Apprenticeship - Innisfree Farm in Royston for 3 months, then 8 1/2 Acres in Duncan for 3 months
General farming (3 years or less) - Worked/wwoofed on a variety of other farms – City Harvest in Victoria, a spin farm in Nelson (now moved), ran my own spin farm in Crawford Bay for one season, and a couple of small farms in Alberta and New Brunswick and BC.
Do you have a business plan?
No - But working on it
Do you have financial resources available to start your farm?
No - Yes a small amount of savings but I would need to find further resources (e.g. loan, investors etc).
Do you have access to other financial resources (such as a financial partner, loan, etc.) to start your farm?'
No - Yes, I would need to find other resources and would be open to grants, loans and possibly investors (I've never worked with investors before so I'd need to know more).
Project
Farm Name
Dirty Beds
Farm Project Description
I would like to start a small (at first) mixed organic vegetable and fruit farm. Ideally, I would plant a number of berry bushes (e.g. Raspberries, haskaps, and strawberries) that I know grow well here and are not available organically in the Invermere area. That would take a few years to really get going, so in the meantime I would grow a variety of organic vegetables and flowers. I would like to have a CSA and possibly sell to other buyers (farmer's market, restaurants, florists, etc).
Preferred Arrangement
Lease -
Duration of the desired agreement
5 - 10 years
Ideal date to obtain land by
Spring 2021
Land & Features Desired
Total Land Size (acres)
2
Wooded Area (acres)
No
Cultivable Area (acres)
2
Possibility to expand area currently available (acres)
Yes - As I'm thinking about growing fruit, veg & flowers, it's feasible that if things are going well that I could expand the operation.
Zoning
Either
Preferred current state of the surface of the cultivable area
Ideally the land would be fenced against deer. It would also be ideal if the land had not been recently sprayed with chemical fertilizers, pesticides or insecticides. If the soil was open and ready for planting (e.g. adding amendments/planting a cover crop) that would be a bonus.
Open to landowner residing on property
Yes - I'm fine with either
Need farm buildings
Yes - I will need a covered area for processing my harvests, and potentially storing the harvest (I'd need electricity). The storage piece would depend on how far the farm is from where I live. I would also like to use a greenhouse for the heat loving vegetables & flowers, as well as starting things early.
Need fenced land
Yes - As stated above, I will need a deer fence.
Need farm machinery and tools
Yes - Yes, as the farm grows I'll need more machinery, but I'm hoping to start out fairly simply. I would probably start with a BCS walk behind tractor, hoses and a variety of irrigation bits, tables (for processing), refrigeration potentially.
Need established water source and infrastructure
I will need a variety of sprinklers (overhead, drip) and hoses.
Need on-site housing
No
Production type
Vegetable - A variety of popular vegetables - carrots, greens, potatoes, tomatoes, squash (summer & winter), peas, beans, etc.
