SEPTEMBER 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Cariboo farm thrives with


mentorship Short-season production comes with long days


by MYRNA STARK LEADER


100 MILE HOUSE – At 8 pm, Robin Hunt and her husband of almost two years, Johan Bos, are finishing washing and prepping their produce for the next day’s 20-minute drive to the South Cariboo farmers’ market in 100 Mile House. It’s hard work, but both say it’s satisfying to do a job that helps feed people and sustains the land. Two years ago, the couple turned a half-acre of pasture in Forest Grove into a market garden producing vegetables, strawberries and other small fruit. They also raise heritage chickens for meat and eggs. A herd of pigs was also part of the mix but this year they’re focusing on the garden. Both were on the coast


working, she in film and photography and he as a lighting technician for concerts and other events. They met online but discovered they shared a common best friend. At the time, she lived above a horse barn in Squamish, had a couple horses and was already passionate about farming – for the lifestyle and personal fulfilment. “The true passion started at 21. I built a 4x20-foot raised bed. It had everything – the tiniest little carrots. I learned lots and my gardens kept getting bigger,” Hunt recalls, saying she eventually convinced Bos to move to a rented farm in the Squamish valley where for two years they raised 30 chickens, boarded horses, had gardens, eggs and launched a small community-supported agriculture (CSA) venture. “I always wanted to run my


own business and did so as a freelancer, so I said let’s give it a shot,” says Bos who, along with Hunt, advise others to spend a year working for someone else on a farm to learn more. They say they couldn’t


have been farmers if they’d had to buy property in Squamish but when Hunt’s grandfather died in 2016 they moved to Forest Grove and Big Rock Ranch to be with her grandmother, Karen Smith. The 148 acres was named for the high rock point on the property that overlooks the house and surrounding


countryside. Hunt’s grandparents were both teachers and over the years leased their land for cattle grazing to the neighbouring Pincott Ranches Ltd. “Johan is in charge of the


livestock, bookkeeping, accounting, website design, YouTube and construction and I’m more in charge of the vegetable production and sales, marketing to public, restaurants and businesses and social media,” Hunt explains. Market gardening here is


challenging. The last frost can be as late as June 1 and the first in mid-September. To beat the short season, they’ve constructed two greenhouses and will be doing a third next year to give more plants a head start.


Hunt has strong feelings


that food should be raised sustainability, which for her means working towards organic certification. “We add ladybugs and beneficial nematodes to the garden to deal with issues like wireworms and aphids. We deal with things as nature


Robin Hunt and Johan Bos have created a market garden in Forest Grove, outside of 100 Mile House, and two years of hard work and goal-setting is starting to pay off. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTOS


would,” she explains. She worries that people


don’t think enough about the hours it takes to produce their food or how it reaches them. When wildfires limited travel in and around Forest Grove last year, she was able to provide a measure of local food security with deliveries of produce and eggs from the ranch. It was a small contribution that made her feel good.


Game changers The couple are avid


learners. They’ve borrowed great ideas to farm economically. Their cold storage, for example, is housed in an insulated shipping container cooled by a modified home air conditioner fitted with a CoolBot. “It tricks the unit to go way cooler than it’s supposed to


go. It’s a more affordable way to make a cool room and is way easier and cheaper to fix if something breaks,” Hunt says.


They’ve created a cleaning


station for the produce that features an improvised air- bubbling system for washing greens. A washing machine has been retrofitted to spin- dry salad.


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