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Worm farmer looking for land to expand

Located in
  • Lower Mainland - Fraser Valley -
7a6a9bda 5c10 41f6 9f22 30ab9963109a

Land Seeker Details

Training
  • Other experience/agricultural/business training - Foundation courses of Dr. Ingham's Soil Food Web school
Do you have a business plan?
No - Not yet, but in the making.
Do you have financial resources available to start your farm?
Yes - Limited, but enough to build/insulate an existing building to make it worm friendly.
Do you have access to other financial resources (such as a financial partner, loan, etc.) to start your farm?'
No - But would be faster and easier - grant.

Project

Farm Name
Guardians of the Soil
Farm Project Description

I come from an entirely different background (speech-language pathology) and first I did worm composting only as a hobby at home. Then I started expanding and now use a friend's garage in East Vancouver to house my much larger worm bins than the home ones. Now with three years of experience as well as a wealth of knowledge from Dr. Elaine Ingham's Soil Food Web school, I would like to expand my worm casting production by moving to a small piece of land at a farm and setting up more worm bins. I currently process between 3-400 kg of organic waste a month that I pick up from a local grocery store, neighbours, and it includes our own kitchen scraps, autumn leaves and shredded paper waste. My aim is to collect organic waste from several stores/restaurants etc. (urban) with the potential to get some from farms too and to increase the amount to 1000 kg or more a month. We have already started selling worm castings, worms, worm extract and worm tea at two Vancouver Farmers' Markets earlier this year. I would like to continue and expand this next year and sell our products online as well as to farmers. Regarding farms, especially larger ones, I see my role as a company to help them set up their own worm composting facility and to support them through the process. This makes our presence at or in the vicinity of an organic/natural/regenerative farm attractive, I feel, as there is no better way to regenerate degraded soil than re-introducing the full soil food web by using vermicompost. I am also receiving training in microscopy and will (hopefully) soon become a soil food web consultant able to sample and analyze the biology of soil and advise land owners/farmers accordingly. Overall I feel my presence would be a great asset to any farm housing my worm facility; all I need is some land and a building that can be heated in the winter (I'd be prepared to build one or insulate an existing barn/larger shed etc.).

Preferred Arrangement
  • Lease -
  • License -
  • MOU -
Duration of the desired agreement
At least three years with possibility to renew.
Ideal date to obtain land by
February 2024
Participant in BC Land Matching Program
Yes

Land & Features Desired

Total Land Size (acres)
0.1 - 0.25 acre
Wooded Area (acres)
No
Cultivable Area (acres)
Not necessary, but could use if available.
Possibility to expand area currently available (acres)
No
Zoning
Either
Preferred current state of the surface of the cultivable area

Land in as bad condition as possible, completely degraded is fine as for the building no specific land quality is required, and for the remainder of the land I would like to experiment with regenerating the soil using different forms of vermicast (solid, liquid).

Open to landowner residing on property
Yes - As long as I have 24/7 access and free movement of goods to and from the property.
Need farm buildings
Yes - As stated above, any building that can be insulated to be heatable.
Need fenced land
No
Need farm machinery and tools
No
Need established water source and infrastructure
Only household use equivalent.
Need on-site housing
Yes - Not necessarily, but my business partner would be willing to live there.
Production type
  • Livestock - Worms.
  • Other - Vermicast (worm manure) and related products.
Type of agriculture
  • Organic -
  • Other - There is no organic certification for worm composting, but naturally no toxic chemicals, fertilizers etc. would be used.
Soil needs
Degraded, bad quality.
Will acquire commercial insurance
Yes
Last modifed 10 months ago; never expires.