My name is Martin de Vries, I have about 6 years of experience working in agriculture. I spent the first five years of my career in the Netherlands and moved to Canada in 2022 to live closer to my family in-law. The first two years of my career I spent working with seed potatoes, after that I spend 3 years as a harvest manager/adviser for organic vegetables that would be processed into frozen or canned produce. In Canada I have been working on an organic farm in Ladner. I’m looking to start or continue an existing farm focused on growing vegetables. My main interest is in producing vegetables for wholesale and/or industrial markets. To start my own farm, my ideal would be to start small (5-10 acres) and sell only to wholesale. I’m flexible with the kinds of crops I want to grow depending on the demand in the market. If given the opportunity to decide my preferences are peas, green beans, celeriac, carrots, Leek, onions, potatoes, cabbage, sweetcorn and squash. Ideally, I would grow everything to be certified organic. My long-term dream is to grow my farm to about 50-100 acres. A personal interest of mine is plant and soil health, both physiologically as biologically. I believe a well-balanced and healthy soil makes for a healthy and resistant plant, which will result in less disease/pests and a higher yield. I know that this topic is complex, but that is what fascinates me so much about it throughout my years of studying and working. I envision my ideal starting location as a location within about an hour from Vancouver, about 5-10 acres in size and with some sort of barn where I can process, produce and store my vegetables and store some equipment. Ideally with space to grow.