As a someone who did not grow up in a farming family, the past twenty years have been a constant learning about the intricacies and complexities of our global food system. My understanding of food has evolved from “Food comes from the grocery store” to “Food comes from [insert choice of complex explanations here]”. At […]

Today we tested the Clipper! I happened to get some wheat seed form a grower in Chilliwack this week which was perfect timing for getting the Clipper running. The test runs are important for getting to know the machine and produce effective training manuals. It also helps us upgrade things in the Trailer to make […]

In partnership with USC Canada through The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, COG is excited to open registration for Canada’s only intermediate-level Organic Vegetable Seed Production e-learning certificate! This 22-week program runs April 8th – November 1st, 2019 (with a summer break from July 9th – September 2nd). Read More Below… We’re also happy to announce the Comox Valley Growers and Seed […]

Building a Zig-Zag Seed Cleaner 31 December 2018 Chris Thoreau chris@farmfolkcityfolk.ca Download pdf article here For future updates check out the Zig-Zag Seed Cleaner Blog here. Note: This machine was fabricated as one piece of our mobile seed cleaning unit which contains numerous pieces of seed cleaning equipment including a Clipper AGM 224 Air Screen […]

We’re happy to share this press release from the Ministry of Agriculture about the recent project funding for FarmFolk CityFolk’s Seed Security Program! —– The people involved in the first stage of growing fresh and healthy B.C. vegetables are getting some help to increase the amount of local food grown in their communities. British Columbia’s […]

We’re happy to share this press release from the Ministry of Agriculture about the recent project funding for FarmFolk CityFolk’s Seed Security Program! —– The people involved in the first stage of growing fresh and healthy B.C. vegetables are getting some help to increase the amount of local food grown in their communities. British Columbia’s […]

On July 21st, 2018 FarmFolk CityFolk and the BC Seed Trials co-hosted Seeds of Knowledge – Beet Tasting and Research Showcase with The UBC Farm – Centre for Sustainable Food Systems. The event was very successful and busy. The tasting portion was inspired by the Beet Variety Trials.  Our tasting events are a great way […]

The carrots are now in full bloom! They were in fairly full bloom on July 7 before I (Chris) went away for two weeks and when I returned they were really in full bloom! On July 7 the fly pollinator population was still low so I spent a few days brushing the flowers with a […]

I (Chris Thoreau) am lucky enough to be in Italy at the moment, with a group of folks from Vancity Credit Union, to learn about the role of cooperatives in the Italian economy. We are primarily in the Emilia-Romagna region where Co-ops make up over 1/4 of the region’s economy – including many agricultural co-ops. […]

This year we have taken a bit of a different approach with setting up the isolation tent for the Carrot Seed Project by erecting the tent as late as possible before flowering. This is done in the hope that the carrot stalks will be strengthened by having more wind exposure and there will be more […]