JULY 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
Winfield couple banks on
organic growth
New growers care for historic organic farm
by MYRNA STARK LEADER
WINFIELD–Molly and Matt Thurston believe that continuing and improving organic growing practices on their 7.5 acres of hillside in Lake Country will pay long- term dividends. The couple moved to the farm in 2011 after a unique deal with the farm’s long-time owners, Bob and Sharon McCoubrey, allowed them to purchase what was then McCoubrey Farms. It had been farmed organically for more than 20 years. “They really were able to
take a chance and a risk on us,” says Molly, who was raised in Kelowna, the granddaughter of Alberta farmers who relocated to BC in the late 1940s. Matt and Molly met at the
University of Guelph where they were enrolled in the university’s first-ever organic agriculture class. Although he’s from Ontario, after graduating in 2004, they found their first jobs on the Prairies. But in 2006, they established a new home in a second house on the McCoubrey property and began working with them on the farm. This led to a lease and while the Thurstons later moved offsite, they continued
to work the property. By 2010, Matt was a senior
relationship manager with Farm Credit Canada and Molly was a horticulturist with BC Tree Fruits Cooperative. And the McCoubreys were ready to sell. With no money down, the
purchase price of $1 million was split between two mortgages – one from the McCoubreys and another with Farm Credit Canada that was interest-free for the first four years. With much hard work, the Thurstons repaid the McCoubreys in 2018. “That was a really big milestone because it frees up capital that we can reinvest in the farm and explore some other ideas. It was part of how we were able to transition as young farmers under their mentorship and also their generosity,” says Molly, now an agronomist with Global Fruit Ltd. in Creston, working with growers in the Okanagan and Creston valleys. Matt is an agricultural lender at the Bank of Montreal.
Although the agreement
allowed the McCoubreys to live on the property for four years before moving, they bought another home nearby and Matt and Molly moved onto the farm where they’re raising their two young sons.
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Organic fruit growers Matt and Molly Thurston find short-term summer help from Lake Country hockey players Elgin Pearce and Jermaine Loewen. [MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTO]
Renamed Claremont Ranch Organics, after the dairy farm that once encompassed the property, the farm produces certified organic pears, peaches, more than 20 heirloom varieties of apples, crabapples, plums, apricots and prunes. The fruit is sold through Urban Harvest Organic Delivery, One Big Table, Nature’s Fare and the Independent store in Kelowna as well as local farm-to-table restaurants. Wholesale inquiries are always welcome, as are questions about using the farm to host on-farm events. All told, about 4.5 acres of
the property is in production. The Thurstons are continually making improvements, replanting sections of the orchard with newer, higher- yielding varieties and looking for ways to expand on-farm cold storage and fruit packing capacity. They’re researching new perennial ground crops that could add new products and increase farm-gate sales, especially given their location on Hwy. 97. “We are looking at a future farm stand to sell our products from July through fall as a way to test the waters,” explains Molly.
Growing demand for
organic produce makes it attractive, but it could also mean added work because sales will be in lots smaller than the 20 to 40-pound cases that retailers take. The Thurstons already
know from experience at local farmers markets that the return wasn’t worth the effort. Yet on-farm sales could also lead to more agri-tourism opportunities that would let them share more about the farm’s historic roots. They’ve already hosted outdoor
See TOURISM on next page o
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