THE AGRITECT

Rural Reviatalization Idea #3: Trail bunkies. Grain bin conversion, treehouse, bunkie…what opportunities does your property have along the @G2GRailTrail or @@TheBruceTrailConservancy ?

An overview to municipal zoning regulations. Is your agritourism project allowed? What they are? How to interpret them? And what to do about them?

Most farmers have encountered the restrictions in farm severances that have been enforced over the past years.  This planning policy requires that farms must be a minimum of 100 acres (40 hectares). And the result is that farmers have been unable to sever surplus houses from farms they purchase. As with most policy it is like […]

I’m sure you’ve heard it before from a farmer, If I retire I’ll die.  Those farmers just don’t know how to take a day off, let alone retire. Not to mention that most farmers don’t want to move to town. So what options are left? move in with you on the home farm?!? If you’re […]

Woven Lea Farm – the ideal sustainable farm proposal – VELD architect 2008 4 years ago my brother made a deal with his environmental professor at Ridgetown Agriculture college.  In exchange for guest lecture in her class about my thesis work, he was allowed to skip class to come to my architecture thesis defense. He […]

I was recently introduced to a bit of Waterloo Region’s history. Black Horse Corners, a once bustling small town with an Inn, tannery, fueling mill, pump shop, shingle mill, shoemaker and blacksmith shop, all of which are no longer present except for some remains of the old Inn which burnt down.  Located at the corner […]

This week my region hosted the International Plowing Match in Roseville, a small rural intersection town I often cycle through during the summer. This year the Mennonite Disaster Relief organization hosted a barn raising demonstration for which I volunteered for many months ago. As the day drew nearer I was very excited to participate in […]

That's what I felt like after biking 35km to the Fifth Town cheese factory in Prince Edward County. Designed by Lapointe Architect, it has been on my architecture bucket list for many years for a few reasons; it was designed by an architect; it gave me hope that an architecture career in agritourism was possible; […]

This quote by Vance Blackmore was the introduction to a conference dedicated to agritousim in hosted by Tourism Middlesex last month. The event was aptly called ‘Beyond the City Lights’ originally initiated by OMAFRA. He was referring to the equine industry in Middlesex County and its ability to generate income and economic growth in the community through tourism. […]

The world is becoming very multi-cultural and globally connected. The scale of communities is drastically changing. How can rural maintain a distinct culture and connected community.  If we look back at the farming community it has traditionally be centered around a few key pieces of infrastructure. For example the Church or the School or the […]