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on Westham Island. Emma Lea Farms has its own market, but focuses on u-pick in the summer. Husband sells his fresh berries to Alicia and Danielle and buys potatoes from their family’s farm, Felix Farms. “They started out
grassroots, selling corn, and built a relationship with their customers. It's all about relationship building,” he says. “They built a loyal clientele just being there day in and day out.”
Early start Starting when they were 11
and 13 years old, the sisters sold their family’s corn on the side of Arthur Drive in Delta and local produce at the farmers’ market – something they still do. “We have to credit our
parents because they put us into that Ladner Village Market in 2001 when we had one tent. We had a chair and we'd sit and read a book – that's how slow it was,” Alicia says. “Now, we have a double booth, we've got extra staff and we can't keep stuff on the table.”
The biggest challenge the
two have faced so far was making the jump to a permanent location five years ago. Before making the decision to open their business, Danielle had just
finished school at Blanche Macdonald Centre for fashion merchandising and Alicia was accepted into the teaching program at UBC. Their hearts were back in Delta though. “We'd get different jobs
from September to June and then every summer we kept coming back to the farms,” Alicia says. “We’d just sit on the
roadside [selling produce] and be like, how can we do this every day? How can we make this our job? Why do we have to leave it in the summer and then go find another thing? What can we do?” Danielle adds. “It was a stressful time trying to figure out which direction you're going to go.”
When the opportunity came to sign a 25-year lease for 300 acres from the Tsawwassen First Nation in 2014, Danielle and Alicia pitched the idea of a permanent market to their family.
They chose to resurrect a
derelict building that sat underneath 20 years worth of brambles at the corner of a field on a backroad, not far from where the Tsawwassen Mills mall is now. “Our family built this stand and ran it in the 80s and the 90s and then they got too busy on the farm, so they leased it out to somebody
Hard work and ingenuity have paid off for Danielle, left, and Alicia Guichon but a strong parental role model helps, too. Their dad is Delta potato farmer Peter Guichon. Below, what was once a rundown shell of a building is now Backroads Family Farm Market. JENELLE LAILA PHOTOS
else as a produce store,” Alicia says.
A hand-painted sign
signalled it was once again open for business. Danielle has since redesigned the signs and the logo now
adorns carry bags and clothing sold at the store. As the business grew, so did the ideas. The back acre features many of the standard vegetables as well as items that aren’t easy to find at the
supermarket, like coloured cauliflower. “We like to try the things
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The Terragator Airflow Fertilizer applicator is an extremely large three wheeled, self propelled piece of equipment. It requires all the skills normally associated with large construction equipment and requires a high level of computer proficiency. The operator must continuously monitor the applications from booms that are 70 feet wide. Coordinating these functions simultaneously requires extreme concentration and focus. If you have a farming background and experience driving oversized equipment, then this is the job for you. This is a fast paced, lots of overtime position. Typical day is 12-14 hours during the busiest time.
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that you can't get even at the wholesaler,” Danielle says. “These are niche things that we've had a lot of fun trying out. … Next year, I want to try to grow our own ginger.” Growth has also meant that the sisters have less time to connect with customers, however. They’re hoping to strike a new balance next year with the addition of a driver and general manager, which will give them more time to engage and build the business – and, for Alicia, serve residents on council. Alicia definitely has her
work cut out for her. The balance between rural and city life is delicate and with new projects always on the horizon, a farmer’s voice is needed.
The communication
between the City of Delta and its farmers hasn’t always been good. In a pre-election meeting with the Delta Farmers’ Institute, mayoral candidate George Harvie (now mayor) described the past relationship between the two as “toxic.” He touted Alicia as his connection to the farming community. For Alicia, everything
revolves around farming so, with that lens, she says she’s able to give city the input it needs to keep things growing. Building the relationships between the city and farmers could be as simple as making sure roadwork meshes harvest times. “It's the connection with
the city to our farmers, which I think needs to be strengthened,” she says. “[Providing] information of things that are happening or impacts that will affect farmers.”
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • DECEMBER 2018
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