ALM Organic Farm - Workshops

Workshops

What we teach

ALM Farm offers courses at community colleges and our community school, and workshops at conferences and at the farm in the following topics:

Organic Farming as a Business
High Yield Organic Farming
Efficiency on the Farm
Seed Saving
Great Farm Tools
Growing tomatoes
Soil Fertility
Managing pests
Beer making using herbs from your garden
Preserving the harvest - canning , drying and freezing
Cob building
Natural plasters
Light Clay building
Stone work
Brick making
Oven building
Woodworking
Wildcrafting
Medicine Making
Fruit tree prening and care
Raising chickens and Pigs
Farm Management and Marketing
Designing and setting up an organic farm

The People of ALM Farms

Mary Alice Johnson

Mary Alice has been teaching farming in Canada and other countries around the world for 16 years. In addition to 20 years experience owning and managing an organic farm, Mary has a MA in curriculum and instruction. She participated in the first Natural Building Symposium in 199?. She loves to cook and can food, and is known for her pumpkin pies.

Holger Laerad

For the past 20 years Holger has been learning and practicing various aspects of sustainable living. Initially studying medicinal plants and natural healing with Don Olsin led to work with organic farming and natural building.Currently he teaches and works independently and with ALM farms and OUR ecovillage on diverse subjects including bread ovens and baking, building with stone, clay, and wood, and herbal beer making.

Marika Nagasaka

Marika is the manager of food production at ALM Farm specializing in salad crops. She has been our liazon with the restaurants for 4 years. She has given workshops in farm efficiency and growing salad crops.

«Calendar

Camosun College Courses

ORGANIC FARMING AS A BUSINESS -Are you thinking of organic farming as a profit-making business? Learn the in's and out's of finding farm land, determining acreage, planning for efficiency, maximizing tax breaks, developing your farm plan, identifying profitable crops, finding labour, selling produce, and finding support organizations. Emphasis is on planning, operating and marketing your organic farm. Includes two Saturday fieldtrips to visit local organic farms. Eight classroom sessions: Feb. 18 - March 8 (Mon/Thur nights, 6:30 � 9:30pm) Fieldtrips:� Feb. 23 & March 8 (Saturday mornings, 9:30am � 12:30pm) �

ORGANIC GARDENING - INCREASING YOUR YIELD Raise beautiful organic vegetables and fruits year round! Learn techniques used in organic farming including building your soil, avoiding pests, planning your calendar year, saving your own seeds and planting difficult crops. This popular course includes three Saturday fieldtrips, Classroom sessions:� Mar. 31, Apr. 3, 7, 10, 14 & 17 (Mon/Thur nights, 6:30 � 9:30pm)
Fieldtrips:� Apr. 5, 12 & 19 (Saturday mornings, 9:30am � 12:30pm)Please bring a soil sample to our first class for testing.

Courses at Farm - Spring

HERBAL BEER MAKING Learn how to stay healthy through the seasons by making and drinking your own herbal beer. We will gather fresh medicinal herbs, start the beer, and go through all the steps of the process up to bottling. We'll finish the day with a tasting of some previously brewed herbal beers. Taught by Holger Laerad at ALM Organic Farm Saturday, March 29
10 am - 4 pm
Bring your own lunch or enjoy an organic farm lunch for $14

Fee: $75+GST=$78.75

brewing with nettles and hops from the farm

FRUIT TREE PRUNING Fruit growers need to prune trees, shrubs and vines every year to keep them productive and to improve fruit quality. This 3-hour workshop will provide participants with hands-on experience pruning raspberries, peaches, figs, cherries, plums, pears, and apples. It's an opportunity for growers with little pruning experience to learn by doing while an expert supervises them. Come prepared to work outside regardless of the weather! Taught by Holger Laerad at ALM Organic Farm Saturday, Feb. 3
1:00-4:00 p.m
Fee: $35+GST=$36.75
ORGANIC FARMING AS A BUSINESS Are you thinking of organic farming as a profit- making business? An introduction to help you find farm land, maximize tax breaks, develop your farm plan, identify profitable crops, find labour, sell your produce, and take advantage of support organizations. Emphasis is on growing and marketing organic produce. Taught by Mary Alice Johnson at ALM Organic Farm Saturday, March 15
10:00-4:00 p.m
Fee: $50+GST=$52.50
PLANT PROPAGATION Do you have these questions? Am I drowning my seedlings or keeping them too dry? When should I direct seed and when should I start my seedlings in a pot? Which plants need dark to germinate and which need light? Learn how to get vegetables, herbs and flowers started from seed, cuttings and divisions – even the hard ones. Save money and end up with healthier plants by growing them yourself from seed or taking cuttings or divisions from your neighbor’s garden. Practical and hands on taught by a farmer with 20 years experience. Participant will go home with cuttings and newly seeded plants. Bring your own lunch or enjoy an organic farm lunch for $14 Taught by Mary Alice Johnson and Marika Nagasaka at ALM Organic Farm Saturday, April 12
10:00-4:00 p.m
Fee: $50+GST=$52.50
THE WINTER GARDEN One of the difficult parts of having food for the winter is remembering to plant the crops in the busy summer months, which is essential to get plants established. In this workshop we'll look at planning, prepping and planting the winter food garden. We'll talk about specific planting dates for a variety of crops, create a planting calendar, explore the importance of bed prep, and start some transplants and direct seed some crops for winter use. There are some difficulties to getting seed to germinate in the hot summer months which we will discuss as well. Participants will go home with some transplants for their own winter garden. Bring your own lunch or enjoy an organic farm lunch for $14 Taught by Marika Nagasaka at ALM Organic Farm Saturday, June 21
10:00-3:00 p.m
Fee: $40+GST=$42
GROW AMAZING TOMATOES
Have the earliest producing and greatest tasting tomatoes in your neighbourhood. Learn how to select the best varieties, propagate from seed, prepare the soil, transplant and train a variety of types of tomatoes. Also learn how to protect your crop from pests and save seed from your favourite tomatoes. Course includes 5 seedlings of a variety of heirloom tomatoes ready to transplant in May. Taught by Mary Alice Johnson and Marika Nagasaka at ALM Organic Farm
Saturday, March 22
1:00-4:00 p.m.
Fee: $25

GROWING GREAT FOOD THE ORGANIC WAY
Learn how to improve your soil quality, the health of your plants and the food grow by using tried and true organic gardening methods. Taught by a certified organic farmer and teacher with 20 years organic farming experience. Taught by Mary Alice Johnson and Marika Nagasaka at ALM Organic Farm
Saturday, May 10
10 am - 4 pm
Bring your own lunch or organic farm lunch $14
Fee: $50+GST=$52.50

Dates of building projects at farm

cob oven - July
interior and exterior plastering with clay - August

Phone 642-2131 for information about how to participate.