The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 10/11 – Luke Kimmel from light & soul on Vimeo.

Luke Kimmel is a young social entepreneur and permaculture designer
who shows that both the entrepreneurial spirit and the desire to heal
the planet can be satisfied through permaculture and urban farming.
His vision and approach are based on the notion that humans can live
in a way that makes us a positive force on planet earth, and that
through following our hearts and dedicating ourselves, entrepreneurs
and good-willed people have all the opportunity in the world to create
small sustainable businesses / projects that can help them follow
their dreams while making the world a better place.

Prior to starting work in permaculture, Luke helped found and run a
clothing company / artist collective / events company called Light &
Soul, and had also undertaken ventures in product distribution,
business development, and music management. Thus, Luke’s approach to
permaculture came through the lense of entrepreneurship,
and all began when he first discovered yurts, and was extremely
intrigued by the concept of building his own home for less than $15
000. This led him to examine the concept of self sufficiency, and
eventually move to a farm to in Winlaw, BC to take his first Permaculture Design
Certificate course . After taking this course and
spending a couple months living on a farm, Luke knew that he had found
his true calling – to live out his vision of paradise through
cultivating sustainable human habitats and creating opportunitites for
meaningful work and community development.

Now, with the help of 3 other long time friends and
business partners, Luke helps run their company Leaf Ninjas which does
urban farming and permaculture design / edible landscaping in Calgary,
AB. The Leaf Ninjas now cultivate a half acre of urban farmland spread
between 10 back yards in the inner city neighborhoods of Inglewood and
Ramsay, and will be selling produce to local restaurants and at the
Inglewood & Ramsay Farmers Market which they helped found in
2012. Over the past 3 years Luke has consulted on a wide variety of
permaculture projects ranging from urban yards to community gardens to
small and medium sized homesteads and acreages. The Leaf Ninjas have
now designed and installed 8 permaculture gardens in Calgary and they
plan to increase that number significantly in 2013, while also
offering consulting and design services geared towards DIY gardeners
and land owners who want to foster a more meaningful connection with
their landscape.

Luke was also instrumental in shifting the focus of the company Light
& Soul from clothing to video production, and helped produce the Verge
Graduate Interview Series which you are watching now… So thank you
for watching with us, and we hope you enjoy the videos

vergepermaculture.ca

leafninjas.ca

The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 9/11 – Jordan Saunders from light & soul on Vimeo.

Jordan Saunders is a young farmer whose projects have already made a significant impact on the yards and hearts of many people across Western Canada; he shows by example that farming and permaculture homesteading are an attractive and viable path for youth looking for a career or entrepreneurial venture that is good for both people and the planet.
Jordan’s farming path began after an epiphany moment at a Vipassana meditation course where he decided he wanted to “be the change he wanted to see in the world”, and within months he had already applied for and received a grant to take his first permaculture design course and begin a garden share education program with 13 homeowners in his home town of Black Diamond. The program was very successful and most of the gardens have been continued by the homeowners ever since. On top of all this, Jordan and some friends also founded and operated an 18 share CSA farm in the same season.
Jordan now works and lives as the lead hand on a developing permaculture homestead in the Slocan Valley where this year he will be training two other full time interns and seasonal “Wwoofers” who will also be living and working on site. Watch and see how this inspired and motivated young person has created a valuable skill set through permaculture and farming, and see how he blazes a trail which is likely to be followed by many more like him in the future.

Verge Permaculture

The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 8/11 – Heather Noakes & Ashley Lubyk from light & soul on Vimeo.

Ashley Lubyk and Heather Noakes show that creating beautiful and sustainable human habitat is possible through the passionate work of their natural building education and consulting company, Dirt Craft Natural Building.
After attending university and pursuing work in the environmental sector and fine arts, these two decided to start a business of their own by following their budding passion for natural building, and after their first workshop on “How to Build a Cob Oven” the path forward with their new venture became clear. Just a couple years later Ashley and Heather have now lead over 25 hands on workshops on how to build cob ovens across Western Canada, as well as branched out to offer workshops on installing earthen floors, clay plasters and clay paints, cooking in cob ovens, straw-bale building and more. They also offer hands on consulting on a wide variety of natural building methods and techniques meant to help DIY builders take their existing knowledge and turn it into hands on skills and application know-how.
Ashley and Heather have become well known and respected for their passion of delivering high quality, well researched education, and when you take one of their workshops you can feel the true dedication they have put towards giving people the empowerment, tools, and skills they need to create healthier, more energy efficient, and more comfortable homes, all while offering detailed instructions on how to build it, and then showing you step by step how to do it.
Watch as these two take clay, sand, and straw, and turn them into some of the key ingredients for creating sustainable human habitat, and see how sustainability, practicality, and aesthetic design can be combined to create functional works of art that will have positive effects on the homeowner and community for decades!

The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 6/11 – Kym Chi from light & soul on Vimeo.

Kym Chi shows us how permaculture is a form of art, as well as a tool for increasing personal empowerment and community resiliency. Her sense of humor, enjoyment, and positivity leaves everyone who meets her feeling happier and more inspired; and it shows that her energy and efforts in both the local and global community have made an incredible positive difference.
Kym’s involvement as the permaculture designer, garden curator, and farmers market coordinator at The AREA (Arts, Recreation, Education, Environment, Agriculture) have been one stunning example of this. In one years time Kym has led the charge in facilitating thousands of volunteer hours on the transformation of the old brown field site at The Area into a thriving permaculture garden and community space that is now a major hub for the Calgary community. She has been the driving force behind creating the local-focused Inglewood and Ramsay Farmers Market hosted at The Area which has created a platform for many new local producers to start their businesses.
Through her creative permaculture education and design practice Giggling Chi Tree, Kym has taught many permaculture workshops, including teaching at several music festivals across Canada, and now in various public schools across Alberta. She is also a contributor to the global initiative Gaia Craft, and has helped design many of their open source teaching tools.
Her passion as an educator is matched by her commitment to increasing her own education, which she is currently doing through taking her Advanced Permaculture Diploma through the USA Permaculture Research Institute, as well as a Visionary Permaculture course over six weekends at COSM, just outside of New York.

gigglingchitree.com
gaiacraft.com
vergepermaculture.com

The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 5/11 – Josh Baker from light & soul on Vimeo.

Josh Baker demonstrates a beautiful and functional approach to urban permaculture design at his home in Calgary, AB, incorporating many unique landscaping elements including a young food forest, flowers, and largely up-cycled passive solar greenhouse. It is clear that he and his family have carefully designed their yard to create and foster the profound emotional experiences of relaxation, contemplation, and a rich sense of place which a well designed garden can provide.
Josh has taken the skills from his day job as a project manager, estimator, and nationally certified safety officer specializing in shallow utilities contracting, as well as his extensive permaculture study, to create his company Radicle Routes Permaculture. In his first year of operation, Josh has taught several permaculture courses as well as taken part as a designer in one of the largest scale permaculture projects in all of Canada.
Josh’s solid and well-thought-out approach to creating Radicle Routes permaculture is sure to make him one of the most sought after consultants, designers, and teachers focusing specifically on key-line plowing, earthworks, holistic management, and overall farm design.

The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 4/11 – Jeff and Juli Gillies from light & soul on Vimeo.

Jeff and Juli Gilles are demonstrating a wide array of permaculture homesteading techniques on their 5 acre parcel near Rocky Mountain House, AB. In just a couple years they have managed to transform thousands of square feet of land into productive gardens ranging from food forests to up-cycled raised beds, and have used their technological know-how and a “get-er-done” approach to test everything from solar electric, heating, and cooking to rainwater harvesting, energy efficient retrofits, food storage, and large scale soil production through their business Taimi Soil Solutions. Their acreage is quickly becoming a leading edge example of homesteading solutions and off grid technologies relevant to cold climates, and they will be showcasing it all as the hosts of the 2013 Western Canada Permaculture Convergence this August.

Verge Permaculture

The Grand Canyon of the Stikine

Beer number X of 15+

So many great big volume features

Picked this epic globe up in Uncle Barrys Used treasure in Clearwater on my way North

Even in the Gopro look how big these canyon walls are….

The classic sign with the best icecream in the world right next to it

The put in Bridge…double rainbow…epic

PG Sign Shot

Alot of sick bow up airtime on this river

The Canyon, flatwater is few and far between in here.

The GC….!

Portaging SIte Z….this photo does this rapid absolutely NO Justice

Through Tanzilla Slot on Day 2….so stoked

The long drive, so gorgeous

The Fat Chief next to the most epic multiday campsite in the world….Wolf Den

Put in Mayhem

Uncle Barrys….Great Store this one

Guess Whos Crib….

Mongrel Mob

Scouting V-Drive….You scout this bad boy so high up it gives you little persepctive on what to expect size wise when you roll in…Jules thumbing up…shes goooooood

The Hike up to Scout V-Drive

Wolf Den…no words needed

BE SURE TO WATCH THE VIDEO HERE>>>IT REALLY CAPTURES THE PLACE!!!!!!

https://vimeo.com/52216125#

The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 3/11 – Crystel Vultier from light & soul on Vimeo.

Crystel Vultier is a true local food purveyor for her home town of Canmore, AB. Over the past several years she has been instrumental in creating the Canmore Community Garden which now provides plots for over 100 gardeners in the city and area. She has also created a project called Farm Box which sources local and organic food directly from farmers in Alberta and BC, and then distributes it to 130 families in a weekly CSA program, as well as making the abundance of healthy produce available to the whole city through a booth at the local farmers market. Watch how one persons potential to create positive change is realized and see how quickly the ripples have spread to effect her entire community.

farmbox.ca
canmorecommunitygardening.org
vergepermaculture.ca

The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – 2/11 – Shauna Teare from light & soul on Vimeo.

Nestled deep in the forested mountains of the Slocan Valley, ex-urbanite Shauna Teare and her family have applied their prior life skills in business and carpentry as well as their ability to learn-whilst-doing to create a leading edge permaculture homestead that has a lot to offer. See how they have up-cycled materials en-mass, created a diverse and productive organic garden, made the most of their on-site resources and networked within their community to create a truly resilient, sustainable, and enjoyable lifestyle.