Farmers

Owned by Josh and Sarah Spackman, Chef's Farmer is an urban farm that started in Calgary's West-Hillhurst neighborhood. They use donated yards for food production, soil repair, and neighborhood beautification. They’ve curated 1/4 of an acre from the donated yards in Hillhurst, St. Andrews Heights, and Banff Trail neighborhoods.

Deepwater Farms was founded in Calgary, Alberta in 2015. It started as a passion project to bring the farm closer to people and people closer to their food. They grow baby greens in an indoor, controlled environment, and sell their produce locally. Grown in a hydroponic system that delivers the perfect amount of nutrients in an optimal environment.

The Mills family began farming their land in 1921 and have carried on the tradition for four generations. As the Mills learned more about sustainable farming and environmental impact, they began a long period of transition and in 2018 they became Certified Organic.

Happiness by the Acre is a small family farm run by Sarah and Marcus Riedner. It started as an urban farm in Calgary in 2013 but has since expanded to their rural land near Didsbury. They use regenerative farming practices and grow non-certified organic veggies, fruit, flowers, and ethically-raised ducks and chickens. They also custom graze cattle.

Leaf & Lyre is a regenerative farm based in Bowness, Calgary. Rod Olsen (aka the “Rodfather”) is the founder and he tends the soil by reducing tillage, adding compost, and cover cropping. They uses a method called SPIN (Small Plot INtensive) to use private and shared yard plots—typically using ~30 different back yards.

Little Loaves Farm is a family farm located NW of Sundre Alberta. They strive to provide both great food and a restored environment. They specialize in raising great tasting and well tempered yaks, and growing fantastic potatoes (many of which pair very nicely with yak).

Vanessa Rosewood is the founder of Micro YYC. The company grows and distributes microgreens to stores, restaurants, and markets in Calgary, and beyond. They grow year-round, indoors, in soil, without the use of synthetic inputs. Seeds are certified organic whenever possible.

Our Family Farm is a small organic family farm about 25km from Calgary and 4km out of Okotoks. They don't use any herbicides or pesticides on our food. They are certified organic and believe that considering and respecting the biosphere goes a lot deeper than that. They are continuously working towards greater sustainability and are stoked on permaculture.

Pennybun’s Mushrooms is an urban farm founded by Jessica Lypkie and Dirk McCabe. Their greenhouse specializes in oyster and shiitake mushrooms and source other specialty mushrooms such as morels, porcinis, and chanterelles from select forgers in B.C.

Located east of Didsbury, Shirley’s Greenhouse manage 38,000 square feet of greenhouse space that provides fresh produce year round. They follow an approach known as Integrated Pest Management so they can grow their veggies without the use of synthetic pesticides. You could pick a tomato straight from the vine and it is ready and safe to eat!

Mike's Kozlowksi was inspired to grow food back in 2005 when he was challenged with the question about why we are shipping our food from all over the world when we can grow it ourselves. That question took him all over Canada where he learned from experienced farmers. Steel Pony utilizes cover cropping, soil amending, and no-till production.

One of the longest-running urban farms in Calgary, Root and Regenerate practices “no-dig” regenerative farming in Calgary yards to promote soil health and microbial life, transforming sodded grass space (which drains resource is) and turns it into thriving productive vegetable gardens that regenerate soil and ecosystem.