Yarrow Ecovillage Community Farm

Bioengineering Workshop - March 10 & 11

2012-03-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

The Fraser Valley Watersheds Coalition and the Fraser Valley Regional District have organized a Bioengineering Workshop here in Chilliwack. The on-site workshop (on day two) will be held here at Yarrow Ecovillage, working on the Stewart Creek Restoration area out on the farm land. There is still time to sign up, I believe, if you are interested in attending this informative workshop!

Come see us at the COABC Conference, Saturday Feb 25

2012-02-18T23:38:00.000-08:00

Tam and I will be doing a presentation at the Certified Organic Association of BC (COABC) Gathering in Chilliwack next weekend (Feb 24-26) on Saturday, Feb 25 at 9:00 - 10:30am. We will be speaking about the "Trials and Tribulations of Community Farming at Yarrow Ecovillage". Our presentation will cover information on the Ecovillage, the Community Farm, about the Farm Team, our CSA program, as well as how we deal with shared infrastructure, and our collaboration methods.

Check out the COABC website (http://certifiedorganic.bc.ca/infonews/conference2012/) for more information. The conference will feature more than 35 speakers from public, private, non-profit and academic sectors.

Featured topics include: On-Farm Innovation | Innovative Farm Management | Social Justice Innovations |Innovative Business Management | Innovative Tools to Prepare New Farmers | Marketing Innovations | Innovative Certification and Labelling | Innovative Research Potential.

Its looking like its going to be a great conference, and maybe we'll see you there :)

Shauna Gavigan

Telephone Technical Glitch

2012-02-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Well as some of you may know, our phone has been down for a few days now. We are reworking our phone system here at the Ecovillage, and as a result our phone has been out of service for several days. The problems are just about fixed, and our phone number will be in working order in the next day or two. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please feel free to email us: yecfarm@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Thank you for your patience!

Shauna Gavigan

CSA 2012 Program Info is Here!

2012-02-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Well after a cozy, restful winter, we are excited to get the 2012 season underway (and its barely February!). Several farm's here at Yarrow Ecovillage Community Farm (Ohm Organic Farm & Osprey Organic Farm) are collaborating on a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Harvest Box program. Check out our CSA Page for program info and registration form.

Shauna Gavigan

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds!

2012-01-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

Well here we are again, January. One of my favorite times of year. The seed catalogs start arriving and the excitement of "what should we grow this year" starts to heighten. Tried and true varieties are a must, but every year we get a chance to try something new. One of the new crops we will be trying this year are Kermit Eggplants. These little green and white speckled eggplants are a Thai specialty, lending their delicious texture to soups and curries. We will also be growing Cheddar and Graffiti Cauliflower, a cheddar orange and bright purple variety, which will make a stunning display at market.

One of our favorite seed companies is Johnny's Selected Seeds (http://www.johnnyseeds.com/). They still lead the way in prices and varieties available (not to mention very timely and consistent shipping). We supplement our seed order from Johnny's with seeds from West Coast seeds and William Dam in Ontario.

We will also be trying to grow a large variety of our own seed this year. Seed saving is starting to become a lost art, which is unfortunate because it is essential to ensuring local food security. We have grown crops for seed in previous years, but this year we will be trying it on a much larger scale.

One of my friends shared a link with me that I would like to share with you. The Richmond Seed Saving Library is an amazing project down in Richmond CA, that lets people borrow seeds from their library, and shows them how to grow, maintain and harvest the seeds from that particular crop.

There is a project through Farm Folk City Folk called BC Seeds (http://www.farmfolkcityfolk.ca/programs/farm/seed_strategy.html), that will be possibly trying to start up a Seed Library here in Richmond BC. And I will write more on that as it unfolds.

Shauna Gavigan

Let the Farm Upgrades Begin!

2011-10-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

The Farm Team here at Yarrow Ecovillage has been working hard this past year (and not just farming). We have secured several grants towards upgrading our farm infrastructure and thus expanding the amount of land we can put into production next year. Simply put, these grants will go towards bringing power, water, irrigation, and wells to the 16 acres in the South Field. This is a much needed expansion, as we reached max capacity in the 4 acres of the North Field this year.

A big thanks goes out to our supporters: Stoneyfield (Stoneyfield - Profit for the Planet Community Challenge Grant), Vancity (Vancity's Community Project Grant "Support for this project does not necessarily imply Vancity's endorsement of the findings or contents of this report."), and Southern Drip Irrigation in Chilliwack, and the great folks at Peters Well Drilling. Because of these grants and partnerships we will be able to expand our community farm's operations and thus be able to provide fresh, organic produce to a wider range of communities and markets, as well as on-farm educational opportunities.

Thank You For Your Support!

Shauna Gavigan

Ohm Organic Farm @ Yarrow Ecovillage

Secretary of the Farm Team

Blog Launch!

2011-10-21T18:36:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been meaning to create a blog for the farm for awhile now, but its hard to find any time during the farming season. I love reading our ecovillage blog (Village Tales), and have always loved to write. There are so many interesting tales, and exciting updates that come from the farm, and now I have an outlet with which to share them with you all!

Our purpose with this blog is to update our supporters on current upgrades/projects, as well as a communication tool with our CSA (community Supported Agriculture) members.

If you have any suggestions, or see any errors, please feel free to email me.

Cheers,

Shauna Gavigan

Ohm Organic Farm @ Yarrow Ecovillage

Secretary of the Farm Team