About Us

By The Bluffs' vision is to strengthen community and ecosystem health and resilience through growing and educating people about nutrient dense, organic food ecosystems.  Our hope is to reconnect people and nature with eachother.  We are located on the ancestral territories of the Saugeen Ojibway, Saukiing Anishnaabekiing. We respect and cherish this precious land as we live and garden in harmony with the surrounding ecosystems to the best of our knowledge.

Owners of Rooted by the bluffs

Our Nursery

  • Rainwater collection and gravity fed irrigation reduces the need for electric or gas pumps

  • Re-using pots to minimize waste

  • Plants are fertilized with vermicompost tea and ferments made on-site, otherwise local compost is used as needed

  • Native plant communities are established on site, for the majority of seed collection, which is harvested sustainably. Sustainable seed harvesting means taking less than 5% of seed from the plant and taking from various different plants to increase genetic diversity 

          

Our Orchard

  • Incorporates ecologically sound practices

  • Builds and enriches the soil naturally

  • Integrates permanent wildlife, bird, and insect habitat

  • Works with mother nature and her elements rather than against

  • Grows superior taste and nutrition

  • Strengthens connections between people and the planet

  • Avoids the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers

  • Utilizes rainwater for irrigation which is delivered to the plants via swales and gravitation, eliminating the need for gas and electric pumps

  • Feeds the grid with electricity from solar panels

  • Focuses on using on-farm inputs over off-farm inputs

 

Our Story

I completed my Bachelor of Science Honours degree at the University of Guelph in 2004, followed by 14 years of environmental monitoring and water conservation work. But I was missing something.

In 2017 I completed the Permaculture Design course, and in 2018 I listened to my intuition. I left my municipal job and financial security to dive into my passions and my purpose.

My passions for gardening, eating local, and resiliency is demonstrated through 18 years of gardening experience including cold frames, raised beds, hugelkulturs, lasagna gardening, vermicomposting, and self-watering and rain-water irrigation systems.  I am so excited to be fully present in everything that I love – nature, food, community, resilience, and sustainability.

My partner, Nathan, builds the bones of this business – the structures. He keeps things well-maintained and in tip-top shape. He is a problem solver, and his efficiency and skill-set are an added bonus. His talent is stonework and is demonstrated through the amazing root cellar and pizza oven he built using stone from on-site.

 Starting this business in 2018 was the beginning of a new journey in my life that feeds my soul deeply. To root means the point at which something begins its course or existence. Roots resemble nourishment and connectedness. This represents the values at the core of our business.

Julie