons all in one place, so when I’m weighing doing all the research by myself, or paying the $50, it’s a no brainer.

I’m not being paid for this post in any way, but if you would like to help me out, mention that I sent you, and we’ll both be sent a pack of Alberta seeds such as French Sorrel, Green Kale, Peppery Cress … compliments of Blue Mountain Bio-Dynamic Farms!

Thanks for reading

Caleb

What is Permaculture About?

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My wife and I recently finished a 2 day introduction to permaculture course last weekend that we took with Kym from Giggling Chi Tree and a bunch of other great people.

While we were there we went over many more philosophical ideas than practical.  I’m not saying this is a bad thing.  I think it’s a great thing because this is what gives us critical thinking ability and the desire to experiment.

We spoke in great detail about the permaculture ethics.  These are the ethics which should be considered any time you make a change to your design.  It is a holistic way of thinking about how we can prosper with our designs.

I’m going to talk about these ethics, and then I’m going to ask some questions for each ethic.  I would love to see your answers to the questions, so please put them in the comments.  Of course there’s no pressure to do so if you’re not comfortable.

People Care

people care

Image borrowed from Kym Chi from Giggling Chi Tree

I don’t know who wrote this, but the going catch phrase for people care is this…

“If people’s needs are met in compassionate and simple ways, the environment surrounding them will prosper.”

There are many ways we can show people care, but in essence it means to provide for the health and welfare of our human family.  So healthy homes, food and medicine for people to help them have a healthy lifestyle.

In our course, we were split into three groups and given tokens which represent one ethic.  Our group had people care, and while we were discussing our ethic we realized that it’s much more than not polluting your neighbours yard.  It involves listening to everyone’s ideas and realizing that everyone has something meaningful to contribute.  This is very easy when everyone agrees, but it’s very difficult when people disagree.

What are some practical ways you would like to see people care practiced?  What are some ways you practice people care?

Earth Care

earth care

Image borrowed from Kym Chi from Giggling Chi Tree

“The Earth is a living, breathing entity. Without ongoing care and nurturing there will be consequences too big to ignore.”

Earth Care involves making sure that the earth is treated well.  It’s about giving back to the entity that provides us with food clothing and shelter, not to mention beauty, comfort and life.

The earth will be around forever, or at least the mass that floats in the vacuum of space will be, however the thing that really makes earth special and different from any other planet that we currently know of is life!  We have living organisms as small as prokaryotic cells, and as large as armillaria ostoyae.  We have living beings which fly 21,000 feet in the air and others that can live 13,000 feet under the ocean.  There is an intricate ballet that goes on to sustain all of these diverse beings and we’re included in that ballet.  Lets do our best to give a stellar performance!

What are some important ways people of the world can practice earth care? (think positively) What are some ways you practice earth care in your area?

Fair Share

fare share

Image borrowed from Kym Chi from Giggling Chi Tree

“We are provided with times of abundance which enables us to share with others.”

Fair Share is about being practical about our needs.  It’s about harvesting what we need, and leaving the rest for other people, animals and to be consumed by the soil.

Fair Share means that we set limits and redistribute surplus.  Practising fair share obviously means that we share with others, but it also means being fair to ourselves.  We would not be fair to ourselves if we gave all of our time and energy and means away.  In reality when we take care of ourselves by eating nutritious food, taking time to relax and doing things that make us happy, we are better equipped to help others physically and emotionally.

In what ways would you like to see people of the world practice fair share?  In what ways do you practice fair share?

Transition – The 4th lesser known ethic

transition

Image borrowed from Kym Chi from Giggling Chi Tree

“it is OK to use unsustainable means to get out of a cycle of unsustainability” – www.GaiaCraft.com

Permaculture is a VERY broad term which touches probably all aspects of our lives.  We are not able to do everything perfect especially while operating in an unsustainable world.

As an analogy: A goal of permaculture is to have a closed loop system where your land can sustain itself by providing mulch, ground cover, seeds etc.  However when we’re in transition from our lawn to our food forest, this is impossible, so we would not beat ourselves up for the fact that we need to buy seeds and perhaps have a tree trimmer drop off some mulch and whatever else we might need.

Of course we want to use local resources and get creative as much as possible, but the idea of the ethic is; we are making changes to get better and better, so if using a less than desirable means gets us to a desirable end and as long as we’re not hurting anyone of course, don’t drag yourself down over it.  Feel good about the changes you’re making.

We would not want to judge others for the level they are at.  To paraphrase what I heard Paul Wheaton say in a podcast once, everyone is at a different level of environmentalism/sustainability/permaculture/whatever-you-want-to-call-it.  People who are at the higher levels sometimes feel they’re above those on the lower levels, while people at the lower levels think those at the higher levels are crazy.  For instance, people who are just starting out might be cool with reusing jars and containers, but think humanure is insane! Meanwhile those using humanure might be caught thinking the people at lower levels are not doing enough.

Stop judging…Remember that we are all in a state of transition and remember we all started somewhere.

What examples can you think of where people use unsustainable products to get to a sustainable end?

Thanks so much for reading.  Please feel free to comment on the article and contribute to the conversation.

Caleb

Introduction to Permaculture and Holistic Living

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We were down at The Area in Inglewood this weekend, and while we were there, we spoke with Kym Chi from Giggling Chi Tree.  She’s going to be putting on an intro to permaculture course May 4th and 5th which I’ll be attending.

If you register by April 20th to receive pay what you can pricing (to a minimum of $25 to cover costs).  Of course I’m not saying you should pay the minimum, but it would be great to see this class full, and if that’s all you can afford, there’s no judgement.

I hope to see you there.  Check the PDF below for the details.

Intro to permaculture may 2013

Check out this free online PDC (Permaculture Design Course) MOOC

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Ever heard of a MOOC?  It’s a really amazing thing.  It stands for Massive Open Online Course.  Many offer grading and certification for a free or nominal price.

There are hundreds of topics, but the one I’m interested in telling you about is the free permaculture design course.

Check it out!

http://mediasite.online.ncsu.edu/online/Catalog/pages/catalog.aspx?catalogId=f5a893e7-4b7c-4b79-80fd-52dcd1ced715

Beautiful Permaculture Garden at The AREA in Inglewood Calgary

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Hey everyone.  I wanted to share a video I posted on YouTube showing a great permaculture urban garden.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

how to control pest insects in your garden using your garden

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How frustrating is it when you put so much work and effort into a garden, and then like out of nowhere, your plants are nearly ruined from insects munching on them?  I’m going to explain how you can control the insects that feed on your precious crops.

blossom!

The key to controlling insects is not pesticide.  Pesticide will kill all the beneficial insects and microbes as well.  The key is flowers.  The effect of the flowers is at least three fold.  They confuses insects that will attack your plants, they attract predatory insects, which are also pollinators.

diversify!

The important thing is variety.  Scatter your flowers throughout your garden.  When I say that, obviously you want to plan so they will be good companions to your other plants, but you want flowers growing along with your vegitables.

Here’s some flowers and plants I would recommend planting:

  • A few marigolds (which are good with tomatoes)
  • Borage is amazing for attracting bees (give it some space it will spread)
  • Sunflowers and bird houses and feeders will attract birds (a bad thing if you have seeds starting, but a great thing if your plants are semi-established (birds will eat the bugs too)
  • Herbs like basil, bee balm, catnip, dill, Echinacea, evening primrose, fennel, lavender, parsley, poppy, thyme and sage will all attract pollinators too.
  • Check out this site too.  It has some great information for specific insects.

The cool thing too is that everything I’ve suggested is edible!  However, be warned that not every part of the plants I’ve suggested are edible.  Do your research.  There’s tons of info out there.

bee houses!

Some other things you could try is making a bee block.  This will help support the bee population and give them a home right beside your garden!

They’re as easy as drilling some holes in a block of wood.

http://www.instructables.com/id/mason-bee-hotel/

Let me know what you do to control insects.  Also let me know if you’ve tried any of these suggestions before and how they worked for you.

Thanks for reading!

Caleb

compost at lightning speed with a bucket worm farm!

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Compost at lightning speed with a bucket worm farm!

Using worms to eat your food scraps is a great way to make use of almost all of your food.  Red wigglers seem to work the best since they’re so active.  One pound of worms can eat up to half a pound of food per day!In this instructable I will show you how to create a slick looking worm bin which will fit under your kitchen sink.

Step 1 – Stuff you’ll need!

The materials for the worm farm can run you anywhere from $0 to $20, however you can find most of the materials in garbage piles if you wish.You will need

  1. 2 Buckets – They should be 5 gallon, but I’ve used 2 x 2.5-3 gallon buckets.  I don’t yet know if this will work with buckets this small.  Check your local bakery for free ones that they’re throwing away.  I tried that but ended up having to buy a couple cheap plastic garbage cans.
  2. 1 Shopping Tote – This needs to be polyester because if it’s cotton, the worms will eat through it.
  3. A newspaper and/or plain cardboard – A regular newspaper will do.  Don’t use the glossy type.  Strip anything non cardboard (like tape) off the cardboard.
  4. Some water
  5. Some method of drilling or puncturing holes in the buckets – a drill, knife, hammer, force of will, etc.
  6. A small amount of leaves and grass clippings
  7. Worms – I’d start small with a half a pound (500 or so) and if you need more, get more after

Step 2 – Drill holes in the buckets

  • IMG_0833 (Small).JPG
  • IMG_0832 (Small).JPG
Worms need air just like most other living creatures, so drill lots of holes in both buckets for ventilation.I put both buckets together like they are going to sit when they’re finished and drilled holes through both of them so that they would line up.

Make sure you drill a few holes in the bottom of the inside bucket.  This will allow water to drain out so your worms don’t drown.

This is why you have two buckets.  The bottom bucket catches the “worm juice” so you can use it on your plants to encourage microbial growth (this is a great thing!).  I haven’t tested this, but I’m thinking you could dilute the worm juice in a 5 gallon pale with water and aerate the mixture with an aquarium pump and a tablespoon of molasses to create a type of compost tea.  If you try this, please let me know how it goes.  If you want to qualify your results, set one plant aside to try this on so you can see the difference in results.  Remember, compost tea’s results are most noticeable in unhealthy soils.

Step 3 – Sacrifice one of your grocery totes

Take a fabric grocery tote and put it in the bucket.  I took the handles of mine, wrapped them around to the bottom of the inside bucket and secured them with parachord so the bag wouldn’t move.  Feel free to use whatever means you wish to secure the bag.The bedding and worms and “canopy” (for lack of a better word at the moment) will go inside the bag.  The bag allows water to drain out freely and air to get in, while keeping all the castings and bedding and compost contained.

Make sure the bag is made out of polyester! If it’s made of cotton, the worms will eat through it.  This wouldn’t be the disaster of a lifetime, but it would potentially make more of a mess than you want.

Step 4 – Time to tear some paper!

Find your least favorite newspaper articles and adverts and shred them into small pieces. Soak the paper in water for a minute or so and add them to the bottom of the bag.  Shake off any excess water.  This will serve as the bedding for the worms.I’m sure you may be wondering about the newspaper print being bad for the worms as I did, however when I googled this, I found out that most newspapers use soy ink.  This doesn’t include paper with shiny surfaces.  I’m talking about your typical newspaper…paper.

Feel free to read for yourself here, or google for yourself.  I’m not going to claim I know everything on this topic.  I’m only sharing what I’m doing and the research I did.

Step 5 – Add your worms

I picked up my worms from this nice lady.  She’s more expensive than a lot of places, but she’s local and fairly close to me, so I know my worms won’t die in transit.  She’s also very helpful.The worms came in a bag with bedding and soil, so I just had to gently dump the bag into the compost bin bag.

Step 6 – Cover the top

In order to give my worms a forest floor feel, I went outside my apartment and found the first pile of leaves laying around which happened to be on a lawn next door.  While my wife and I were grabbing some leaves a lady who lives in the house came over and asked what we were doing.  We felt kind of awkward, but we explained about the worm farm and had a really good conversation with her about her garden and compost.  She was happy to let us take some leaves.Place the leaves on top of the worms to give them a nice homey canopy.

Step 7 – You’re done!

Now place your lid on top of your buckets and put them wherever you wish…well sort of.  Keep them at room temp.

Place your veggie scraps under the leaves and watch them disappear.  Well that would be boring.  Just put the lid on after and trust they’re disappearing.  Keep an eye on the worms health and make sure they’re doing okay.  Research worm farms for yourself and make changes if you need to.

Please share any ideas you have or edits you’ve made.

Thanks for reading!