“Horticulture Project ”
Horticulture Project
Closes January 29,2021, 12pm.
A partnership with Fishing Lake Metis Settlement (FLMS), Metis Settlements General Council (MSGC) of Alberta and Natural Resources Canada was formed to create a project that aims for participants to create a successful business by growing food and selling it into the market. Participants will be setting up a small-scale horticulture/vegetable farm on up to ⅛ acre of land. (5445 sq ft or 52ft x 104ft, or just under a quarter of a hockey rink)
In order to join the project entrepreneurs must agree to and participate in a variety of ways:
- A 2-year commitment to being part of the project.
We want the best outcomes for all participants. In order to be successful each participant must commit to working with the program for 2 years . This allows for the entrepreneur to gain training and work towards taking their product to market as well as sponsors to collect the data needed to create additional or future programs.
- Participation in farm production education workshops.
You will learn the SPIN (s-mall p-lot in-tensive) Farming system, a franchise-like vegetable farming system. There will be 3 weekly 1.5 hour sessions. Topics covered will be:
- How to start an income producing farm without huge investment and without having
to own any land
- How to allocate and work a sub-acre land base to get maximum yields and income
- How to manage the workflow of an owner/operated farm
- How to identify and choose sales channels
- How to set pricing strategies for your produce
- How to set a revenue target
- How to complete a business plan to achieve your revenue target
Other ongoing training opportunities will also be made available as the project manager and participants work through the project, identify challenges, and identify areas they would like to grow their strengths in.
- Share information on inputs and outputs of your project, best practices and results with Sponsors and Project Manager.
The project manager will be using software and information from the entrepreneurs to capture data that will both help participants in growing their businesses as well as sharing data with funding partners.
- Participation in select co-operative projects and efforts.
Every participant has different strengths they bring to the project and with the guidance of the project manager there will be areas identified that need to be a collective piece. Some examples of this that may occur are bulk purchasing to get better pricing, marketing and advertising, transportation of products to market, processing, labelling etc. As the project moves forward collaborative opportunities will be decided as needs and benefits are assessed.
https://spinfarming.com/
What participants will receive in return for their participation commitment:
– 1 growing structure
– Variety of seeds to start year one that could include:
– Carrots
– Lettuce
– Bunching Onion
– Radish
– Green Beans
– Sugar Snap Peas
– Potato
– Cucumber
– Garlic
– Tomato
– Dill
– Rhubarb crowns
– Composter
– Basic tools such as wheelbarrow and hand tools
– Soil
– Water retention system
– Ongoing technical support as required
– Marketing support
Contact Leon:
