The program is a business incubator for young farmers interested in farming or starting a farm-based business in areas where land is expensive and land scarce.
Ehsan Kamalmaz sells locally grown garlic to grocery stores and restaurants, and Shannon Wiggins is known for selling fresh vegetables at farmers' markets in Esquimalt and North Saanich.
The two are some of 13 farmers currently enrolled in the Sandown Regenerative Agriculture Center's regenerative farming program, which launched in 2021.
The program is a business incubator for young farmers interested in farming or starting a farm-based business in a low-risk environment in areas where land is expensive and scarce.
“We're developing young farmers,” said Emily Harris, the nonprofit's program manager, noting that the majority of participants are young women.
“We teach them all the basics they need to be successful. We give them access to the land, courses, tools and instruction. Try it for three years and see what works for you. You can check if it is there.
The incubator program charges participants $350 a year for the use of a half-acre of land, and gives participants access to shared farm equipment such as tractors, greenhouse space, irrigation infrastructure, and coolers to store their crops.
Participants only need to pay for the seeds, fertilizer, and water used.
Participants sign three-year renewable leases and, in some cases, are matched with local farmers who can supply land, with the goal of establishing enough land to be independent within three years.
Veronique Emmett started Sandown on a quarter acre in 2021 as part of the first group of young farmers. After successfully selling her produce, she moved to her one acre property at Haliburton Farm and sold it as Frozen Her Coast at Moss Street Her Market.
The center, in partnership with the Growing Young Farmers Association, has added the Growing Young Farmers program to this year's program list.
The program, funded in part by a grant from the Victoria Foundation, gives children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 the opportunity to spend time on working farms and learn from farmers. . Field trip activities are tied to BC school curriculum.
“Children who participate in growing food become more aware of what they consume, where it comes from, and how it impacts the environment,” Harris said. he says.
Both programs operate at the former Sandown Racetrack in North Saanich, where grain and vegetable cultivation began in the mid-1800s until the 1950s.
The field was then converted into a racetrack, which operated from 1955 to 2001.
ALR's 83-acre parcel of land is currently owned by the District of North Saanich, with 25 acres set aside as seasonal wetlands to serve as the municipality's floodplain during extreme weather events.
Volunteers regularly encounter horseshoes as they work to restore the soil to its agricultural roots.
Sandown Regenerative Agriculture Center will be holding an open house to start the plant on May 18th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the center, 1810 Glamorgan Road, North Saanich. For more information, please visit sanddowncentre.com.
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