Corinne Impey Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms is a family-run seasonal mushroom farm in Kaslo, BC. Now in their fifth year of business, and their second year being BC Certified Organic, they specialize in gourmet mushroom varieties such as shiitake, oyster, and lion’s mane, among many others. They also produce spawn, grow-at-home kits, and other cultivation supplies.… Keep Reading
Certification is Helping Define Best Practices Travis Forstbauer This article first appeared in Country Life in BC and is reprinted here with gratitude. Soil health is the foundation of any healthy organic farm. While modern agriculture has primarily focused on nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, soil health from an organic perspective focuses on the health and… Keep Reading
The Year the Butterflies Came Back: A Story of Transition at Tulaberry Farm Hailey Troock I picked up the phone one cold winter day in 2019 to a request from the owners and operators of Tulaberry Farm in the picturesque riverside community of Passmore, BC. Judi Morton and Alex Berland wanted to find some young… Keep Reading
Anna Helmer I exhibit a strong spring Biodynamic practice. I have all the time in the world for stirring BD 500, tending to compost piles, and dutifully attempting to follow the planting calendar. In the summer things will likely slide, and the fall is very Biodynamically weak for me. Winter comes and at that point… Keep Reading
The Birth and Evolution of Forstbauer Farm Natalie Forstbauer Bare feet, dirty nails, cheeks caked with dry soil, clothes weathered by the elements, the smell of earth lingering on me…getting lost in long grass, playing hide and seek in fields, singing camp songs while pulling out weeds…sitting under a canopy of blueberry branches while filling… Keep Reading
Mary Alice Johnson When I first ventured into growing fresh produce commercially on lower Vancouver Island in 1991, I was fortunate to connect with a number of folks who were also farming on small acreages in the area. Like myself, they had grown up in rural areas but had followed careers other than farming as… Keep Reading
Corinne Impey The start of 2021 marks year two of using iCertify, COABC’s online organic certification system. Last year, over 150 members used iCertify to apply for, or renew, their organic certification. This year will see more members and more certification bo dies using the system for the first time, while many operators will be… Keep Reading
Many Strands Make a Strong Food Web Darcy Smith Farm-to-fork has come to embody the eating ethos of people seeking a deeper connection to healthy, local food—and Urban Harvest has been putting the “to” in farm-to-fork for the last 20 years. Lisa McIntosh co-founded the Okanagan-based organic home delivery service with her partner at the… Keep Reading
Planning In Your Thirties and Beyond Karen Fenske Developing a well-balanced financial strategy at each stage of life promotes peace of mind. The wealth and retirement planning strategies outlined below are relevant for young farmers, whether you will own property or not. The need for supplemental income component has historically been a reality for many… Keep Reading
Devon Cooke On April 15th, I uprooted myself from my Burnaby basement suite, packed as much as I could into my hatchback, and hit the road. Pandemic lockdown plan: go to where the food is. Destination: Amara Farm in the Comox Valley. I had negotiated what I thought was a pretty sweet deal. Amara Farm… Keep Reading
