Hello Baby-Boomers, I am what you call a 'City Girl'. And a 'Millennial'. I am, however, an 'Old Millennial' at almost 32 years of age. I do relate to most Gen-Xrs better than most of my 'Generation'. I also do come from a long line of 'Educated City-Folk'. So by all rights of classification I am a 'Millennial City Girl'. Seriously, though, most Millennials scare me. I am on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter (though Twitter isn't really my hotspot). Social media is a part of my existence. I can learn most anything I want on YouTube (like tiling a bathroom) or Google (How to de-skunk my dog). I do still enjoy the smell of new books and reread old favourites until the bindings fall apart. I am 'plugged in'. I am hardly reachable on my house phone (we only have it in case a babysitter doesn't have a cell). Call, text or instant message me, I have my cell phone basically everywhere I go. Never call me at home. I love alternative rock, classic rock, 90s punk and grunge, and even the occasional pop song. I live in a 1960's bungalow in town with my 'picture family' of a husband, two kids and a dog, though I don't have a picket fence, yet. I even drive a mini-van. I love my Chucks, Birkenstocks and Lulu Yoga pants. I am first and foremost a 'City Slicker'.
We go visit farmers, and ask 10 questions, and then make a video ...
We begin our "Who's Your Farmer?" series with a different kind of farmer ... a "garbage" farmer. Well, to be fair, it's not conventional garbage, or compost, we're talking about. This is organic "craft compost", and it's {going to be} the best thing you can use in your garden or farm.
Keri and I visited HopCompost in Calgary, AB, and spoke with Kevin Davies, the founder. Watch the YouTube video interview with Kevin - and prepare yourself - you will learn things about compost, compost fertilizer, and conventional fertilizer you haven't heard before! The amazing process which Kevin and the team at Hop Compost have devised is the stuff of legends. In fact, we believe that hop compost is at the forefront of a new organic compost and fertilizer era.
A FEW FACTS
Since 2015, their debut year, Hop Compost has diverted 2,029,000 pounds of waste from
local landfills. This has saved over 5,200,000 pounds of emissions, 65,000 cubic feet of land, and 507,000 liters of water.
HOP compost has 7.6 times the nutrient value compared to conventional compost.
Using a closed loop of organic farmers and vendors ensures Hop Compost's top quality
Grow Calgary - the largest urban farm in Canada - by using Hop Compostannounced
their crop yields are rising enough to be able to donate an additional 1125 meals to food banks
Canada's large cities will soon run out of landfill space:
Calgary has 18 years left
Vancouver has 4 years left
Toronto has 0 years -a they transport their garbage to Michigan
1/3 of most landfills are comprised of COMPOSTABLE material
Conventional FERTILIZER
Is poisonous to animals and humans
Has been proven to be toxicatmospherically*
Areas which use high amounts of conventional chemical fertilizer have an increase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma & brain cancer*
Heavy use of chemical fertilizer pollutes the air much like smoking*
*Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma stats: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Brain cancer stats: Boston University, School of Public Health
".. I would say organic is possible...a lot of people have been making the same purchase decisions that
they’ve just inherited through generations. It seems like a natural move
to go into a green center and buy a chemical fertilizer .."
Please watch the video and read the transcribed interview below.
Once Upon a Time, The Government Encouraged Self-Sufficiency ......
Now,
they require our dependency, through GMO crops, GMO seed patent laws,
fast foods, regulations on raw milk/eggs/meats, taxation, flu shots -
and the list goes on.
With the economy, especially in Alberta, being extremely tight and most of us balancing a budget tighter than bankers fist, we need hope. Hope that even though things are tough, they weren't as tough as Wartimes - and even THAT wasn't s bad as the Dirty 30's depression.
So what did folks do? They grew. And they shared. Then they survived. So too shall we! I
came across these War Time posters from the US, and suddenly realized -
holy crap - in just over 50 years we've come full circle in our mindset
... and that is ALL it is: a mindset!
Living Right, Living in Balance, takes patience and hard work.
