16 URBAN farming
I think there’s a whole education piece.” This year marks the seventh season
for the business, which was started in 2013 by Katie Ralphs and Ruth Warren. The pair saw an opportunity to work with landowners to turn yards into small- scale market gardens just as the urban farming movement began to gain traction. One of the city’s first urban farms, it became a model locally and elsewhere of urban agriculture’s promise. The pair sold it to Clerk and Evans in 2016, new graduates who were passionate about local food production and wanted to work outdoors. (Ralphs now farms on Vancouver Island.) Both had been tree-planters in
university, and Evans studied soil sciences at UBC. Clerk had a commerce degree and is now a Chartered Professional Accountant. Both in their early 20s at the time, neither had previously been involved in farming. “We walked around the neighbourhood
and loved what they did and Maddy said, ‘Let’s buy it.’ So then one thing kind of led to another and in six months we were farming,” recalls Evans. “Initially, it was like a whirlwind, and I don’t know that I had really thought that much about why I was going to do it, other than I knew I wanted to work with the land.” Valuation of the business was based on its annual income as well as goodwill built up with homeowners and subscribers to the CSA. A small loan was taken to finance the purchase. “We essentially bought an existing
CSA program and the relationships with the homeowners, and all the work that’s gone into rebuilding the soil on the sites. Like an existing farm, essentially,” says
nfrom page 15
Clerk. “I guess we could have gone to work for another farmer and gotten experience that way, but for me, I’m definitely an entrepreneurial spirit, so being able to have a small business was exciting.” The two have non-farm jobs in the
winter; Evans handles various contract roles while Clerk is a financial analyst with an adventure-wear company. The work allows them to carry the small loan secured to buy the business. It’s almost paid off, and the farm itself is profitable (“a very modest income,” Clerk emphasizes), with CSA subscriptions having increased to 82 from 50 in 2016. But it’s also nearing capacity. “We get emails on a weekly basis
saying, ‘I have this property. I want it turned over. How can I be part of what you do?’” says Evans. “We cannot take on any more now that our labour is totally maxed out, but I think there’s room for multiple other businesses to exist, like ours or similar to ours, in this city.” Regarding their own futures, they’re
not ready to sell. In fact, they recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise $18,000 towards a solar-powered trailer that triples as a wash station, cooler and pop-up market stall. “We’re just really focused on doing
what we’re doing well and letting things happen naturally,” says Clerk. “Maybe we don’t want to be urban farmers forever, but it’s a really excellent starting point.” “I stay because it’s the work I really
love to do,” adds Evans. “I don’t think I’ll stay in the city for 10 more years doing it, but I want to farm for 20 or 30 more years.”
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • OCTOBER 2019
THINK AHEAD
KUBOTA FALL SALE AT AVENUE MACHINERY
ABBOTSFORD 1521 Sumas Way
1-888-283-3276 VERNON
7155 Meadowlark Road 1-800-551-6411
www.avenuemachinery.ca
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