Course Outline

This course is similar to our Grow Your Own Food Course, but contains more in-depth information specific to urban settings, and the multi-system nature of a homestead.

Homesteading is more than gardening, it is living in relationship with the land you tend. It is caring for soil, plants and animals, growing and preserving a harvest, saving seeds and more. ‘Urban’ homesteading is figuring out a way to do this in the city. It is not about being self-sufficient, but about making the most out of what you have. It comes from understanding the fragility of our food supply, as well as the distressing environmental situation we have created, and wanting to improve them. Through small, quiet acts and time spent in the garden we are subverting the status-quo and working towards a more resilient future.

The Urban Homestead will run weekly out of the teaching garden at Haliburton Community Organic Farm. This is a hands-on course, with a combination of lecture style teaching and time spent growing food in the garden.

Over the growing season we will cover the following topics from the GYOF course:

• Garden design and infrastructure

• Soil Tests

• Building raised beds & trellises

• Irrigation

• Soil health and the soil-food web

• Regenerative and organic land management practices

• Plant life cycles

• Purchasing seeds - where, what and why

• Starting seeds and caring for plant starts

As well as:

• City soils and addressing soil contamination

• Maximizing small spaces - density and succession planting

• Fruit trees and installing fruit tree guilds

We will also have lots of fun in the garden, take time out for ourselves, and build connections within the community

Location

The Urban Homestead will take place in the teaching garden at Haliburton Community Organic Farm. We feel incredibly fortunate to have partnered with this longstanding community farming initiative, and are excited to be able to offer a hands-on food growing course so close to the city. This course is geared towards people living in Saanich and Victoria who are interested in more resilient living and working towards increased food-security in urban areas.

Haliburton Community Organic Farm 741 Haliburton Rd, Victoria, BC, V8Y 1H7

Thursday evenings, 5pm - 7pm March 24th - October 13, 2022

We will be meeting weekly in order to be able to maintain our individual plots. Some days will be more “class focussed” and others will be more about tending to the garden. If you need to miss a class or two, not to worry, there will be hand-outs to catch you up and help tending the land.

Course Fees/Registration

The course fee is $695 for the season. This includes your own garden plot, all seeds and soil amendments, and a share of the produce grown.

Registration Fee is $100. The remaining course fees can be paid in full on March 17th, or in three installments* of $198.50 on March 17th, May 19th and July 14th.

Registration is now open. Click on the Register Now button and send an email to register with the heading “Register for The Urban Homestead”. You will receive an email confirming a space for you. $100 registration fee is due once you receive a confirmation email. Thank you!

*Please note that a $20 administration fee will be added for paying in installments.

Cancellation Policy

·      Before February 22nd – Full refund of registration fee.

·      February 22nd –– March 17th - 50% of registration fee will be refunded. 

·      March 18th – March 23rd – No refunds of registration fee will be issued. Any additional tuition paid will be fully refunded. 

·      March 24th onward – No refunds will be issued after the start of the course. Please speak to me personally for course withdrawal due to extenuating circumstances. 

Covid-19 Safety

We will be meeting outdoors in all weather. Masks are optional outside, however, they are required when using the shared restroom facility. We will maintain social distance outdoors, and work hard to ensure the safety and comfort of all participants is upheld.