Seeking land for sustainable production of diverse crops

• Other experience/agricultural/business training - I grew up in a small village of Nepal. I don’t have a degree in agriculture. What I have is dirt under my nails and years of working beside my mother on our farm in a small village. From age 9 until 2021, farming was my mother’s main source of income. We raised about 200 broiler chickens, 2 cows, 2 buffaloes, and 11 goats. We grew pineapples and bananas on half an acre, plus another 5 acres of land inherited from my grandparents where I learned to grow rice, millet, buckwheat, potatoes, and just about every kind of green vegetable you can name. I also helped my mother with mushroom farming. She did most of it, but I learned by watching and helping. My father has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, so I picked up some theory from him, but he worked in a bank. My own experience is 100% hands-on, but just not on paper.

My name is Milipa Thapa. I came to Canada in 2022 from Nepal. I completed my MBA in 2023 and now I work full time as an accountant admin at Lock-Block Limited. I want to shift my career toward farming. I want to be a full-time farmer. I grew up helping my mother on our village farm. That wasn’t a hobby, it was our income. I know how to prepare soil, plant seeds, water, weed, and harvest. I know how to grow food when you have almost nothing. After my Bachelor’s degree, I joined a Uk-aid funded project called Rural Access Programme (RAP3) CONNECT. I started as an intern and became an enterprise officer and socio-economic officer. Our project built roads in rural Nepal. Wherever roads went int, we helped local residents grow their businesses. I connected farmers to training, linked the m to markets, helped them get interest-free loans. I worked closely with farmers and I understand their struggles and their dreams. Here in Canada, I am new. I honestly don’t know where to start because land is expensive and I don’t have connections yet. But I am already doing something: I rented a tiny 700 sq. ft. plot in Abbotsford for $550 a year. I travel two hours from New Westminster to get there. That is how much I want this. My goal is to give back to nature and get back organic food and fresh air. Sometimes I feel climate anxiety thinking most of us are becoming distant from the land and giving nothing back. I want permaculture farming. I want to protect my surroundings from climate change. Also, I want to build community through farming. I want young people to see that farming is not old-fashioned. The earth needs more creators than destroyers. If I can inspire even one person to plant something, I will be happy. I want to grow: Green vegetables: spinach, beans, pumpkin, chayote, asparagus, cilantro, onion, garlic, mint, sage, and others. Mushrooms: oyster mushrooms in a growing container. Greenhouse: eventually try growing saffron. Grains: peas, buckwheat, mustard, quinoa, millet, corn, and rice if possible. Bees: for pollination and soil fertility. Chickens: around 50 layers for eggs, 50 broilers for meat. Dry chicken packaging later if approved. Fruit: grapes and berries for pick-your-own. A small dream: build a simple hut—not a restaurant. Just a quiet place where students or people with no money for cafes can come with their laptop, work, study, breathe fresh air, and pay very little. When I grow plenty, I want to donate free vegetables to students and families who cannot afford them. I don't believe in wasting food.

• Other - I need land where I can pay no more than $200 a month right now but I know that's low. So I'm open to working something out. Here's my offer: I manage the property and farm the land. In return, the landowner gets fresh produce, and I give a percentage of my sales — say 10-20% — instead of paying the rent. That way they benefit as I grow. I just want to start small, learn on Canadian soil, and eventually earn enough to pay more or move to my own land. The best situation would be to manage the land, grow the way I like, while following whatever contracts the landlords have. If there are farm equipment that would be great. If not, I ‘ll borrow or rent.

I can work with land that is bare, overgrown, or already in production. Each one just means a different starting point. Bare land means I build from scratch. Overgrown means I clear and prepare. Already cultivated means I maintain and improve. I can handle all three.

• Vegetable - Almost all types of green spinach, pumpkin, Chayote, asparagus, different types of green beans, cilantro, onion, garlic, mint, sage, and others.
• Poultry - Layers - Need to do research on the type of layer I want to have. I want to have around 50 layer for now.
• Poultry - Broilers - Need to do research on the type of broiler I want to have. I want to have around 50 broilers for now.
• Grain - Buckwheat, Quinoa, Millet, Mustard, maize/corn, rice (if possible)
• Seed - Mustard, pumpkin, Lettuce, Okra, Peas, Buckwheat.
• Mushroom - Oyster mushroom

• Organic -