Calgary Urban Farming Meetup

(Hmmm, the new header looks much better on my mac screen....)

So, I was able to attend the Calgary Urban Farming Meetup on Monday night. I was so glad I went. There were many people there who were involved in interesting projects in the city. I learned a lot about how to improve my chicken campaign aswell.

One thought that occurred to me about this urban farming thing. I find in Architecture some things can be frustrating as it takes so much energy and resources to build things - especially housing and buildings. But in farming there are truly small things you can do, and have a major impact on your health, your finances and your feeling of well-being. This is very exciting for me, as the return is immediate.

There was some discussion about obtaining land from the city for urban gardens. This is slightly crazy when there is so much wasted green space, one would think that if a person were willing to cultivate it, the city would just be thrilled... but apparently there is more red tape and complications than that. I am going to do some serious research into this area as it is related to the area I work in. Hopefully I can help folks. Also, as you know my Rundle idea, (which will be changing to be called the "overlooked suburb" idea...requires vast amount of re-zoning to work...)

Also I learned you can grow potatoes in tires - see this link thats cool. Im going to try to join a community garden this summer, if they will accept me - I have so little time. But I can atleast make my own little patch of land as productive as possible.

Some projects I learned about: An Inglewood Community garden (just starting, I'll give more info as it goes...) Calgary Horticulture Society, Aboriginal Friendship Center is starting a community garden,
Paradise Peace Gardens, Calgary Community Crop,

Hopefully this group will really get going, and we will have workshops, meetups, networking and support for urban farming in Calgary. And hopefully I can get my tomatoes planted soon!