How the Hettlers Embody Organic Principles (and Are Good at Growing Farmers) Michelle Tsutsumi Finding my way to Pilgrims’ Produce in the fall of 2009, when I wanted to learn how to garden, ended up changing my life. It sounds dramatic; however, witnessing and experiencing the ways in which Robert and Kathryn engage with the… 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
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
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
The Lasser Legacy: Raising Healthy, Nutritious, Environmentally-Friendly Cattle Jolene Swain [Editor’s note: It is with hearts full of gratitude and sadness that we share this Organic Story, first published in our Summer 2020 issue and then republished in our Winter 2024 issue. Charlie Lasser passed away Saturday, December 9, 2023, at the age of 92… Keep Reading
Rest is Key to Innovate (and Survive a Pandemic) Michelle Tsutsumi and Rebecca Kneen Starting this piece during the onset of COVID-19 in BC created a curious opening for Rebecca and I to delve deeply into what improvement means for organics (both of us speaking from a smaller scale perspective, with the need to hear… Keep Reading
From Carrots to COR Darcy Smith Carrots: “hard to grow, but easy to sell,” says Paddy Doherty, who farms at West Enderby Farm with his partner Elaine Spearling. When late November rolls around and most vegetable farmers are finally kicking up their feet for a few moments of rest, Paddy and Elaine’s farm is still… Keep Reading
Fighting Drought through Complex Ecosystems By Emma Holmes Irecently had the pleasure of visiting Covert Farms Family Estate in Oliver, where Gene Covert, a third-generation farmer, gave me a tour of his family’s 650 acre organic farm, vineyard, and winery. Gene’s grandpa George Covert bought the desert-like piece of land back in 1959, and although… Keep Reading
Meagan Curtis During the first decades of the 20th century in rural Vancouver Island, horses were used for farm work and personal transportation. It seemed everyone had a horse of some kind. Horses co-harvested the hay and grain that would feed and warm them through a cold rainy winter after these crops were cut by… Keep Reading
Sproule & Sons Farm: Past to Present Neil and Jacqui Sproule with gratitude to Marjorie Harris Garnet and Charlotte Sproule bought a raw piece of land in Oyama in 1946. They built a small shack and started planting a few fruit trees. They also started their family, which eventually grew to five children, all raised… Keep Reading
