Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture
Rural Agriculture in British Columbia Connecting with City Farmers
See a variety of resources listed below.
Buying Your Food from a Farm Close to the City in BC
Farm Fresh Products Guide"Looking for fresh BC grown farm products, but you're a little stumped as to where to find them? Here's a handy dandy guide that will aim you in the right direction."
Community Supported Agriculture C.S.A.
Sudoa Farm in British Columbia
City people can become intimately involved in the process of growing the food they eat by a method different from growing it themselves. They can have a local farmer grow produce just for them in return for paying a lump sum, up front at the beginning of the season. Anne Warren of Sudoa Farms in British Columbia defines Community Supported Agriculture and tells us about her farm.
What is Community Supported Agriculture (C.S.A.) ?
C.S.A. is a program of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters. It links people directly with their source of food, providing them with the freshest, local, sustainably produced food. It gives farmers a source of income at a time of high expense (early spring). Supporters purchase a share in the season's harvest and receive this as a weekly package of produce.
About Sudoa Farm
Originally located on a small certified organic farm in Mission, B.C. we (Sue and Anne) moved in 1996 to Notch Hill in the Shuswap to a 126 acre homestead. The climate offers excellent growing conditions for most crops. There are 60 acres of hay fields and more of meadows, forest and marsh. Now in the 3rd year of a "Transitional to Organic" with the North Okanagan Organic Association, our vegetable gardens (10 acres) are on rich bottom land.
Together we have over 15 years of experience growing organically and are committed stewards of the soil. We enrich the soil using farm generated inputs (composts and covercrops) and try to cultivate with the least disruptive techniques.There are a couple of barns, a greenhouse and a packing house with a walk in cooler. We keep animals for milk, eggs, meat and compost.
Our work is year round but our produce income falls to 3 monthes: hay sales and C.S.A. shares help us survive year round. Our short term plans are to continue to truck most of our produce weekly to the coast, with the transition to shipping a few years off - we are trialing and developing a number of crops for this and should have these on a larger scale next year (onions, peas, asparagus). We will be "third year transitional" in 1998 certified by N.O.O.A. (North Okanagan Organic Association #73).
Sudoa Farm C.S.A.
The C.S.A shares are an aspect of our operation, with the Vancouver Farmer's Market being our main source of revenue. We will be accepting 20 C.S.A. shares this season. As market gardeners we grow a diverse product line of gourmet and staple foods. We grow everything that is included in the C.S.A boxes and they will reflect the season and the bounty of the given week. Share holders are welcome to visit the farm.Work stays can be arranged for longer periods of time as well.
The Details
The season runs from May 30 to Oct 10, 1998. The cost for the C.S.A.
share is $500. and is a generous quantity of food for four people. We will
also offer a smaller couple's share this season for $320.00. We will be
limiting the C.S.A. to 20 shares this year (10 of each) and expect to fill
these quickly. Your C.S.A. share will be confirmed with a deposit of 1/4 of
the total cost: regular share 125.00; couple's share $80.00
The remaining share can be paid in three installments beginning Feb. or
March 1998 .
C.S.A. boxes are to be picked up Saturday mornings at the Vancouver
Farmer's Market at Trout Lake.
For more information or to send a deposit contact us at:
Sudoa Farm
S12, C12, RR#1
Sorrento, B.C. V0E 2W0
(250) 835-8332
Posting January 4, 2000
Employment and Learning Opportunity:
Organic Farming Internship
Sudoa Farm is looking for interns for the 2000 farming season. Individuals with an interest in sustainable organic agriculture, a desire and receptivity to learn, an ability to work independently and in community, who are fit, careful and respect the value and satisfaction of hard work, are encouraged to apply.
Sudoa Farm is a mixed Certified Organic (NOOA #73) farm on a 126 acre turn-of -the century homestead located in the Shuswap region of BC between Kamloops and Salmon Arm. The focus of the apprenticeship is in the market garden. The vegetable fields rotate in four 3 acre plots of rich black bottom soil ; perennial fields produce herbs and asparagus. Cover crops, green manure, composting, mechanical weed control, permaculture systems (asparagus in dutch clover), shelter belt maintainance/planting and harvesting for markets are regular practices on the farm. The farm also produces alfalfa and grass hay, small grains, pasture and livestock. A neighbouring organic farmer manages the hay and grain rotations.We use minimal inputs and produce most of our own food. In addition to the crop lands are woods, a creek , marshland with, birds, turtles, beavers, coyotes and marmots. The CPR runs through. Our neighbourhood of Notch Hill is a dynamic community that supports a variety of resources and opportunities (draft horses, food politics, seed saving, etc.) We market our food through retail stores, farmers markets and CSA.
We can offer a small comfortable cabin or a room in the farmhouse, excellent omnivorous meals, a warm, vigorous, enriching working environment, opportunities for farming and homestead skill acquisition (woodlot management, food preservation, milking goats, etc). We also provide interns with a monthly stipend of $800.
Preference will be given to an individual seriously considering organic farming as a livelihood. Learning goals based on the experience and interests of the intern will be discussed and work responsibilities designed accordingly. The intern will be expected to work 6 days per week.
Interested folks can contact Anne Warren at 250-835-8332
email: awarren@jetstream.net for more information.
Please reply by Feb. 29 describing goals, background, interest in
farming, availability, references and questions to:
Sudoa Farm
S-12, C-12, RR#1
Sorrento, BC V0E 2W0
Follow this link to find a wide variety of CSA resources.
Prairienet CSA Page
Linnaea Farm Ecological Gardening Programme
Now in its eleventh year, the Linnaea Farm Ecological Gardening Programme offers a thorough grounding in organic gardening and small-scale farming through a full growing season. It is a residential, 8-month long programme. Linnaea Farm is a beautiful 315 acre land trust on Cortes Island, B.C.
From Farm to Feast
Recipes and Stories from Saltspring and the Southern Gulf Islands
By Gail Richards and Kevin Snook
176 pages, 1998
Polestar Book Publishers
polestar@direct.ca
103-1014 Homer Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2W9
Phone: 604-488-0830
"Our book provides the reader with significant information about how our food is grown and who grows it. We have featured the farmers (18) of the Southern Gulf Islands as examples of what good, conscientious farming can mean to all of us in the long term. They work towards balancing the ecosystem, creating centres of diversity, living gene banks, wildlife habitats, and environments that can restore the rest of us simply in the passing."
Farm Folk City Folk - Stories, Tips and Recipes Celebrating Local Food for Food Lovers of all Stripes
By Herb Barbolet, Angela Murrills and Heather Pritchard 1998
Douglas and McIntyre
1615 Venables St. Vancouver BC Canada V5L 2H1
Tel: (604) 254-7191
"Over the past decade, people across North America have rediscovered the pleasures of fresh, flavourful local food. This book celebrates the farmers and herb gardeners, seed sellers and greenhouse growers, cheese makers, chocolate makers, restaurateurs and chefs who are in the forefront of this movement in British Columbia."
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