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| Shiitake mushroom logs at UBC Farm |
The UBC Farm is Vancouver’s last working farm, a 24-hectare farm and forest landscape located on the urban edge. As a living laboratory, UBC Farm is used for learning, research, and community service programs focused on food and the environment. In addition, UBC Farm annually produces over 58,000 lbs of organic fruit and vegetables which is sold through on-site markets, a CSA box program and directly to restaurants and distributors around Vancouver.
With funding support from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, the APD Tool was developed to provide small-scale producers, like UBC Farm, with another tool in their arsenal to help effectively plan for new ventures within existing operations. Due to the variable time-to-maturity of trees/shrubs, many potential ecological and social benefits and level of integration involved in agroforestry systems, planning can sometimes be challenging and complex. As such the APD Tool offers users a simple way to streamline planning and includes social, ecological and economic components.
The UBC Farm used the tool to explore shiitake mushroom log forest farming as well as alley cropping with hazelnut and strawberries. This offers users a look at two different completed drafts and provides valuable resources and planning notes for those considering similar ventures.
A short video tutorial was developed to help users learn the ins and outs of the tool, it can be seen at
http://agroforestry.ubcfarm.ubc.ca/agroforestry-production-development-tool/ . It is recommended that users view this video prior to getting started, in order to better understand the various components of the tool.
Many thanks to all of the farmers, consultants and other experts who provided feedback throughout the development of the tool and to the funders who made the project possible. It's hoped the APD tool provides farmers in BC with a useful framework for planning their new agroforestry endeavours.