Calgary area vegetables and honey at Hillhurst Sunnyside Market
Welcome to the online home of Urban Sunflower Market Gardens. Urban Sunflower Market Gardens is a Calgary area producer of chemical free sustainably grown vegetables, flowers and bee products (yes we have bees, the little ladies both help with the gardening through pollination and share their excess honey with us, now if only they could pitch in on the weeding).
What we do is grow vegetables and keep bees in an environmentally friendly way. This means we don't use chemical inputs, we primarily use hand tools (muscle power is good for us), and only small engine power equipment when necessary (limits our fossil fuel consumption), and we plant and use mulch to help retain moisture and limit watering.
Where we do our growing and beekeeping both in Calgary and just outside of Calgary at a friends family farm.
Why we do it is because we love growing things and we like the idea of healthy soils producing healthy vegetables. We also found we needed nice high quality beet greens for some of our favorite Ukrainian dishes and it seemed like the best way to ensure access was to grow them ourselves. That and growing potatoes is awesome, I mean one little potatoe turns in to a dozen happy new potatoes. Oh, and exploring the world of eating local vegetables has been fun, instead of having a dull diet, it is cool with seasonality and has given us a reason to explore our families' cultural past (Ukrainian, Scottish, and Chinese diets can all be supported with what we grow right here, so cool). Sure it takes time, but it is totally possible. I also like baking bread, and having my own honey to use, that is exciting, and who doesn't like honey? That and beets are pretty amazing, and my almost limitless ability to lose the parsnips and then find them next spring when they pop up again is a source of constant amusement. ......hmmm.... I think there are probably more reasons to do this than I could list, so maybe I should just say we do it because it is awesome.
I will continue to work on this page, add links to friends and local organizations in which we think you might be interested, continue to provide updates on the updates page (think of it as a gardening journal and away to know what is coming to market and respond to any questions or comments you might have.
Thank you,
Jerremie Clyde
Urban Sunflower Market Gardens
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
What we do is grow vegetables and keep bees in an environmentally friendly way. This means we don't use chemical inputs, we primarily use hand tools (muscle power is good for us), and only small engine power equipment when necessary (limits our fossil fuel consumption), and we plant and use mulch to help retain moisture and limit watering.
Where we do our growing and beekeeping both in Calgary and just outside of Calgary at a friends family farm.
Why we do it is because we love growing things and we like the idea of healthy soils producing healthy vegetables. We also found we needed nice high quality beet greens for some of our favorite Ukrainian dishes and it seemed like the best way to ensure access was to grow them ourselves. That and growing potatoes is awesome, I mean one little potatoe turns in to a dozen happy new potatoes. Oh, and exploring the world of eating local vegetables has been fun, instead of having a dull diet, it is cool with seasonality and has given us a reason to explore our families' cultural past (Ukrainian, Scottish, and Chinese diets can all be supported with what we grow right here, so cool). Sure it takes time, but it is totally possible. I also like baking bread, and having my own honey to use, that is exciting, and who doesn't like honey? That and beets are pretty amazing, and my almost limitless ability to lose the parsnips and then find them next spring when they pop up again is a source of constant amusement. ......hmmm.... I think there are probably more reasons to do this than I could list, so maybe I should just say we do it because it is awesome.
I will continue to work on this page, add links to friends and local organizations in which we think you might be interested, continue to provide updates on the updates page (think of it as a gardening journal and away to know what is coming to market and respond to any questions or comments you might have.
Thank you,
Jerremie Clyde
Urban Sunflower Market Gardens
Calgary, Alberta, Canada