Chris ThoreauMarch 2020 This March I joined USDA carrot breeder Dr. Phil Simon and his crew from University of Madison-Wisconsin in Southern California to dig and evaluate some 700 plots of carrot trials as part of his USDA-ARS carrot breeding program. This is the second time I have participated in Read more…
After a winter of design and fabrication we are excited to be taking the mobile seed cleaner out on tour across BC. We have stops in the Lower Mainland, Okanagan, Kootenays, and Vancouver Island scheduled from July through September 2019. Check out the full tour list here. We have also Read more…
One aspect of the mobile seed trailer I have not yet written a lot about is our collaboration with UBC engineering students to design and build a seed cleaner for us. They are working from existing concepts to build a seed cleaner which is, Effective at cleaning a wide range Read more…
Today we tested the Clipper! I happened to get some wheat seed form a grower in Chilliwack this week which was perfect timing for getting the Clipper running. The test runs are important for getting to know the machine and produce effective training manuals. It also helps us upgrade things Read more…
Today we did our first test run of the Clipper Seed Cleaner in the Mobile Seed Trailer! This is a big achievement as this is the biggest scale piece of equipment we have for seed processing. With this step done we will start producing instructional videos and documents for the Read more…
In partnership with USC Canada through The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, COG is excited to open registration for Canada’s only intermediate-level Organic Vegetable Seed Production e-learning certificate! This 22-week program runs April 8th – November 1st, 2019 (with a summer break from July 9th – September 2nd). Read More Below… We’re also happy to announce the Read more…
Our mobile seed trailer is so close to being online! Today we made plans for getting power hoked up to the Clipper and added some more “extras”. As we move ahead we are often thinking about what see growers need when they use the unit – and what we need Read more…
We are getting closer and closer to officially launching our mobile seed cleaner! To get the Clipper ready we placed a thick sheet of plywood on the trailer floor and screwed it down. The Clipper was then bolted to this platform for extra stability. The space behind the Clipper is Read more…
Building a Zig-Zag Seed Cleaner 31 December 2018 Chris Thoreau chris@farmfolkcityfolk.ca Download pdf article here For future updates check out the Zig-Zag Seed Cleaner Blog here. Note: This machine was fabricated as one piece of our mobile seed cleaning unit which contains numerous pieces of seed cleaning equipment including a Read more…
Today we picked up our Clipper AGM 224 seed cleaner from Seedburo Equipment Company that will go into our mobile seed cleaning trailer. Discovery Organics, Ltd took delivery for us and General Manager Damien Bryan showed off his forklift skills loading the Clipper into the trailer. After that is was back to the Vancouver Food Read more…
We got a second coat of “Sun Valley” green on the trailer this week (well, mostly) and we’re now ready to receive our Clipper AGM 224 seed cleaner from Seedburo Equipment Company. The customs documents are completed thanks to Clearit.ca – Canadian Customs Brokers and now it is the waiting game! Read more…
We made some good progress in getting the mobile seed trailer ready to go this weekend! First – we got the flooring installed. This will flooring adds a nice touch and will make it easier to keep the trailer clean. After the flooring came the painting! This helps brighten things Read more…
We’re excited to have picked up the cargo trailer that will house our mobile seed cleaning unit. We’re still waiting for our Clipper AGM 224 Seed Cleaner to be shipped but we’ve already got a lot of equipment ready to go including air compressors, box fans, totes, tarps, seed counter, Read more…
We’re happy to share this press release from the Ministry of Agriculture about the recent project funding for FarmFolk CityFolk’s Seed Security Program! —– The people involved in the first stage of growing fresh and healthy B.C. vegetables are getting some help to increase the amount of local food grown Read more…
Over the past few months we have been designing and sourcing materials for our mobile seed cleaner – a collection of mid-scale seed cleaning equipment for use by local seed growers and farmers. The design is based on an existing trailer at the Organic Farm School in Washington State. The Read more…
The carrots are now in full bloom! They were in fairly full bloom on July 7 before I (Chris) went away for two weeks and when I returned they were really in full bloom! On July 7 the fly pollinator population was still low so I spent a few days Read more…
This year we have taken a bit of a different approach with setting up the isolation tent for the Carrot Seed Project by erecting the tent as late as possible before flowering. This is done in the hope that the carrot stalks will be strengthened by having more wind exposure Read more…
After seeing a great mobile seed cleaning trailer at the Organic Seed Growers Conference in 2016 I thought it would be great to have a similar set up in BC. Such a unit would be great to help growers scale up and process their seeds more efficiently. It would also Read more…