Join Verge and the Calgary Horticultural Society for an evening with International Soil Expert & Foodweb Advisor, Doug Weatherbee, a.k.a ‘The Soil Doctor’. This is a unique opportunity to network with other gardeners and permies, and hear Doug speak about:

• Life in the soil- microbes galore and more
• Boosting your soil fertility through hot composting for Calgary
• Repairing the soil with allies – soil bacteria

Come early for a Permaculture Calgary potluck and seed exchange! 

Spring has sprung and there is much to be done at the Verge Headquarters - planting and transplanting, installing a drip irrigation system, amending the soil for a new growing year and plenty more! We are getting farther and farther along the path of resilient urban living, but we certainly wouldn’t be where we are without the help of 5 enthusiastic interns. For the past few weeks our interns have worked, rain and shine, to help us prepare our yard and greenhouse for a busy and hopefully abundant growing season.

Here’s a few words from interns Nick Beuglet and Martin Stares about the permaculture elements we’re working on, and what they’re learning from it all!

 A few weeks ago we had our amazing interns prepare a soil sample to be sent off to the Soil Food Web Lab in Vulcan. (See the blog, Testing Our Soil for a Nutrient Dense Garden). A few quick weeks later, our analysis came back, and we were told by the lab that our “sample’s biology numbers were one of the best we have seen for garden samples”.

In March we hosted a workshop on SPIN farming with Curtis Stone, a successful SPIN farmer of Green City Acres, and it was a huge hit. With the seeds Curtis sowed here in Calgary, our city is in for a local food revolution! Read on to find out what we learned and see an interview with Curtis.

Verge invites you to join us at the Western Canada Permaculture Convergence - a three day coming together of permaculture enthusiasts to share information, inspiration and learn new skills. August 24th-26th, 2012

Come join the fun at the...

Michelle, Rowen and I were driving home from a vacation in the mountains when we passed by a swale on a farmer’s field in the middle of Alberta cattle country. Naturally, it piqued my curiousity and I had to stop the car to investigate. It was such a great example of how this simple technique can catch and store water on a large scale, we decided to make a short video about it...