S-10

avril 2011

Bulletin dAylmer West Qubec Post

Aylmer Backyard Farms: a new business takes local food to a new level
Lily Ryan Eating carrots just pulled from the garden? Salad graced with edible flowers? Steaming broccoli grown within a kilometer? All this is possible in Gatineau. Avid gardener, Anne Janssen has been at it again. Aylmer food lovers may remember her from last year outside Boulangerie Deux Frres. Every Saturday Ms Jansson was there selling her Aylmergrown vegetables. Following enough support for her first year, Ms Janssen has worked on a business plan with an expansion in mind. This is a business that Im working on, she said. This is different from a community garden. There are plenty of community gardens in Gatineau. These are gardens grown by members of a collective who enjoy gardening and who will eat the food they grow. At community gardens, each person who grows vegetables and herbs enjoys their own harvest. For Aylmer Backyard Farms, things are a little different. While there is space for others to help, there cannot be an open door. For people who do wish to contribute their time and effort, or even their garden space, the help is welcome. However the commitment is significant full mornings, full afternoons and even full days. The landscape is more interesting and colourful. Aylmer Backyard Farms is a name, but front yards are used too. There is a seniors residence near my house, Anne Janssen told Go Green. When I planted in the front, seniors stopped by everyday to watch the progress of the yellow beans.They knew all about growing food.
continued on page 13

agreement with Aylmer Backyard Farms is important. Each person who contributes time, space, money or effort gets a return in the form of food. The key is to help this business grow, which benefits Aylmer both for food lovers and for residents at large.

ORGANIC PRACTICES
BENEFIT EVERYONE

As more lawn area is pulled up to make way for growing food, the land wakes up. Those who contribute growing space make a commitment to not use pesticides or herbicides anywhere near the growing area. Naturally, no one can control what a neighbour puts on their own yard unless that regulation comes from the

municipality but at a minimum, the commitment to keep chemicals away from urban landscapes makes the city cleaner. This effort helps those with respiratory problems, especially children and the elderly.These people are particularly affected by changes in air quality. Aylmer Backyard Farms abides by organic practices but will not be able to be certified as such due to the nature of urban farming. It is too hard to control the environment, unlike on a vast farm. However, gardens are fenced in to protect from pets, and the fences especially if they are shrub fences go a long way toward filtering contaminants sprayed on neighbouring lawns and gardens. Despite the risk of urban dust, foods grown on urban farms have benefits that outweigh any other concerns.

Community gardens

Angus & Hereford Beef

Hormone-free beef. The right choice for you and your family
C260 Heath Road Shawville, Quebec J0X 2Y0 Tel. 819 647-3540

In Aylmer there are three collective gardens: North, Deschnes and Eardley. Contact the Aylmer Food Bank at 819684-0163 for information about any of these three. Families should register early. In Buckingham, there is the LOiseauBleu Collective Garden and in MassonAngers, the du Ruisseau Community Garden. Contact Le BoulevArt de la Valle at 819-281-0680. In Gatineau, there is the Outaouais Horticulture and Ecological Society and the Petites-Soeurs Community Garden; contact the Centre dAnimation familiale 100 MILE DIET at 819-561-5196 Eating food grown Hulls Marie-Le Franc Ecological within a kilometer of where Community Garden and the Reboul it is sold cuts gas emissions Ecological Community Garden are both and provides employment run by the Hull Island Residents for neighbours. Plus, the Association, CORPOJARDIN. It is an inter-generational, ecological community garden run by the de la Cabane coporation; the Entre Deux Fleurs Community Garden is run Bryson Farms by Entre deux rous at 819770-2233. The Jean-Dallaire Ward Garden is run by the Maison de lamiti de Hull at 819-772-6622.

Dist.biodirect@gmail.com

Recherchez pour ces marchands daliments spcialiss dans notre cahier spcial qui sera publi la fin mai dans le Bulletin dAylmer et le West Quebec Post. Vous y trouverez aussi plusieurs entreprises offrant leurs services aux maisons de campagnes et aux fermes. Si vous aimeriez faire la promotion de votre ferme ou de votre commerce dans notre cahier et tre sur notre carte rgionale, appelez-nous au 819.684-4755 ou au 1-800-486-7678 et demandez pour Izabelle!

Look for these specialty food producers and distributors as well as other businesses providing services for country homes and farms in our themed insert to be published in late May in the Bulletin dAylmer and the West Quebec Post. If you would like to be on our regional map and advertise in this special insert, contact us at 819.684-4755 or 1-800-486-7678 and ask to speak with Izabelle!

Bulletin dAylmer West Qubec Post

April 2011

S-13

How to get your roll on: using the Bixi bike

David-Lawrence Dumesnil The shared bike phenomenon has spread throughout the world; Gatineau and Ottawa are switching into high gear, too. In cities such as Paris, Mexico City, Rio de Jeneiro, Tel Aviv, Beijing, Melbourne, Brussels and countless others, programs such as bixi-bike are helping residents move around their city without the burden of personal property, such as cars and personal bikes. The shared system in Gatineau and Ottawa have two ways to get your roll on with Capital BIXI: a credit card or a subscription. station. Push the front wheel firmly into any empty bike dock. IMPORTANT: Make sure the green light turns on* after having locked in the bike.You must wait 5 minutes before taking out another bike. 8. To obtain a new unlocking code during the 24-hour period, start over at step 1 and insert your credit card again: the system will recognize it and no supplementary fees will be charged to your card. * In case of difficulty, try another bike dock or call customer service at 514789-BIXI (2494).

Aylmer Backyard Farms: a new business takes local food to a new level
continued from page 10

BIKE-SHARING SYSTEM

24-HOUR ACCESS WITH CREDIT CARD

This option gives you the right to an unlimited number of trips in a 24-hour period. For each trip, the first 30 minutes are included. Usage fees will be charged for longer trips (see fee structure). Heres how it works: 1. Go to the pay station and choose the icon of a bike, then read and accept the usage contract. 2. Pay by inserting your credit card (Visa or MasterCard). A hold of $250 is placed on your credit card. Since your credit card serves to identify you as a user, a maximum of two 24-hour accesses can be charged to your credit card at any one time. 3. Print or post your unlocking code on the screen. It is valid for 5 minutes. If you take longer than that, go to step 8. 4. Enter your unlocking code on the keypad of the bike dock of your choice. 5. When you see the green light turn on*, pull the handlebars firmly toward you to release the bike. 6. Your 30 free minutes start now! 7. Return the bike to any BIXI

BIXI SUBSCRIBERS (1-YEAR OR 30-DAY)

Simpler, faster, more economical. You get the right to an unlimited number of trips, with the first 30 minutes included for each trip, a BIXI-key and a personal Web space My BIXI space. Usage fees will be charged for longer trips (see fee structure). 1. Insert your BIXI-key directly into the bike dock of your choice. No need to use the pay station. 2.When the green light turns on*, pull the handlebars firmly toward you to release the bike. 3. Your 30 free minutes start now! 4. Return the bike to any BIXI s tation. Push the front wheel firmly into any empty bike dock. IMPORTANT: Make sure the green light turns on* after having locked in the bike.You must wait 5 minutes before taking out another bike. 5. At any time, check out information about your trips at your online BIXI space. (source: bixi.com)

box. Some CSA services also include items Community Supported Agriculture, or such as grains, milks, cereals etc. There are CSA, is a growing movement that connects several in Outaouais. Contacting each one food lovers with farmers. The idea is simple. directly is recommended some even Farmers produce food, families eat it. But encourage a visit to their site so that families what happens in between can negatively have a stronger connection with where their effect both farmers and families. Not always, food comes from. Some local CSA services of course there are plenty of great places to advertised their contact information in this buy fresh food in the region. But buying guide, please contact them directly and directly with the farmer is a guarantee that mention where you saw their ad! This helps both the farmer and consumer benefit. One us help you. Information: major challenge for food producers is stabiliaylmerbackyardfarms.wordpress.com ty. If farmers plant a hundred carrots, they budget to be paid for those hundred carrots. One way to guarantee this return is to connect with large distributors. et However the downfall here is Soi s ge nt il the big food companies negotiavec ton pe tit derrire ate the price down, creating a loss of profit many farmers cannot handle. The other challenge for farmers dealing with big companies is that big chains need massive amounts of food more than can be grown ecologically in Outaouais. Most of the organic food sold in big chains comes from the south. The solution, therefore, is to be stable, and to sell to regional neighbours. This brings us back to CSA, Community Agriculture. Supported Families make a deal with and farmers directly. They order a weekly box which is either Be kind to yo ur little delivered to their home or to a be hin d community space. Sometimes families have a choice of which fresh foods come inside the info@mybabybumblebee.com 819 962-2577

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE

Couches lavables
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