Backyard Bounty business – 41 city properties growing food for Guelph
Backyard Bounty is a unique community-based agriculture project. We cooperate with participating community members to convert their yard space into productive vegetable gardens. We currently have over 40 lawns being cultivated throughout Guelph!
>>Read Full Article (City Farmer News, 2010)
Backyard Bounty: Guelph’s Urban Agriculture Project
Backyard Bounty is a unique community-based agricultural project that began in the spring of 2008 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Our small business is partnering with community members to use their yard space and convert them into productive vegetable gardens.
>>Read Full Article (International Journal of Healing and Caring, 2010)
A bumper crop of Guelph farmers markets emerging
Eating locally grown food in Guelph has never been so easy — nor has shopping for such fare. Gone are the days when the only farmers’ market in town was the Guelph Farmers’ Market. Several such operations now complement the downtown Saturday-morning Guelph institution.
(The Mercury, Guelph, 16, September 2010)
Backyard Bounty: an urban agricultural enterprise
The Urban Agricultural movement is developing across Canada. To get a closer look at one the enterprise involved in this industry I interviewed Robert Orland, the founder of Backyard Bounty.
>> Read Full Article(The Examaner, Toronto, 25 March 2010)
Eco market sells green ideas
Shannon Lee Stirling was selling memberships to a community supported agriculture initiative for her group, Backyard Bounty. It partners with homeowners for use of backyard gardens to grow organic vegetables. Each member gets a box of vegetables every week for a fee at the beginning of the season. “You’re getting local food. You get to know your farmer,” said Stirling, the project’s co-ordinator.
» Read Full Article (Guelph Mercury, 6 April 2009)
New Guelph business to turn backyards into organic farms
This spring, a local Guelph organization, Backyard Bounty, will be converting landowners’ yards into organic “micro-farms.” The organization consists of a team of gardeners who, upon being hired by landowners with fertile land, create a “thriving, organic, highly productive, sustainable micro-farm.” The landowners receive their share of the produce, while the rest is sold to local markets, grocers and restaurants. The initiative is in part meant to increase awareness about sustainable food and gardening practices. Fostering economic, environmental, and socially sound farming practices is at the core of Backyard Bounty’s existence.
» Read Full Article (The Ontarion, 19 March 2009)
Program creates bounty of food
Ian Mason and his wife, Leslie Rye, created their own small garden several years ago, planting cantaloupes, squash, beans and peas. But they wanted to turn it into a larger garden. “We aren’t super at it,” Mason said of gardening. “We just plug away at it.” So when Mason heard about Backyard Bounty, a program designed to reduce fossil fuel use, offer healthy locally grown produce and reduce waste, he wanted to take part. The program seeks volunteers who will offer up green space to be converted to productive vegetable gardens. Project coordinator Shannon Lee Stirling said in return, homeowners receive about five to 10 per cent of the food and are alleviated from yard work.
» Read Full Article (Guelph Mercury, 18 March 2009)
Backyard Bounty Launch – March 22:Using Backyards As Mini-Farms
This is a fabulous idea. Guelph is the perfect community to initiate this urban farming model….“Not everybody wants to mow grass.” says Project Co-ordinator, Shannon Lee Stirling. “We are offering a better alternative so homeowners can relax while we grow chemical-free food for the community.”
>> (Royal City Rag, 17 March 2009)
Local is better when it comes to food farming
The practice of SPIN (small plot intensive farming) is becoming more popular across North America, as the demand for locally grown, organic food increases. Backyard Bounty, a new Guelph company, plans to bring the concept here, and will sow vegetable crops this spring on a number of under-used garden plots and converted lawns in the city….”We have a number of restaurants and chefs who are really interested in the idea,” Stirling said. “Local has become such a big issue. We have people going out to restaurants who want to know where their food is coming from. They want local for so many reasons.”
» Read Full Article (Guelph Mercury, 24 February 2009)