Key points
- We need a community food security, eco-tourism, forestry and wild fire protection plan!
- We need to capture water (ie. ponds, swales) before it leaves valley
- Need an engineer stamp for our buildings, more important than a building permit
- Mob grazing is essential to grassland health
- We need a seed bank
Farm Reports
Vedic Eco Village needs more farm workers, housing for workers via shalla boxes (movable 10x10x10 cubes) and common kitchen/bathhuts. Continued expansion into community garden, transition from plastic hoop greenhouses to underground glass greenhouses (walipini)
Bhumi Farm focused on food security for community and getting workers, has land and equipment but needs people to grow more. Currently growing: Haskaps, goji, seabuckthorn (nitrogen-fixer), elderberry propagation needed. Working on capturing water for agriculture from venables valley stream/bog near Ramesh, need engineering plan for "passive water storage', adding to soil and water quality, improving bird habitats
Blue Earth Forest Farm: see 2021 Report, native soil/duff under conifers with fungus/mycellum/leaves best for propagating cuttings. Planting nut trees in forest. Need to map our valley and highlight our water reservoirs/bogs above our community. Creating ponds without liners to capture venables creek in spring. Has CAT that can be used for making ponds. Wants to attract beavers. we need a combined farm worker program, building cabins with mill & hand tools, milling 9inch and less trees for building materials, no more fence posts, instead X fences. No more falling big trees, need forest guidelines and education. Building swales/contours/ponds/mulching handles all irrigation needs (except during heat waves). Drylands irrigation for beans/etc, humidity bubble in the soil horizon with swales/contours to store carbon. Building "fedge" (2 fences) to put bulls in center (multiple barriers). Needs help with milling in exchange for materials or services, purchased 20 foot band saw mill on wheels
Community Field: Brihat used 1 acre last year, expanding to 2 acres, Ramesh is helping. Focus this year on root crops, squash (butternut), legumes (summer beans, chick peas, saranagati beans, wheat (harvesting and weeding challenges). All brassicas eaten by deer last year. Irrigation by flood with contours (irrigating whole field instead of drip). Garden has berries and fruit trees (but not the focus). Bulding hedge rows to prevent dehydration. Greenhouse will be up and running with tomatoes/cucs/peppers
Yoginath: finishing new barn, Surabhi is pregnant, Manorath is a manure machine, need a home for bulls
Aravinda: taking cuttings from burnaby property, birch good for ecology (fir needs birch), has tractor now, has natural chagga that can be brought into wet areas.
Labour and Woofers Housing
- labor is our biggest shortcoming due to accommodations
- we can buy bulk canvas for tents/tipis (cotton from india?), need a seamster, Indian surrey family makes tents
- temple could be a central facility for woofers (bathing, cooking)
- need to consider TNRD and ALR (more strict) laws.
- can make 10 eco-tourism/guest ranch accommodations without building permit on ALR (woofers vs guests)
- accommodation need to be safe and structurally sound
- accommodation infrastructure needed in community garden: shelter, outhouse, solar shower
- screening process and registration for guests/workers
- need a good screening process like Mark/Sunni and registration for Vedic Eco Village
Seed bank
- keep the fastest riping varieties for seed
- need more potatoes seeds, may need to purchase
- dedicated squash/pumpkin garden for seed saving
- Michael has seed sifter screen, but we need a better system
Goshala and Hay growing
- Ahimsa goshala update: finishing new barn, Surabhi pregnant, Manorath manure machine, need to capture urine (currently captured in bedding), need a separate place for bulls long term
- 40% of timber is milled for the new goshala
- ox team and green tractor can cut hay, Bailer and Storage needed
- fenced southend field was fallow last year, no cows got in, need flood irrigation for more than one cutting
- Methane digester for goshala...from India/Israel? need lots of nitrogen and manure. can run a heater/cookstove/shower. ashrith will investigate
Perimeter Fencing
- wiring west side fence almost complete, 5 more days of work, need some gates
- biggest issue keeping cows out of the north end
Announcements and Events
- green tractor is working and available (Daivata)
- Local Seed exchange in march, april, may, june
- Kamloops Seedy Saturday March 12
- Minutes approved from previous AGM approved: https://homelake.ca/co-op-agm-meeting-minutes-2020-21
- Elections: same directors as last year
- Attendance: Bala Krishna, Michael, Laura, Ramanath, Brihat, Yoginath, Aravinda (zoom)
Links
- Home Lake Co-op 2021-22 Report and Financials
- Vedic Eco Village Western Canada Development Plan
- Blue Earth Forest Farm: 2021 Report + Wood Season + Food Medicine
- Community Farm Infrastructure & Development Plan
- Farm worker program and housing:
- It would be good to see a valley wide web page or pdf we can share with interested visitors wanting to come, stay and contribute to food security in the valley.
- It would act much like the WWOOF initiative that explains what each farm is doing this year, how people can help and what the expectations and accommodations are.
- I am willing to help with the design of the tent frames and canvas with my design software to offer portable accommodations to each farm.
- A concerted effort to thin the fire hazard trees all along our roadsides would produce this building material, 'X' fencing material and much firewood for those in need.
- I will meet with Bala in the near future to take hard wood Haskap cuttings and plan for greenwood Haskap cuttings in the summer.
- This will go along with our sea buckthorn and elder hardwood cutting program.
- This will go along with our sea buckthorn and elder hardwood cutting program.
- Looking forward to a meeting with Jeremy Cook - Hydrological Engineer to discuss a Venables Valley Passive Water Storage Initiative.
- Blue Earth Forest Farm has a D-6 Cat bulldozer to offer to help with this.
- I would need to get full approval from the rest of our shareholders first but it is in everyone's best interest to increase the water element in our valley.
- I would need to get full approval from the rest of our shareholders first but it is in everyone's best interest to increase the water element in our valley.
- Blue Earth Forest Farm has a D-6 Cat bulldozer to offer to help with this.
- Would be interested in a flood irrigation vs. drip irrigation vs. swale irrigation experiment in the more arid south valley gardens.
- Would also offer services to put a full swale around the perimeter fence line of the south valley gardens.
- This would provide arid wind evaporation protection by creating a microclimate within the fenced area by deflecting the drying winds from the South and also further strengthen the fence from cows and deer, not to mention a nutrient and moisture source for many perennials which attract beneficial insects, birds and pollinators.
- This would provide arid wind evaporation protection by creating a microclimate within the fenced area by deflecting the drying winds from the South and also further strengthen the fence from cows and deer, not to mention a nutrient and moisture source for many perennials which attract beneficial insects, birds and pollinators.
- Would also offer services to put a full swale around the perimeter fence line of the south valley gardens.
- The methane digesters from India and Israel are an interesting possibility to generate hot water or cooking fuel.
- I have asked Ashrith to look into the volumes of manure required from the Indian manufacturers.
- Yogi says the new bull is blessing us with a good amount of manure on his own.
Blue Earth Forest Farm