Becca Martin

I was fortunate to be surrounded by a family that felt it necessary to instruct me in traditional cultivation methods that worked with the ecology and environment of our New England gardens. Food forestry was the rule of thumb. Dead fish heads and dog poop might stink but they grow amazing grapes and tomatoes. My curiosity about the natural world never tired as I explored our coastal biome, my grandmother’s heavily forested acreage and the farms that populate RIs “Right to farm “ belt. My need to spread my wings brought me to the swamps of Florida where I experienced true tropical growth and decay and then to the mountains of Colorado where I learned to grow gardens at two miles above sea level. Using a multitude of techniques including double Dutch greenhouses and organic polyculture hydroponics I learned to grow food in an extremely cold environment year round. Yearning to be near the ocean again I flew west to Northern California and my knowledge base grew to include an understanding of temperate rain forests and fire cycles . I befriended seed saving Master George Stevens and steadfastly took on the skill set of heirloom vegetable production and seed saving in a polyculture setting. I also assisted several farmers in production methods for contract sales during this time. In March of 2009 I began the process of immigrating to Canada and “landed “ in December of 2009. I began my adventure in Canada by becoming the Donations Co-ordination for Calgary Food Policy Council . I chose this position after realizing the lack of food security and extreme cost of food in Canada. During this time I was responsible for diverting several tons of organic matter from dumpsters and into gardens for a variety of gardens built for at risk individuals. In 2013 I began the Capitol Hill Elementary Permaculture gardening Program and implemented a full curriculum of classes that supported already existing public school curriculum . I taught this program for 6 years, year round with volunteers in the summer months. The Calgary Board of Education saw fit to build a geodome greenhouse to house the classes and the curriculum was green lit as a pilot program for other schools in 2019. At present I teach PDCs to community minded adults who wish to start community gardens, seed banks and gardening programs and projects. I also teach youth online through several platforms and have a private permaculture company that serves the Calgary inner city community . I p an intro to Permaculture with Barb Hazenveld in Olds Alberta Canada, a formal PDC with Aranya Austin and Caroline Aitkin at Heath Heathercombe in the UK and took my Teacher Certification with Jude Hobbs at OUR Ecovilliage.