Grand Trunk Veggies
1720 21 Ave NW T2E 4A2 Calgary, AB, Canada

Hello East Kootenays!!! Market Season is here. At Corner Veggies we want to introduce ourselves to you beyond Instagram. . As newbies to this valley, we thought the best way to introduce ourselves as growers was to dig in to the Farmer's Market scene. Today we kick it off at the @cranbrookfarmersmarket which runs every Saturday from 10 to 1. But, if you're locals, you likely already knew that. . Come get some incredible greens from us for your smoothies, stir-fries and salad...s. We've got radishes, mizuna, bokchoy and spinach to help you welcome spring to your kitchen. . It's going to be Laura-Leigh, Ambrose and myself so come meet the whole farming family. We feel truly blessed to be able to live here and are thrilled to meet all you. . . . #cranbrook #cranbrookfarmersmarket #cranbrookbc #bcag #fernie #eastkootenays #introduction #growers #localfood #radish #mizuna #spinach #bokchoy #mustards #smallscaleagriculture #smallscalefarming #farmersmarket #bcfarms #cranbrookbc #meetyou #kootenaylife #newfarm #modernfarm #marketseason #farmersmarket See more

Farm chores. . Wednesday is a special day for us at the farm. It's one of the only days Lolz and I have together to get work done. It's a blessing because many hands make light work and extra eyes pad the childcare. I couldn't do this without this team and family. Thank you so much. Make sure you let everyone you love know that today and everyday. This feels especially prudent for 2021. . .... . #cornerveggies #wednesday #farmfamily #farmlife #farmchores #cranbrook #fernie #jaffraybc #farmbc #smallscalefarming #smallfarm #marketgarden #bcag #helpinghands #family #loveyou #thankyou #blessed #localveggies #letemknow See more

Had an inspirational weekend with this champion. . I spend a lot of time reading farm books written by farm rockstars, and these people are super inspirational, yet I think what's even more inspirational is seeing a new farmer hop into a farm space craft and really blast off. This weekend I came back to Calgary to help Josh with my old farm and his new baby, Grand Trunk Veggies. I was incredibly inspired. Josh has really taken the foundation of my ol farm and started building... something of his own. The gardens were clean, organized. The beds were well seeded in advance. And inefficiencies that plagued my systems were already being worked thru. This man is going to make an amazing farmer so keep your eyes peeled on their account @chefsfarmer.yyc. . Huge thanks to @vergepermaculture and Rob Avis for the video work that helped sell Grand Trunk and find Josh and Sarah. I'm eternally grateful for all the work you do. . . . #chefsfarmer #grandtrunkveg #yyclocal #yycbusiness #cornerveggies #farmhelp #farmtogether #yycveggies #yycgarden #farmyyc #yycgrowers #eatfresh #newfarmer #smallfarm #urbanfarm #urbanveggies #yycfoodie #yyceats See more

I erred. And it wasn’t the T-stake that I drove through my irrigation line. . Last week I posted about the need for farmers to rest using a cutsie photo of Ambrose . The post made strong generalizations about the farm experience and made claims about life and suicide. People that I greatly respect in the farm community called me out on this post, and on reflection, I realized what a dolt I was. . If any other farmers, or anyone, felt that I was flippant about lack-of-system...s and organization being the primary cause of a farmers’ or entrepreneurs’ overwork and fatigue, I can certainly understand being vexed. I cannot generalize about the difficulties of farm experience universally, and it is absurd to claim that a farmer’s mortgage stress will be assuaged by sitting down and thinking out their processes if they honestly don’t think they will make their mortgage payments that month. This is a reality many farmers face. This is a face of poverty and not a space of a luxurious fireside Descartes’ meditation. This doesn’t give me the authority to comment on the farmer suicide rate either and I can understand being angered if it seemed like I was suggesting this statistic would decrease if farmers just chilled out or worked smarter. . I have had the tremendous fortune to not enter into a farming career hampered by heavy debts. Urban farming offered a unique way around land costs and our new farm would’ve been exceedingly more difficult to start had I not had support from my family. This too is a luxury not fairly distributed across the human population, let alone the farming one. This difference makes real apples and oranges that cannot be conpared. . Though I obviously have the option to delete said post, I prefer to leave it there. Mistakes are made to be learned from and not erased from memory. I encourage anyone who takes issue with something I post to comment. I believe these platforms can be a space for dialogue and I further believe dialogue is in short supply these days. I plan to explore the space of rest over a few future posts because I still think it worth exploring. Stay tuned, share your thoughts and get outside. . . . #cornerveggies #err #mistakes See more

Not sure if Ambrose is raising his spoon because of another good weekend hike or because he is loving his oatmeal. Either way, we had a great weekend exploring again. Back to farm work tomorrow. . . . #cornerveggies #jaffraybc #jaffray #eastkootenays #cranbrook #beeline #fernie #hiking #explore #outdoorbaby

Mizuna coming up strong. Thinking Wednesday's Salad for next week will be straight from the farm. . . . #mizuna #cornerveggies #hoophouse #growlocal #earthday #plantagarden #startafarm #jaffraybc #jaffray #eastkootenays #fernie #cranbrook #mustardgreens #spicy #wednesdaysalad #newfarm #eatyourgreens #veggies #localveg #zone5

Got some mizuna and red russian kale coming up. Plus spinach and radish on the side beds. I am loving this little greenhouse. . Definitely finding the wider beds work fine so far for our no till system. Though, there were some dorman weed seeds it seems that will need to be dealt with (see dandelion leaves starting up in photo), they're not in such supply that we ned to get into the beds and really work them. At this point the wider beds will seem to offer their biggest chall...enge at harvest time. Stay tuned. . . . #cornerveggies #jaffraybc #eastkootenays #yycfoodie #bcfarm #greens #spinach #redrussiankale #kale #mizuna #mustardgreens #coldseasoncrop #zone5b #zone5gardening #startafarm #growyourfood #eatlocal #cranbrook #fernie #farmtofork #seasonextension #farmfamily #modernfarm #bcgrown #bcgardening See more

Some days you just need to rest. . Sometimes I see farm feeds boasting about how many hours they work in a week, or how farmers work harder than anyone else. When I see these posts, I question whether the people posting them are also aware of the suicide rate among farmers. I question whether these farmers are working that hard because they must, they think they must or they think the bragging rights of such a schedule are enviable. I always want to give these farmers a hug a...nd tell them it is ok to chill out. . Personally, I doubt that anyone needs to work that many hours in a week (in a privileged, western society; huge reality differences elsewhere that I cannot speak to). This isn't me trying to slag anyone's business, but it is likely that the systems in these businesses are not set up in place to allow for rest, not that rest isn't achievable. . While our farm is under development, the amount of work we can take on is endless. But the amount of work we choose to do is under our control. It is impossible for us to get everything to operate at the capacity we want this year and so pacing is everything. We are trying to make choices that reduce our daily work needs not increase them. Sometimes, that means sitting. Sitting is not being lazy. Sitting is the time your best ideas happen and as a result it will be the catalyst that gets the most done. The next time someone tells you how hard they work, tell them to sit down. Maybe even tell them they can still celebrate 420, even if it was yesterday, they might thank you after they solve their problem while ruminating. . . . #sit #chillout #resting #restisimportant #cornerveggies #jaffraybc #jaffray #fernie #cranbrook #eastkootenays #newfarm #modernfarm #modernfarmer #farmbreak #farmlife #farmkid #sitandthink #smallscalefarming #smallscaleagriculture #farmbc #farminglife #rest #420 #localveggies #worksmarternotharder #worksmart See more

I don't know if I've ever had such consistent germination as this year. . Although cool nights had made using the prop house a challenge initially, I built a smaller greenhouse within the prop house and ran a small heater to it. Now, all the seedlings start here before they graduate to being inside only one greenhouse. So far the hack seems to be working pretty well. Germination is averaging between 80-90%. Could be better but is higher than I've had with systems in my apartm...ents. . I will share some photos and stories tomorrow. Right now I have to make use of the time before I have to teach. . . . #cornerveggies #jaffraybc #kootenaylife #eastkootenays #modernfarm #newfarm #smallscalefarming #prophouse #propagation #greenhouse #seedlings #farmseason #april #bcfarm See more

Being alone is the absolute death of cooking for me. . This was me, last night, turning 36 years: a heady symbol of bachelorism, cleaning the peanut butter jar out on the floor surrounded by moving debris. . This month has held a lot of solitude since Lolz and I have been living in two separate cities, and my solo birthday meal during covid made me reflect on how fortunate I am to have both ‘brose and Lolz in my life. I’m disinclined to cook if I am eating alone. I kind of ab...andon my model of health and structure and just end up working endlessly like all good little capitalists, or little farmers. . Last night’s birthday forced me to reflect on the last year and how intensely covid has isolated us all. In particular it got me thinking about food, and meals and about something French philosopher Jean Baudrillard said about eating alone after traveling to New York: "It is the saddest sight in the world," he remarked. "Sadder than destitution, sadder than the beggar is the man who eats alone in public. I often think about this quote during farm season because that is me, eating alone. But now I am thinking about it in terms of all the people who live alone, who because of Covid, must eat alone. The weight of Baudrillard’s words in today’s context struck me hard. For one, I felt so grateful for my family, but for two, I felt a gripping sense of urgency to have people over for dinner, to cook for them, to eat together, knowing of course that right now that isn’t possible. . I want us to leave covid having a better understanding of health, and for me, that means understanding it from a social perspective too. Eating together is part of that social aspect. Cooked meals are a part of that, but it is difficult to comprehend that when we are all separated and singulated meals can be purchased and heated up in our microwaves. Since there is no clear indication of when we will be out of this isolating mess, let’s look to the warmer weather as a time to cook meals for others and share them (outside of course) so we can all recall what being human means. That’d be a sweet birthday present, wouldn’t it? . #cornerveggies #bachelor #36 #turnedanothercorner #aroundthesun See more

This is a bit late, but I want to let you know. . Tomorrow I am taking over the @yycgrowers Instagram account for a little bit and I want you all to follow along. . I'm excited to be able to share my gratitude with the YYC GROWERS community, a community that has been fundamental to my development and commitment to local food production. A community I helped build and a community I am giddy to continue watching be built.... . I am also excited to share some thoughts on where I see the food journey going for the city. There just thoughts, not answers to anything. And then I am going to hand the over to Josh and Sarah, the new owners of Grand Trunk Veggies and @chefsfarmer.yyc and they're going to introduce themselves to the whole amazing YYC Growers community, so show them lots and lots of love. . There is a good chance that the discussion i start on the yyc feed will transition over to mine, since I don't want to high their feed and know 15 seconds might not be enough even to paraphrase. . See ya tomorrow. . . . #yycgrowers #yycgrow #yyc #calgary #yycgarden #cornerveggies #grandtrunkveg #grandtrunkveggies #gtv #chefsfarmer #yycfoodie #calgaryliving #yycnow #yycbuzz #yycdowntown #urbanfarm #urbanfarming #albertaag #farmcoop #cooperative #urbanfood #urbangarden #yyclife #calgarygarden #yycgrow #calgarylocal #yycsmallbusiness #yycbusiness #yychealth See more

I can't believe we are finally playing with soil again. . It's not really that late into spring. But it feels it. We moved up a whole growing zone, the weather has been good and there was so much more expectation to get out of the gate early so we could establish ourselves in our new home and yet....we just had to slow, slow down. . The move has been a huge, time consuming effort. It's been incredible and I am daily more in love with this life, but the blistering pace of unpa...cking, rebuilding, teaching and farming is unsustainable. Farming is all about hustle, but it is also about organization. In trying to prioritize being organized, we have to take a step back this season and remember, not all things will happen as fast as we like. This can be a hard truth to acknowledge. It's hard to remind yourself that one day we will get to that horizon, and then keep going. Some days it's hard just to find the horizon line. . A very wise mentor once told me, "you'll overestimate what you can do in a year, but you'll underestimate what you can do in 5." I would add, live the whole experience. . . . #cornerveggies #bcfarm #modernfarmers #modernfarmer #seedlings #farmseason2021 #newseason #jaffraybc #cranbrook #ferniebc #eastkootenays #seedling #transplants #prophouse #startafarm #gardening #bcgarden #abgarden #yycgarden #growfood #plantagarden #localveggies #farmstand See more

Last. La la la last greens of the season. Absolutely promise. This snow is a season ender. . This arugula headed to @yycgrowers. . Enjoy. . .... . #yycnow #urbanag #grandtrunkveg #arugula #yycgarden #yycliving #urbanfarm #winter #yycsnow #yycwinter #yycgrowers #winterishere See more

Seeds are so delicate especially carrot. . I certainly don't spend enough time seed saving as I'd like. But this was a fun project. This spring, superhuman, Moira, of @walkersownproduce had carrots long in the tooth from 2019's growing season. She encouraged me to plant the carrots, who were rooting heavily. If you've ever stored carrots for a while, you'll know what this looks like. Carrots are biennial, meaning they seed on the second year. We planted them on our rooftop g...arden to harvest the seeds. It worked beautifully. Ba-boom, rainbow carrots for next year. Heck yes. Share some of your seed saving stories. . . . #seedsaving #carrotseed #seedsarelife #seedsavers #gtv #grandtrunkveggies #grandtrunkveg #yycgarden #yycautumn #yycfall #urbanag #urbanfarm #urbanfood #umbelliferae #yycgrowers #albertaag #carrots #saveseeds See more

Final Farm Stand today!!! Drop by 1720 21 Ave NW for your fresh local veggies today between 2 to 6 pm and help us close out the season. Plenty of arugula, cilantro, fresh eggs, pumpkins, potatoes, tomatillos, apples etc. . This Farm Stand has been amazing. We connected so richly to our farm neighbourhood, met so many amazing people and connected people with incredible local farmers from in and around Calgary. Thank you to everyone who stopped by throughout the season. We will... miss you a lot!!! . . . #yycnow #yycliving #nwyyc #calgary #yyceats #calgaryeats #yycgarden #yycveg #yycfoodie #banfftrail #calgarylife #yycfood #calgaryhealth #yychealth #eatlocal #urbanag #urbanagriculture #yycgrowers #yycfarm #yyccooking #yyclife #yycfall #october See more

Snow up top, tatsoi down low. Remay helping these little guys make it thru. Though with that upcoming forecast there's...hopefully we can harvest them before then. . . . #gtv #grandtrunkveggies #grandtrunkveg #yycgrowers #yycgarden #yycsnow #october #tatsoi #wintergreens #coldcrop #yycveg #yycveggies #yycfarm #yycnow #yycliving #yyceats #saladgreens

Sending lots of love and gratitude to everyone this weekend. While the experience of this long weekend will be unique and challenging for many, know that we're going to have an enormous group hug ready for you'll when we are through this. From our family to yours, xoxo. . . . #longweekend #familyphoto #grandtrunkveg #grandtrunkveggies #gtv #cfsaladbox #urbanfarm #urbanag #yycgrowers #yycfarm #yycgarden #gonnagetthroughthis #october #autumn #yycnow #yycliving #yyclife #farmfamily #urbanag

Today was the final salad harvest of the season. Whoop. Whoop. I think I want to do a longer post about my experience farming this season and what it meant to me, but for now, I've got bins and bins of greens to prep. #calgary. You're a gem. But let's not do 2020 again. Ps. Don't forget to get those salad orders in or come to Farm Stand this THURSDAY . . .... #finalharvest #cfsaladbox #grandtrunkveg #grandtrunkveggies #yycfoodie #yycgrowers #yyclocal #yyceats #yycgarden #yycsalad #calgarygarden #saladharvest #greensharvester #albertaag #albertaagriculture #yycfarm #urbanag #urbanfarm #yycveg #yycfarmersmarket #yycmarket #yycbusiness #yycbiz See more

Traditional Ghee made by Fresh with Vresh NOW available on our webstore. Vhresin just happens to be my neighbour, he is an amazing cook, especially with foods native to his home of India. This Ghee is singlehandedly the best Ghee I have ever tasted. And best of all, for those unfamiliar with Ghee, know that ghee is the perfect butter to cook with for those sensitive to dairy because there is no lactose in it. Add Ghee to your webstore order this week.

Tatsoi has been a great crop for us this season. It's also proving a hardy crop as we transition into cooler weather. We have predominantly grown it as a baby green but did a few trays of starts to get some larger heads, though I prefer the lil' guys. Goes great in stir-fry with some sesame seeds and soy sauce. Or use it in that kimchi you're going to make for winter. . . . #tatsoi #cfsaladbox #urbanfarm #urbanag #urbanfood #yycgarden #grandtrunkveg #grandtrunkveggies #gtv #localveggies #albaertaag #smallscalefarm #growvegetables #soilhealth #yychealth #yycvegetables #yycveg #yycfoodie #yyceats #yycfood #yycbusiness #yycgrowers #calgaryeats #calgaryfood #asiangreens #autumn #fall #seasonextension #kimchi #yycliving

It's that time of year when we start cleaning up and winding down. BUT, don't worry, we have 3 more Farm Stands planned for the season. Thursday October 1, 8, and 15th we will be running our pop-up stand from 2PM to 6PM. Make sure you place your order on our webstore https://www.localline.ca/chefs-farmer if you want to guarantee products. Otherwise, just show up and pick a la carte from what we have. Farm Stand is 1720 21 Ave NW, Calgary Can't wait to see you before the snow flies. You've been an amazing community this year and I am so humbled. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Yesterday I spent some hours processing and prepping for canning. I had some leftover grapes and plums in my cooler. I often don't have the time to tackle all the canning processes from start to finish, and a full day of canning can be extremely long. So I often break tasks down. With jams, I've found that cooking the jam syrup and then freezing it works really well if you don't have time to actually can that day. Any pectin additions etc, I hold off on. Then, when I know I h...ave time to boil the large cauldron, I defrost the syrups, rack up and can. We've got a grape, plum jam with a subtle amount of orange rind happening here. . . . #cfsaladbox #chefsfarmer #grandtrunkveg #grandtrunkveggies #yycfood #yycfoodie #yyceats #calgaryeats #calgarynow #yycnow #yycliving #yyclife #localveg #preserves #yycjam #fruitjam #greengrapes #canning #winterprep #preserves #yycfood #yycgarden #urbaneats #urbanagriculture See more

Hi everyone, like taking photos, like fresh local veggies? Our family is hoping to get some fall photos of us in the garden. We are seeking someone who likes taking photos, and is better than us, who would want to trade a veggie haul for photos. If this is you, please DM me and let's hash it out. We'd like to do this asap while the fall colors still linger. Thanks so much and we look forward to hearing from you. . #yycphoto #yycliving #yycnow #yycfall #yycphotographer #yyclife #yyctrades #yycveggies #yyclocal #cfsaladbox #grandtrunkveg #yycgrowers #yycgarden #dmmeformoreinfo #dmmefordetails

One of my favorite seeds to collect, sunflower. I'm particularly excited about the seeds from the huge head. That one was special. Do you collect seeds? What's your favorite? . #urbanag #collectseeds #smallscalefarms #yycgarden #gardenyyc #yycgrowers #seedcollecting #seedsaving

That's a wrap! Huge, huge thank you to all the customers who committed to our Late Summer Salad Box program. We had so much fun growing, harvesting and curating it and we hope you loved eating it. Here is this week's final box: red mizuna, spinach, baby carrots, choice of squash or pumpkin from @shirleysgreenhouse and the roast apple dressing from @laetitiachrapchynski of @donnamacyyc . . I had never planned to do a farm box program until this season forced us to pivot. I hav...e zero regrets. The customers were so amazing. Could not ask for better. And the product we were offering was always so beautiful and fresh, plus always, authentically local. It's sad to be finishing up, but remember the webstore and farm stand are still open for a few more weeks so you can continue to enjoy farm fresh local veg. . And of course, a huge thank you to all the chefs who created dressings for both the early summer and the late summer boxes. Customers raved about them...and so did I, all of them were unique, flavourful and complemented our boxes perfectly. . . . #cfsaladbox #grandtrunkveg #grandtrunkveggies #yycfoodie #yycgrowers #yyclocal #yyceats #calgaryeats #yycfood #yycliving #yycnow #localfarm #localyyc #yycgarden #urbanag #urbanfarm #saladbox #freshsalad #thankyou #yycbusiness #knowyourfarm #albertaagriculture See more

Our final salad dressing creator: Laetitia Chrapchynski has blown me away this summer with her unique use of our veggies. Laetitia creates her dishes at @donnamacyyc in the Beltline. Whether it was droppiny bombs with a Lemon Balm ice-cream sandwich or pressing fresh perogis, we've been excited to watch her transform produce into art. Our final salad box will feature her dressing which aptly heralds in the fall season. It is a roast/caramelized (yeah, fricking caramelized) M...cIntosh apple vinaigrette with grainy Dijon, maple syrup and paprika. So pumped for the customers to get this. . Huge thanks to Laetitia for this dressing. And an extra huge, super loud shout out to all the amazing customers who made the Chef's Farmer's Salad Box possible. This could not exist without you and I hope this summer's salads were always on point and delicious. Please enjoy this final box and look forward to our next project. . . . #cfsaladbox #grandtrunkveg #grandtrunkveggies #cfsaladbox #chefsfarmer #yyceats #yycfoodie #yycfood #donnamac #beltlineyyc #yycbusiness #yycsalad #yycgrowers #yycgarden #yychealth #yycveg #yyclocal #yycliving #yyccooking #localfarm #localagriculture #urbanfarm #calgaryeats See more