Q&A with two of Sarilia’s community gardeners

May 9, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We love seeing all the signs of spring at Sarilia. The robins are out; the crocuses are blooming, creating beautiful patches of purple; and most importantly, the sunshine is drawing everyone out of their houses. Our residents are revelling in the warm weather with sunset drinks on their patios, walks along the river trails, and even stand-up paddle-boarding.

One of the most popular outdoor spring activities here is gardening, and our community garden seems to gain more green thumbs (from experienced to aspiring) every year. We recently chatted with two of Sarilia’s community gardeners, Kathleen and Dennis, to learn about what they’re planning to grow this year, what they’ll make with their fresh produce, and what they like best about gardening as a community.

How long have you been a gardener, and how long have you gardened in Sarilia’s community garden?

Kathleen: Growing up, I helped on the farm with gardening. It was just part of our job to help. I’ve gardened all my life, on and off, depending on where I was living. When I was living in apartments I wasn’t, but otherwise, if I’ve got a house and a yard, I garden.

I’ve gardened at Sarilia since 2012. I didn’t garden in the community garden last year, but I gardened in my yard. However, I found that I couldn’t grow what I wanted on my patio, so I’m going to go back to the community garden this year.

Dennis: I’ve been gardening since I was a child of about eight years old. I’ve gardened at Sarilia’s community garden for three years.

Kathleen & Gwen in the community garden

What are you planning to grow in Sarilia’s community garden this year?

Kathleen: I’m going to grow all the things I need for salsa. And then potatoes, peas, beans, some squash, some other root vegetables, lettuce and that sort of thing. I’ll also grow some flowers for the bees, and marigolds to keep pests away.

Dennis: Potatoes, beets, carrots, Roma tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, white onions, yellow onions, multiplier onions, dill, Swiss chard, yellow beans, green beans, cabbage, garlic, zucchini and some herbs.

What do you make with the food you grow?

Kathleen: I make salsa every year and the veggies and lettuce I eat fresh. Everything else I freeze. Potatoes and Spanish onions I usually keep in the garage where it’s cool and they last well into the spring. I really like having lots of fresh organic stuff on hand.

Dennis: I eat the fresh produce, can pickles, freeze beets and make salsa.

What’s your favourite thing to grow in the garden?

Kathleen: Probably tomatoes because it doesn’t matter how nice they are in the store; you just can’t get a tomato that tastes like a tomato if you buy it. So that would be probably my most favourite. It actually tastes like a tomato when you grow it.

Dennis: Cucumbers, beets and onions.

What have been the benefits of community gardening for you, versus gardening in your own yard?

Kathleen: Absolutely the social aspect. Getting out to see your friends and neighbours. Getting tips and tricks from people. It’s nice to be up there alone, in the quiet, and it’s also nice to be up there and be able to take a break and have somebody to chat with.

It creates a sense of community and I think that’s important. Anything that you can do in a community to create that sense of community is always a win-win.

Dennis: Joint tilling, friendship and sharing produce. It provides time to share different planting techniques and the outcome of the harvest.

The fruits of Dennis’ labour: cucumber

Red onion

Zucchini

Q&A with our new neighbours – Kayla & Chris

February 27, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Kayla and Chris, along with their daughter, Wren, and their English Mastiff, Gus, are some of our newest neighbours at Sarilia. Hailing from southwest Saskatchewan, they met in high school, were married in 2013, and baby Wren was born last May. We chatted with the busy couple to learn a little bit more about them, and how they’re planning to enjoy spring in the river valley.

What do you both do for a living?
Kayla is a social worker and Chris is a journeyman instrument technician.

How did you first hear about Sarilia?
We Googled “river lots,” and one popped up for sale on Kijiji, so we went for a drive and got the contact information for the developer (Gwen Lepage) while we were out there.

What made you decide to move to Sarilia?
We had talked about getting a cabin and were getting tired of being in the city, so Chris brought up building something on the river to live in full-time and we both felt it would be a great fit for us.

What company did you choose to build your house, and what was the experience like?
We went with D.W. Elash Enterprises, a small company out of Martensville. We had a great experience with our builder. Alanna was very agreeable to work with and she made sure we got what we wanted.

What are you most excited for about spring at Sarilia?
We are looking forward to having our first garden in the community plots!

What do you like to do in your spare time?
There’s not much spare time anymore with a little one running around, but we love to go for walks along the river and are really looking forward to enjoying the beach this summer.

Has moving to Sarilia changed your day-to-day lifestyle at all?
We are definitely more content just being at home and looking out at the amazing views. We never want to go into the city!

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are looking forward to getting to know our neighbours once everyone is outside a little more with the warmer weather.

Q&A with Zak’s Bryant van Kuik

December 22, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

A Zak’s RTM

Sarilia is home to three ready-to-move (RTM) homes built with care by Zak’s, a family owned business that opened its doors in 1996. We chatted with Bryant van Kuik, residential salesman at the company, to learn about why RTMs work so well in the river valley, and what trends he’s noticed in the home building industry.

What is your role at Zak’s?
I have the pleasure of working with customers to design their home and take it right through to completion. This includes floor plan design, architectural design, pricing, blueprints, final selections and warranty walk-throughs.

What home building trends are you noticing among your clients?
We continue to see many units going into lake country – some humble cabins and others very elaborate cottages. More and more people are asking about green alternatives – for example, we have a unit currently on site that has solar panels mounted on the roof.

In general, what were the Sarilia residents looking for in their homes?
The owners of the Sarilia units we have built seemed to have a priority on managing costs while maintaining a high build quality. From there, they certainly all chose/developed plans that took advantage of the fantastic river views that Sarilia affords.

Interior of a Zak’s RTM

What makes an RTM ideal for people moving to Sarilia’s river valley?
RTMs continue to be a great way for people to build homes that are not in major centres near tradespeople. We are able to manage both build cost and timelines very well since we are on site every day and tradespeople do not have extra travel time/cost.

In general, who are your clients?
Our clients tend to be a mix of age groups and life goals. At times, we are building bigger homes for people with growing families – other times we are building lake homes for people who no longer have kids living at home and require less space.

There seems to be a growing interest in tiny homes (homes between 100-400 square feet without a permanent foundation). Are you seeing some of this interest from people who are looking to build houses with a smaller footprints?
To date, the interest in tiny homes has certainly increased – but we have not seen a lot of units end up getting built. I have had conversations with people of all ages – but most do not have kids.

What we are seeing more of is what I might call a trend toward “small homes.” These customers are typically driven by cost of living and a minimal footprint. So rather than build a tiny home, they will build a smaller/more economical home that has a permanent foundation.

Most of these clients seem to be driven by the cost of living and a desire to have money for travel and other priorities – rather than being maxxed out by a mortgage.

What’s the smallest footprint Zak’s has built so far?
To date, our smallest home was a 640-square foot unit.

Q&A with Annette: How does your (community) garden grow?

October 3, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Sarilia’s community garden is a favourite spot for many residents to socialize, tend to their flowers, veggies and fruits, and learn from one another. We sat down with Sarilia resident, Annette Horvath, to learn what she—and others—grew this year, what flourished, what didn’t, and what she’s learned from her fellow green thumbs.

What did you plant in the community garden this year?
I planted lots of flowers—mostly zinnias—and lots of vegetables too: lots of carrots because they can keep for a long time, peas, potatoes, beans, corn, onions, garlic, the usual.

Garlic and dill in the community garden

Garlic is always such a nice treat in the garden because it keeps for a long time. It takes a little longer to grow. You plant it the season before (at the end of the season) so it’s always amazing to see what comes out and it’s so much better to have fresh garlic from your garden than buying it from the store. The texture is so creamy and the flavour is so much better.

When you have a vegetable soup from your garden, it’s just amazing how much flavour is in the vegetables—it’s so good. I also planted a whole row of beets. We had a few issues with some chipmunks—they are really fat in our garden because we feed them very well. They stole all my beets! (laughs) Just mine. Other people didn’t have problems with that.

A well-fed Sarilia chipmunk

Raspberries were a big thing. My raspberries did very well this year because of the rain. It was really nice to have fruit in the garden. Pretty much everything did quite well. Everybody had a good harvest of peas, beans, carrots, onions, beets, and all the things they planted.

One of our neighbours always plants sunflowers and they’re such a nice addition to the garden too. They’re just such a happy flower and they do so well.

Sunflowers in bloom in Sarilia’s community garden

What are some of the benefits of community gardening?
One of the benefits is that a lot of sharing takes place. One of our neighbours had grown an abundant amount of kale. I didn’t know this, but when you pick kale, it grows back. You don’t pick it from the root, so it keeps on giving back, week after week. She had so much more than she could use, and luckily the chipmunks didn’t like the kale, so they stayed away. We tried making so many different things—like salads and kale chips, and I juiced a lot and now I’ve frozen it to use it for smoothies.

We also have some extra room in the garden that nobody has claimed yet, so we grow pumpkins and potatoes, and we share them with our neighbours if there’s extra. And of course zucchini. There’s always more zucchini than we need, but that’s kind of nice.

Have you learned any lessons from your neighbours who you garden alongside?
Always. You’re always learning, because nothing is ever the same. It’s always different from year to year and it’s so interesting to find out what other people are growing that’s working for them.

One of our neighbours plants a lot of garlic, tomatoes, and hot peppers. It’s always interesting to see the different coloured peppers in his garden—from green, orange, yellow, red and even a very dark aubergine colour. I imagine a lot of them are really hot. He’s even grown habaneros (not in our community garden, but at his house). So it’s like a salsa garden where you grow all the ingredients yourself to make an amazing tomato sauce or salsa.

My garden is such a small part of it because it’s such a community effort. I really like wandering through other people’s gardens and enjoying what they’re growing. The sharing of the harvest is always kind of special—when somebody says, “here, I grew this, you gotta try it.” Just seeing what they grow and thinking, “well, I can do that next year.”

Have you planted anything new this year that you’d never tried before?

Jerusalem artichoke potatoes

We planted Jerusalem artichoke potatoes, which we’ve never had before. It’s like a gourmet potato. They don’t look like a traditional potato plant. They grow into this beautiful, tall flower that looks similar to a sunflower, but they’re small flowers. They grow over six-feet tall. The idea is to harvest the tubers after the frost, so that they’re a little bit easier to digest. It must bring out the sugars in the tuber. We haven’t tried them yet, because we haven’t had very many frosts yet, but we’re going to try them soon. You can roast and cook them like a potato, so we’re looking forward to trying those.

Zinnias in bloom

I talked one of my neighbours into growing zinnias. She tried out different varieties than I did. They’re very hardy flowers and they’re beautiful. To me, they’re a little bit like a gerber daisy, but they have vibrant colours and come in different varieties. Some are really big, some are like pom-poms, and they flower all summer long—so that’s a really nice flower for the garden. And the bees really are attracted to them.

Do you have any favourite recipes for your garden veggies?
A lot of times, if I’m making a vegetable soup, I make it up as I go. I know some people really like recipes because they get consistency and they make the same thing over and over again, but a lot of the time I just clean up a whole bunch of vegetables, throw them in a pot, and see what comes out! For pumpkin pie I usually find a recipe, and I don’t normally use the same one all the time. I check my old church parish books—I’ve got a lot of of old ones—because those are tried and true.

One of Annette’s favourite pumpkin pie recipes

Aerial footage of Sarilia’s river valley community

September 12, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We’re excited to share Sarilia’s newest video, which features aerial footage of our river valley community. From the beautiful homes, to the community garden, the pasture and the picturesque North Saskatchewan River right at our doorstep, it truly is a vibrant village. You’ll notice some homes are nestled within the trees, while others offer sweeping views of the river — either way, Sarilia residents have an idyllic connection with nature. Enjoy!

Sarilia’s new “garden park”

August 24, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

This summer, we added a mini playground next to our community garden. Its creation was a group effort by Sarilia residents and our families. I am very grateful to see so many people come together and offer their time and talent to improve our community.

In the past, the kids at Sarilia had to go to Langham if they wanted to visit a playground. Now, they can visit one just steps from home. Its proximity to the community garden means that parents can garden while their children play nearby. And it turns out the kids aren’t calling it a playground—they ask their parents: “Can we go to the garden park?”

Whenever I go to do some gardening, I check out the playground and love seeing all the tiny footprints in the sand. It makes me super happy that we’ve built something together as a community that puts smiles on our kids’ faces. It was time well spent and thank you again to everyone who helped out.

— Gwen

Construction day

Swing set installation

Playground & sandbox

New “Neigh”bours at Sarilia

June 24, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We’re thrilled to share Sarilia’s latest additions to the pasture, Dolly and Indy. Dolly, (below) is a Sorrel Paint horse, and Indy (foreground of second photo) is a tobiano Pintabian. They’ve settled in nicely and seem to have made fast friends with the cattle.

Dolly and Indy’s owners are currently building a new home at Sarilia. The busy family of five recently took their four-legged, furry companions out for a trail ride in our river valley, and shared a few of their lovely photos with us.

Happy trails indeed!

Sarilia horses

Whether or not you have your own four-legged family members, Sarilia might just be the perfect place for you to call home. Check out our house plans to see how you can make your home at Sarilia for less than $355,000!

The benefits of community gardening

May 19, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Gladiolas, dill, dahlias, poppies, squash, sunflowers, strawberries, lilies, lettuce, onions, cilantro and tomatoes…those are just a few of the flowers, veggies, fruits and herbs that grow in Sarilia’s community garden. Alongside the garden we have a row of 17 fruit trees, with crabapples, cherries, apples and plums that are already in full blossom.

Many of our residents have deck gardens they tend to, but they still care for their own plot in our community garden. And that’s great to see, because there are a lot of benefits to gardening in a communal setting. Here are just a few….

Building community
One of the biggest benefits is right in the name—our community garden builds community spirit at Sarilia. It also creates a sense of ownership and stewardship. It offers opportunities for new residents to meet their neighbours and for friendships to flourish. People with different backgrounds get a chance to bond over a shared passion.

Learning from each other
That interaction with neighbours also helps our gardeners learn from one another. Planting, maintenance and harvesting tips are shared, and recipes are exchanged. Some of our residents are masters at canning and are happy to help share insights about making the fruits of our labours last all year long.

We are also hoping to get the kids at Sarilia involved. We’re planning to install a play structure alongside the garden so kids can play while their parents garden. Teaching kids how to garden can create a sense of wonder about nature, and help them learn where their food comes from.

Healthy people, healthy environment
Studies have shown that community gardeners and their families have healthier diets than non-gardening families. They’ve also shown that exposure to green space reduces stress and bolsters a sense of wellness and belonging.

They’re also good for the environment. Community gardens help restore oxygen to the air and reduce air pollution. They filter rainwater, helping to keep lakes, rivers and groundwater clean—an ideal perk considering our river valley location!

Accessible to everyone
With rising food prices, there’s never been a better time to test out your green thumb. Community gardens provide an inexpensive, accessible opportunity for people to connect with nature and grow their own food.

Meet the neighbours: Q&A with Dessa & Jordan

April 1, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Since settling into their new home at Sarilia last July, Dessa and Jordan have happily embraced their new river valley lifestyle. In January, they became a family of four with the arrival of a baby boy. We chatted with the couple to learn about their transition to life at Sarilia, and what they’re looking forward to doing as the snow melts and spring arrives.

How did you first learn about Sarilia?
Dessa: We found Sarilia online. I was just googling “properties for sale” and “Saskatoon,” and it showed up. We looked it up to see where it was and we came out on our own and drove around. And then once we saw it, we called Gwen.

What was your first impression of the area?
Dessa: That it was nice and quiet, it had beautiful views and it’s right by the river. We liked that it was a small community because we wanted to be out of the city.

What kind of home did you build? What was the building process like?
Jordan: It’s a 1.5 storey RTM from Zak’s. Dessa picked all the colours and I did the plumbing and heating install because I’m a partner in a plumbing and heating company.

Did you enjoy the building process?
J: It was good. Sometimes you hear horror stories but Zak’s was really good to work with and I have recommended them to other people. They were really helpful and easy to work with.

Have you met any of your new neighbours yet?
D: We’ve met a few neighbours through some functions Gwen has organized. We find when we go for walks with our family we usually meet our neighbours walking their dogs.

Have you found that moving to Sarilia has changed your lifestyle at all?
D: We spend more time outside now — we like going down to the river. Our older son really likes to play down there and the dog plays in the water. We like to be down by the beach.

What do friends and family say about your new community?
J: They’re really impressed and they really like the scenery. They can’t believe the river is right behind us. They notice the quiet and the slower pace. We’re used to the busy city life, so it’s kind of nice being on a quiet street.

With the warmer weather on its way, what are you looking forward to at Sarilia?
D: We’re looking forward to utilizing the river more; we would like to get a canoe.

Five “Smart Green” tips that will save you money

February 24, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

When Gwen and Ronn Lepage traded their modern town home in the city for a beautiful new home in the river valley at Sarilia Country Estates, they had the perfect opportunity to leverage Ronn’s expertise in “Smart Green” building technology.

With a master’s degree in environmental strategy focusing on residential construction, Ronn and his company, Vereco Homes, had already designed Canada’s first net-zero home exhibited at the Western Development Museum in 2010 and 2011.

Ronn’s thesis explored why people weren’t building green homes. “One of the barriers was that nobody really knew how to do it,” he says. “We started Vereco to help people who want to build a green home, or do a retrofit.”

The teachings from his master’s degree, combined with his 31 years as a chartered accountant, enable Ronn to provide advice that balances both the environmental and economic factors involved in making good decisions on green technology.

“At first, when we started talking to people about building green homes, their idea was that you just build a normal house, include a geothermal system, and cover it in solar panels. But that’s a very expensive way to do it,” says Ronn. He adds that there are smarter ways to be green and earn a return on your investment when you make your decisions armed with the right information.

Based on Ronn’s net present value (NPV) calculations, the following five technologies have provided the greatest return on investment in his and Gwen’s green home.

Install an energy monitoring system

“We’ve found that the biggest thing you can do is start monitoring your energy use,” says Ronn. The Lepages use a system called TED 5000. It hooks up to their electrical panel and they can view their usage levels on any computer, anywhere in the world. Installation is a snap, but it should be left to an electrician.

The monitoring system cost $300 and the Lepages estimate they save around $400 per year because of the awareness that comes with understanding how energy is used in their home. Gwen says, “Once you know where you stand, you can make an adjustment. You can look at it and ask, ‘what could we do to get that lower?’”

Manage phantom energy

In Saskatchewan, around 40 per cent of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed when the devices are turned off. This is known as phantom power. The Lepages had phantom energy circuits installed, so turning off phantom power is as easy as a flick of a switch. “To go around unplugging everything – I just wouldn’t do it. So we’ve got a switch on every floor,” says Ronn.

There’s also a simple solution for existing homes – a power bar with an on/off switch. Costing roughly $40 each, they are a great investment considering that phantom power in our province is responsible for about four per cent of a home’s electricity consumption – equating to over 300 kilowatt hours per year.

Upgrade insulation

Our long, cold winters mean that the best way to reduce energy use is proper insulation. In an existing house, the attic is relatively easy; it’s the exterior walls that can be difficult.

“I’ve talked to a few people who have redone their insulation – it’s really expensive,” says Ronn. “You’re moving heat registers from the walls because you’re making the wall thicker. That’s a really big reno.” Ronn studied how insulation was upgraded in Saskatchewan and eventually flew to Germany to see how it was done there. “They add insulation to the outside. It makes a lot of sense.”

This discovery prompted Vereco to create a system called xWRAP. It involves stripping the exterior of the house and wrapping it in a blanket of polystyrene foam up to a foot thick. The siding or stucco is then attached. The Lepages have eight inches of this insulation on the outside of their home – making it very energy efficient. Ronn notes that the right amount of insulation for your home depends on a variety of factors. “Each home is very specific in terms of energy savings from additional insulation.”

Reduce hot water consumption

The savings multiply when homeowners reduce their hot water consumption. This is because it not only saves water; it saves the cost of heating that water. Ronn says the first order of business is installing low-flow shower heads. “About 50 per cent of the hot water used is in your showers. A typical house would have a 9.6 litre per minute shower. Ours is 4.6 litres per minute. So you’re saving that much energy and water every time you shower.”

If you’ve ever experienced a drippy low-flow shower head at a hotel, don’t assume they are all created equal. The Lepages’ shower heads add air to the water so you feel the same pressure as you would in a regular shower. Translation: you’ll be able to easily rinse out that shampoo.

Use LED lighting

Since houses use a lot of energy on lighting, switching to LEDs is a smart choice. “We’ve got LEDs throughout and it’s just amazing,” says Ronn. “It’s very natural light. Even at night, it’s almost like daylight in here.” Their indoor and outdoors bulbs are 12 and three watts respectively. If the outdoor lights are left on all night, the impact isn’t even noticeable. The bulbs cost about $35 each, but Ronn says, “they last 50,000 hours so you never have to worry about changing them.”

For more information about Vereco Homes and smart green technology, visit www.vereco.ca.

This article originally appeared in the summer 2013 issue of Saskatoon HOME magazine.

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