Webinar:Eco Evolver’s

6-month Indoor Gardening Program

We’ll begin shortly...

1

Webinar:Eco Evolver’s

6-month Indoor Gardening ProgramAn innovative program that builds a community of indoor gardeners that come together to share

in the learning and growing.

Thank you for joining the webinar!

2

The Host of Tonight’s Webinar

MacKinnon Ravine Food Forest

permablitz. July, 2014

Emilio Gagliardi was born and raised in EdmontonStarted career as a web application developerCompleted Masters of Science in Psychology, 2009Founded Eco Evolver in 2012 to develop practical solutions for living sustainablyProject lead for Edmonton Catholic School’s first indoor living wall at St.Teresa Elementary SchoolMember of MacEwan University’s Sustainability Advisory CommitteeAdvocate for both the Earth Charter Initiative and The Natural Step frameworkResearching, learning, teaching, and developing human systems are what I’m passionate aboutI do this work to help people reconnect with Nature AND align with the unstoppable force of evolution.

3

So why indoor gardening?Its getting cold in Edmonton and we love to eat fresh

vegetables

The changing climate and global economic trends are

forcing the price of food up and our purchasing power

down

Residential urban agriculture is one piece of the

sustainable community puzzle

Indoor gardening contextualizes science-based learning

outcomes and provides an excellent platform for

inquiry-based learning

Excellent for people with reduced mobility

The skills and materials we use for indoor gardening

can be used to support our outdoor gardens

ZipGrow Towers by Bright Agrotech LLC

4

Common pitfallsThere are so many types of indoor gardening that its overwhelming to get started.

There are a lot of variables to design for, build into and monitor

Each expert you talk to has a different opinion about how to grow plants, which

products to use, how to configure the grow beds, and they’re all right.

Indoor gardens place all of the responsibility on you right away. Without soil, microbes,

sun, rain, insects and the entire ecosystem helping your plants develop, its up to you.

Our daily habits and external responsibilities make it difficult to integrate the daily

practice of gardening. We need to become ‘grazers’ and eat when food is at its peak.

We over-estimate our motivation/commitment/ability and under-estimate the learning

curve and daily investment.

Treating plants like products. We’ve come to expect that when we buy something its

supposed to ‘work’. Gardening is filled with mistakes and losses. That’s life.

5

The Purpose of the ProgramTo build a community of gardeners that share in the experience of growing together.

We use the same technologies, we work together in pairs, we progress at the same pace,

and learn from each other. Reduce the risk and simplify the learning.

To walk participants through the entire gardening cycle, from germinating to transplanting

to harvesting to composting and of course - eating!

To learn from local experts and build meaningful relationships within the community.

Leafy greens can take 45-65 days to mature. Six months ensures everyone gets 1-2 crops.

Get parents and children interacting together, and having fun during the winter months.

To create a crop of savvy indoor gardeners that can teach others in the community.

To develop a framework that can be added onto for more advanced topics, or run as-is

across Edmonton, much like the Master Naturalist and Master Composter programs run by

the City.

6

What We’re Gonna GrowThe focus of the program is to teach people how to grow leafy greens. For eating in salads, sandwiches, in smoothies and your favourite dishes. Bursting with healthy phytonutrients and Vitamin A, Vitamin C, & K as well as folate and Calcium, leafy greens like Kale, Chard and Collard Greens are so important to a healthy body that everyone should be growing their own!

The challenge is germinating. Most of the indoor gardening configurations require that the germination of the small seeds of leafy greens be done in a separate area, with special environmental considerations. And, germinating can be a tricky process to figure out, which means you’ll plant a lot of seeds and sometimes not get any to sprout.

For these reasons, we’ll also discuss how to grow microgreens, which are the shoots of edible plants harvested just after the first leaves have developed. Microgreens have an excellent germination rate, blow your mind flavour, require minimal care, and allow you to maximize your investment by producing food you can eat every 14 days, with the equipment you already have.

Immediate rewards builds confidence and provides the motivation to persevere through the initial stages of learning.

7

What We’re Gonna GrowThe focus of the program is to teach people how to grow leafy greens. For eating in salads, sandwiches, in smoothies and your favourite dishes. Bursting with healthy phytonutrients and Vitamin A, Vitamin C, & K as well as folate and Calcium, leafy greens like Kale, Chard and Collard Greens are so important to a healthy body that everyone should be growing their own!

The challenge is germinating. Most of the indoor gardening configurations require that the germination of the small seeds of leafy greens be done in a separate area, with special environmental considerations. And, germinating can be a tricky process to figure out, which means you’ll plant a lot of seeds and sometimes not get any to sprout.

For these reasons, we’ll also discuss how to grow microgreens, which are the shoots of edible plants harvested just after the first leaves have developed. Microgreens have an excellent germination rate, blow your mind flavour, require minimal care, and allow you to maximize your investment by producing food you can eat every 14 days, with the equipment you already have.

Immediate rewards builds confidence and provides the motivation to persevere through the initial stages of learning.

8

How We’re Gonna Grow ItGrowing microgreens and germinating seeds doesn’t require much. A sturdy shelf, a grow light, something for the seeds to grow in, called media, and water.I use coconut coir for my media, which is the shredded and washed husks of coconuts. Its a great media because it kinda feels like soil, is compostable, and is easy to wash off. There are a number of media types you could use, and all have pros and cons to consider.In the picture, the top shelf is where I’m germinating a number of plants; Arugula, Kale and a Mesclun salad mix. On the middle shelf is a tray of microgreens. I used the mumms spicy lentil mix, which consists of Lentils, Radish, and Alfalfa.You can see the setup is nearly identical. The low shelf is an unruly batch of spinach seeds that never germinated.

9

How We’re Gonna Grow ItThe real heart of the program uses a vertical gardening system called the Spring Tower, by Bright Agrotech LLC. The Spring Tower is a complete vertical garden system (except for the lights) that uses a single ZipGrow Tower. I’ve selected this product for a number of reasons:

Excellent design and constructionEasy to use and built to last for yearsSupports a wide range of ediblesBright Agrotech produces, videos, webinars, blog posts and downloadable resources for their products. They’re super high quality!ZipGrow Towers can be used hydroponically and aquaponicallyThere is now a business plan template for the ZipGrow Towers with production estimates, materials schedules, and much more!

10

The Guest SpeakersAndre Marchak

The owner of All Seasons Garden Centre, Andre has years of experience growing indoors and provides friendly advice to all his customers. Andre has agreed to put together a special package for this program and will share some of his tips and tricks for successful gardening.

David DescheneauEdmonton’s power house for commercializing indoor food production, David is a master at building gardens of all shapes and sizes, and has tremendous experience growing leafy greens and microgreens indoors. David is a Do-It-Yourself guru and will share his experiences growing microgreens and leafy greens.

Rene MichalakA true pioneer out of Red Deer, Rene is the genius behind the Food Garage Project, an initiative approach that envisions your garage and yard as producing food year-round. Rene uses a combination of growing methods, including my new favourite, aquaponics.

Nathalie JacksonA dear friend and inspiration, Nathalie is the Hippie Gardener and uses her eco-farm East of Edmonton to grow a tremendous amount of food. Nathalie will share her experiences transitioning from indoor gardening to outdoor gardening in the spring.

Jana Lee Saco-SmitThe is all about conscious nutrition and food preservation. Jana will provide some juicy details about what we can do with our harvests beyond eating. Dehydrating, canning and more.

Tara PruskoTara is a graduate of the Master Composter/Recycler program hosted by the City of Edmonton and will share her knowledge about how to properly compost. Because lets face it, no gardener is complete without a compost or two.

11

The Super Cool Stuff You’ll GetItem Description Quantity

Spring tower Hydroponic tower garden 1T5 light grow light 4T5 light bracket light mounting bracket 2power bar 224hr manual timer Timer for lights 21020 grow tray heavy duty hydroponic grow tray 61020 net tray insert net tray insert 4Coconut coir growing medium (20L) 1Ready Rooters seed starters (100) 1Pressurized Mister Pressurized Mister 1Chlor-de-Tox Water additive (500ml) 1pH Down Water additive (500ml) 1Wild Thing (A) Hydroponic nutrient (500ml) 1Wild Thing (B) Hydroponic nutrient (500ml) 1Wild Thing (M) Hydroponic nutrient (500ml) 1Hand Shears 1mumms Sprouting Seed microgreen seed mix (250g) 1Organic Seeds Package of organic seeds (200) 1pH Testing kit pH Testing Kit 15 Gal Bucket Standard 5 Gal Bucket 1

12

The Super Cool Stuff You’ll Get

13

The InvestmentOne of the biggest hurdles to getting into indoor

gardening is the cost. By registering in the program, you get:• Excellent savings on the cost of materials • A growing community to support your adventure • Access to local gardening experts• Instruction on how to use your garden materials• Excellent customer service on the materials• A business plan template• Hours of resources

$525 For the materials

$75 /monthFor monthly guest

speakers and instruction

14

A Hands-on Evening SessionIf you live in Edmonton, and want to get

a more hands-on look at the gardens we’llbe using, I’m hosting a living room session

at my house.

Tuesday, October 14 at 7:00pmRegister at http://ecoevolver.com/living-room-sessions/

Space is limited to 20, so register early to avoid missing out!

15

Registration Opens Oct. 22I will open registration for the program on

Wednesday October 22 at 8:00am.

Registration will remain open until 16 peoplehave registered, and then I’ll close it down. I

won’t start until at least 6 people have registered.

If you know anyone that might enjoy beingyour partner or curious about indoor

gardening, please let them know.

16

Webinar:Eco Evolver’s

6-month Indoor Gardening ProgramAn innovative program that builds a community of indoor gardeners that come together to share

in the learning and growing.

I hope you enjoyed the webinar!

Questions? info@ecoevolver.com

17