Food

An orchard in your backyard – think of it!  A virtual grocery aisle, providing a ready crop of fruit and livestock to provide your family with healthy, nutritious, free food, enough to enjoy in [...]

If you listen to conventional wisdom, you might begin to think that planting fruit trees on your property is a terrible idea – they’re prone to diseases and pests, and demand endless spraying and [...]

“Food forest” – “forest garden” – “agroforestry” – if you grew up seeing farms with single-crop fields stretching away into the distance, these terms may provoke some cognitive dissonance. [...]

Work is a Failure in Design – it’s a motto I use again and again, and it’s especially true when you look at composting. The common problems that gardeners struggle with are usually red flags, [...]

Rob Avis recently had the chance to chat with Kamea Chayne from Green Dreamer Podcast about the poor condition of our soils and the solutions to address this problem, how we can eat a truly [...]

How did Verge Permaculture begin? What is the order of operations in permaculture design if you want to prevent flooding and water scarcity ? How does a rainwater harvesting system mimic the [...]

This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]

This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]

This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]

This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]

Looking for an ideal pioneer species for your cold climate permaculture food forest? I highly recommend seabuckthorn, a plant that grows quickly, fixes nitrogen into the ground, and produces [...]

Unprecedented wildfires, floods, and droughts – Climate change (or as George Monbiot prefers, climate breakdown) is no longer a topic solely for environmentalists and ecologists; it has entered [...]

As I mentioned in part 1 of this blog series, a living larder can be defined as living floral or faunal food sources that humans can harvest when needed. There are three types of living larders: [...]

On our way back home from a consultancy, Takota Coen and I were talking about how brilliant permaculture is at solving problems, specifically when it comes to food security. After some productive [...]

Last time, I posed the following questions: 1) What are the hidden black swans associated with relegating all food production to robotics? 2) Is food production important enough that we should [...]

Last time, we talked about predictable risk that falls within a Gaussian distribution. But not all risk follows this pattern; some risks are rare and catastrophic and can only be explained in [...]

Hey Everyone,  This summer, we won’t be around Calgary much. We have taken a contract position with the Groundswell Network Society, in Invermere, BC, to act as their Resident Permaculture [...]

Join us for a beautiful and info-packed video tour of our permaculture homestead! This is a 3-part series where we explain and explore our: – thriving food forest complete with fruit trees, [...]

I want to take the time today to address a question many ask: How do we eat beyond organic for less than the costs of eating conventional? First off, let’s define what “beyond organic” means. [...]

In this video Rob showcases one of the major water harvesting feature – an underground rainwater cistern – on Rob and Michelle’s urban home property. This rain tank is unique because [...]

Our How we designed our Solar Greenhouse blog is one of the most read blogs on our website, so I thought it was time for an update! This post will cover the benefits of our greenhouse, the [...]

Last weekend both Jordan and I had an amazing opportunity to be part of Rob Avis of Verge Permaculture’s Design Team, participating in an applied Design Practicum at the Groundswell [...]

Verge’s Grads in Action Series: Part 3 – Chrystel Vultier Chrystel Vultier is a true local food purveyor for her home town of Canmore, AB. Over the past several years she has been [...]

Stay tuned for details on his live-stream webinar, banquet and public talk! Can’t make it to Joel’s 3 days of workshops? Don’t fret – we’ve got options for you! Read [...]

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 [...]

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,

In March we hosted a workshop on SPIN farming with Curtis Stone, a successful SPIN farmer of

This book review was written by Michelle Avis

For the last three years we have been working hard to convert our Calgary inner city home into a thriving permaculture project complete with a front yard food forest, water-harvesting features, [...]

I'm not sure why it took us so long, but we finally have installed our new composting toilet - which cost us $25 to build. All we are missing is some sawdust, which I plan to pick up this week-end.

2011 has been an exciting year of observing and interacting with the ecosystem that surrounds our urban home. There have been many successes, and many great learnings! Here is a slideshow that is [...]

If you’ve been following permaculture in Calgary, then you’ve probably been hearing about Permablitz – the transformation of lawns into productive, abundant landscapes. You may be [...]

Following my recent blog post on the Do-It-Yourself Vermipod, I've been receiving a ton of questions from folks who [...]

We live and garden on an urban lot in Calgary, Canada, located on the 51st parallel north and approximately 80 km east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. This northern climate presents [...]

The Mustard Seed is a non profit charitable organization that helps Calgary’s less fortunate. They have recently had their rooftop patio renovated and are interested in the design and [...]

This is part two of a four part series about two Canadian permaculture enthusiasts and their three month journey exploring, visiting and learning about the what’s going on in the [...]

What is the difference between soil and dirt? Soil is alive. Dirt is dead. A single teaspoon of soil can contain billions of microscopic bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. A handful of the [...]

In August 2008, my wife Michelle and I returned to Calgary, Canada, after spending one year travelling abroad in search of sustainability solutions. With backgrounds in mechanical engineering, [...]

Another food forest installation in Calgary – yipee! The group of students from our Springtime Introduction to Permaculture class taught through Clean Calgary got together one beautiful [...]

As most of Robs friends and family know Rob has three loves in his life:

1. 1) his wife, of course
2. 2) good beer
3. 3) Renewable Energy

The Biodome is a large dome located here at the Folkecenter that combines a hydroponic greenhouse with an aquaculture system. It utilizes an integrated approach to water and nutrient reuse, [...]