Kieran Vancouver

Up in Vancouver there are now at least half a dozen multi-backyard farms set up. The Vancouver Urban Farming Society has some links to them. Most seem to operate on a CSA basis.

There is also an organisation called Sole Food which farms vacant lots.

Both of those would probably love to talk to you and give some advice.

The warning is that a lot of these types of businesses are not all that self-sustaining. I get the impression that most of the people doing backyard farming are putting in long hours and in the end earning less than they could waiting tables. Sole Food gets by through donations, aided by the fact that they double up as an employment opportunity for disadvantaged/homeless people in Vancouver's downtown east side. So be realistic with your business plan and have a plan B if it doesn't all pan out.

Jennifer Wadsworth wrote:

Cj Verde wrote:I'm more of a repeat, one time volunteer. IOW, I'm often asked to bake bread or a pie for various fund raisers. When do I stop baking? When they stop asking! This has happened quite a bit, usually when people in charge change so I'd say keep a written list of people willing to volunteer and keep asking even if the people in charge of that committee change.

The written list - YES! Especially for those "one off" volunteers. This is a situation I often run up against when my neighborhood does activities. I can tell you with 99.9% accuracy who the folks are who can be counted on to bring some yummy homemade treat to the event - and are tickled pink to be asked to make this signature treat. I especially make it known that there are requests for said treat - because there always ARE requests.

Cj Verde wrote:Plaques with peoples names & years are always good. Especially for specific projects.

Yes! I often wondered if anyone liked this besides me. AND I wonder how to make these more "permaculture". Recycled materials? Local producers? Other thoughts?

As an expansion to the "plaque" as a symbol of recognition, I have been advocating for a signage system for a few years. It function similarly to a girl scout/boy scout badge sash and would be posted on the front gate, wall, etc of the home. (remember we're in an urban setting - lots of walk-by and drive-by interest). Brad Lancaster does this on his property in Tucson and it has been phenomenally successful. The sign would indicate that the property was practicing permaculture principles and would show badges of each type of activity on site (some practices would not have badges as they are currently under the radar like composting toilets). It could be that various local orgs would hand out badges upon inspecting a site (Native Plant Society, Rare fruit growers, Watershed Management, etc). There would definitely be a "community" badge and one way to earn it would be to volunteer. Thoughts?

Keeping a list of volunteers (with contact details) is a great idea. You can even go high-tech with this and get into "constituent relationship management" software -- there is at least one good free / open source option. This can take a lot of work to set up, though, and probably isn't worthwhile unless you're a very big organisation.

You should also think about keeping some kind of log of volunteer hours. You'd have to explain that it is only for the purposes of volunteer recognition, and make it optional (since some people get paranoid about you gathering information about them), but it gives you an objective basis for deciding who to recognise. You can then set up levels of recognition. Volunteer X many hours, get a badge. Volunteer X more hours, get recognised on the plaque as a super-volunteer. And so on.

For plaques, salvaged wood can be made to look good with a bit of sanding, varnish, and maybe even some carving if somebody has the skills. A wood burning pen is a good way of engraving names and designs.

Badges are a great idea, as are certificates. You should also consider hosting a semi-formal awards ceremony, with an accompanying party (maybe partly subsidised if your group has funds). This could also be part of your AGM.

Material, in-kind recognition also works, depending on what your organisation provides. Space in garden beds? Use of shared tools?