Sparrow's Nest Organics

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How We Do What We Do

How to Eat Our Food

Sparrow's Nest Organics supplies a variety of vendors in Edmonton.  Our favorite restaurants include: Culina (including Culina Muttart), Corso 32, Elm Cafe, Noorish Restaurant, Prairie Bistro at the new Enjoy Centre in St. Albert.  And we are regular suppliers to Earth's General Store.
CHECK OUT OUR LINKS TO ALL THESE GREAT, LOCALLY-OWNED AND OPERATED ESTABLISHMENTS

Address

Sparrow's Nest Organics
Box 52
Opal AB T0A 2R0
Ph: 780-942-2259
Cell: 267-2259
Contact Us

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Cropping methods

Sparrow's Nest grows market crops for its main source of income. We grow as wide a variety of vegetables as possible each year, accepting that some may not do well in a particular season. In 2003, we had amazing eggplants, right here in Central Alberta (Zone 3)!

Our cropping methods are: starting seed in our greenhouses; careful mechanical transplanting of bedding plants; standard bed configuration (48"); drip irrigation; and shallow cultivation. These factors create excellent growing conditions for most crops. Through the season, many hours (days, weeks...) are spent hand and mechanical weeding and harvesting, and preparing produce for delivery.

• Starting seed in our greenhouse ensures organic standards are met. We also produce extremely healthy seedlings.
• Careful mechanical transplanting takes one quarter the time of hand planting. Minor adjustments to the transplanter allow us to do both bare root (onion, leek, shallot, strawberry) and plug (lettuce, cabbage, herbs) seedlings.
• Standard bed configuration means ease of mechanical weeding and harvesting. Bed width is constant; number of rows per bed and spacing between rows varies with each crop.
• Drip irrigation is by far the most efficient use of water. Developed in Israel's deserts, the system supplies water (and nutrients, with optional fertilizer injector) directly to soil. It significantly reduces loss of water due to wind-blow or evaporation.
• Shallow Cultivation: Plows destroy soil microbes. Organic matter is lost from the soil chiefly through cultivation. By inverting soil layers, plowing plunges oxygen-dependent microbes into a non-oxygenated environment, leading to asphyxiation. At the same time, plowing exposes subsoil layers (which should never see the light of day) to wind, air and light: an ecological disaster.

Instead of a plow, we use a cultivator (to prepare soil for seeding), a tandem disc (to turn under plant residues), and harrows (to further smooth seed bed before planting, and for weed control). These practices minimize our impact on the soil. We cultivate shallow as possible, striving to keep all residues in the top 6" of soil. Soil microbes don't live much deeper than that, and that's what we're trying to feed with all these organic residues (green manures and compost).

We started mechanically cultivating in 2004, after purchasing an antique Allis Chalmers G, set up with weeding knives. It quickly weeds between rows. All weeding within rows is still done by hand.