Coen Farm - Blog

Sharpening 101

1/9/2020

This is how I sharpen all my sickles, pruners, machetes, axes, weeding hoes, bill hooks, and straight razors with my $30 sharpening stone, a piece of newspaper and a leather belt.

Is Industrial Agriculture Efficient, Effective & Ethical? (Podcast)

10/17/2019

In this podcast I challenge the validity of the "only big agriculture can feed the world" paradigm and argue that industrial agriculture is neither efficient or effective and certainly not ethical, while making a case for a regenerative agriculture based on permaculture design.

How Our Swales work ( 3 Videos)

10/11/2019

We have constructed 3 kilometres of wetlands on contour AKA swales to help fill our dams, flood irrigate forest gardens and heal the water cycle on our farm. Here are 3 videos highlight some of our experiences using this simple water harvesting structure on our 250 acre farm.

Drone Tour of Coen Farm (Video)

10/11/2019

My friend Curtis Stone recorded this 28 minute drone video this spring as I narrated You can see dams and dugouts are full of water, our gardens are planted, our forest garden is in bloom and our animals are out to pasture.

How We Raise Our Milk Fed Pastured Pork (Video)

10/9/2019

In this 24 minute video I walk you through my daily chores involved in raising the best pork in Alberta! You will see how I milk our Jersey cows, make fermented feed with raw milk, harvest duckweed, and rotate our pigs through a cat tail paddock.

My Visual Soil Health Assessment Process (VIDEO & PDF)

7/31/2019

In this blog, video and PDF I hope to share my fast and free process for diagnosing the health of your soil with nothing more than a shovel. This test takes less than 15 minutes to complete and is far more accurate and provides far more actionable insights than any laboratory test I have ever used.

On Farm Harvest Legalization Update (Video)

6/28/2019

Last year we were threatened with a $10,000 fine and year in prison for selling meat that was harvested on farm to consenting customers in our herd share program. In this update I share my plan for how we are going legalize on farm harvesting in Alberta so that we can all have access to nutrient-dense and ethically raised meat.