COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MAY 2019
Farm initiative puts heart back
in agriculture Gift of land helps Kelowna church fulfill its social purpose
by MYRNA STARK LEADER
KELOWNA – A 22.5-acre piece of land in the Lower Mission neighbourhood of Kelowna, one of the city’s best farming areas, is fulfilling the wishes of longtime owners Gordon and Helen Ziegler. In 2013, Gordon wanted to
give the property to a community organization on the condition that it be used to benefit the community for at least 20 years, whether as social housing for seniors or people recovering from addictions, or to enhance food security. A call for proposals attracted 16 submissions. Trinity Baptist Church, a large congregation known for community outreach, was the successful applicant.
While the property sits in
the Agricultural Land Reserve, Ziegler also donated three other pieces of land the church could sell to create an endowment fund to help develop and run the farm once the scope of the project was defined. These included two other unproductive ALR parcels totalling 25 acres in the Ellison area as well as a vacant commercial lot in Alberta.
The church received
Helen’s Acres in September 2015 and began building fences and installing irrigation with a view to converting it from a vacant field to a vegetable farm. Now, the 20 acres is valued at about $3.5 million. It yielded 60,000 pounds of potatoes and more than 40,000 pounds of other vegetables last year. Guided by a five-year business plan, Helen’s Acres serves three purposes. “It’s building community,
it’s educating young people on farming techniques and it’s growing nutritious food for people in need,” says Darcy Smith, who formerly taught business courses at Okanagan College and recently retired as Trinity’s executive pastor. He now manages the business side of the farm as well as the endowment fund established with proceeds from the sale of the other three parcels. He says approximately 90
church volunteers helped operate the farm last year, prepping the soil, planting, watering, weeding, harvesting
and cleaning up. Other help came from community groups and businesses looking for ways to give back, including local sports teams, support groups such as Freedom’s Door and Teen Challenge, credit union Valley First and Telus.
About 90% of what they
grow goes to the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank. The remaining 10% is sold at the church to raise funds to continue the work at the farm, including funding a full-time seasonal farm manager to help coordinate and take care of the crop and manage who is on the land. “We give them the first
fruits,” says church member Stephen Eng, who oversees the actual production side of the farm. “Usually when you think of food going to the food bank, it’s the seconds. We harvest from the field and ship right to the food bank.”
New experience
Eng first heard about the land at a church meeting after he and his wife moved from Victoria to Kelowna to be closer to their grandchildren. His sales job at Evergro, a division of Nutrien Ag Solutions (Canada) Inc., moved with him. With a UBC plant science degree and agriculture background, he
FOR ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO
GO UP Bale Wrap
Bunker Covers Silage Bags
Forage & Grain Seed Balers & Wrappers Greenhouse Film
Meat & Cheese Packaging
5080T TELESCOPIC WHEEL LOADER 2070LPT WHEEL LOADER VAN DER WAL EQUIPMENT(1989) LTD.
23390 RIVER ROAD, MAPLE RIDGE, BC V2W 1B6 604/463-3681 |
vanderwaleq.com
Serving all of BC Call or visit us online today
1.800.663.6022
www.SILAGROW.com
43
Retired Trinity Baptist pastor Darcy Smith and Stephen Eng have been working alongside volunteers to turn a vacant parcel of land gifted to the church into a productive farm operation that provides local charities with fresh vegetables. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTO
believes he was brought to the region to share his experience and help others learn about farming and growing on the well-drained sandy loam soils at Helen’s. “It’s not about buying a
carrot-planting machine, it’s about traditional planting and harvesting and working in community to do that,” says Eng. “We’ve concentrated on the needs of the food bank. They need potatoes, so we’ll grow more this year. Their ask is 700 pounds a week. We’re also experimenting growing carrots and 5,000 onions.” This summer, they’ll harvest
strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb and asparagus planted last year. The more they get to know the land, the more opportunities they see,
including the potential for greenhouses. There are two wells on the property and they have a licence to use water from the nearby irrigation channel, so water isn't an issue. “The food bank has asked
us to try cauliflower and broccoli and some melons, so we need to figure that out,” adds Eng. “It’s limitless what we can grow, but we need to focus on growing things that are worthwhile for the people who need the food.” They won’t grow fruit trees
because the food bank already receives plenty of fruit.
“Some of this is also figuring out how to best use the volunteer labour force,” says Eng. “On the community side,
we’re partnering with organizations that have like- minded values so we [can] continue to [increase] the amount of planted land and the produce we can grow,” adds Smith.
See FAITH on next page o
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
