The Verge Permaculture Grad Series – Juli & Jeff Gillies (Alberta, Canada)

Juli Gillies (a Verge PDC grad) and her husband Jeff (a PDC student of Barb Hazenveld from Gorgeous and Edible Gardens and Ron Berezan from The Urban Farmer) are demonstrating a wide array of permaculture homesteading techniques on their 5 acre parcel near Rocky Mountain House, AB. In just a couple of years they have transformed their land – an old junk yard – into a beautiful and productive garden, complete with food forest and up-cycled raised beds. They’ve used their technological know-how and a “get-er-done” approach to test everything from solar electricity and heating to rainwater harvesting, energy efficient retrofits, food storage, and large scale soil production through their business Taimi Soil Projects. Their acreage, the Rancho Relaxo, has quickly become a leading example of off-the-grid homesteading solutions for cold climates, and they will be showcasing it all as the hosts of the 2013 Western Canada Permaculture Convergence this August.