When I think back to the beginning of Sparrow’s Nest, in 2000, I recall the first CSA garden, for thirteen families, mostly friends and family, whom I browbeat into supporting me those first meagre production years. I owned no machinery for years. We did everything by hand and with hand tools. Transplanting was done using a trowel, with a string to keep rows straight; potatoes were planted by hand in a trench, hilled by hand, and dug using a digging fork. I remember the first wash “shed,” with no lights, outdoors, with only a roof — no walls to protect from weather. Water and power came by hose and a handy extension cord from the house.

Sparrow’s Nest has evolved over nearly 25 years, but my philosophy hasn’t change: leave the soil in better shape than I found it; leave the ecology more robust; grow the highest-quality food possible. Today, I manage a multi-family CSA, and you can find me in Aisle 5 at Edmonton’s Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market with fresh, nutrient-packed produce every Saturday of the year.

Regenerative farming

Organic production methods are the mainstay of our growing philosophy. We rely on the power of plants —especially legumes, composts, and naturally-occurring minerals — to build our soils. We were Certified Organic for over twenty years, but the both the costs to certify each year and the paper trail required to remain certified skyrocketed in the past ten years. In 2024 I decided, after much deliberation, to forego organic certification. Nothing in my farming methods has changed.