I look forward to harvest time every year. Enjoying the finished product from a lot of hard work is certainly rewarding.
The Farm Roots farm held its final Thursday market last week, and as usual, the offerings were fresh and fantastic. The market and the produce will be missed, but what was gained this year was a far better understanding of what our customers prefer to consume which will certainly help us in our crop planning for the spring.
As I have mentioned before, Nicole Bruce and her SOYL team did a great job of managing the farm this past summer. In late August, Jasmine Bal, who has been working the farm for the past few years, took the reins and kept the food coming off of our beloved little field.
Jasmine has basically been on her own for the past couple of weeks and has been harvesting for the farm stand and beginning the process of breaking down the site in preparation for plowing and fall cover crop.
Our now clearly sought after Russian Red garlic is in the ground and will once again adorn the kitchens of many in Boundary Bay next July.
After a few years of operation, we are getting a good sense of what our best sellers are and our farm offerings will reflect this. Additionally, we have the backing of Darren Gates and his top notch chefs from Marios and Gracies who have been supportive of our programming for the past couple of years.
Rounding out our best sellers for the coming year will be additional crops that will augment our community supported agriculture (CSA) program for next spring. This program will further support the vegetable needs of the Boundary Bay community who have been so very supportive of our operation.
Although COVID-19 has presented challenges in keeping regular educational programming in place at Farm Roots, the field will continue to be productive so that the needs of the local community can be met. This includes allotting a percentage of our crops for weekly contributions to the South Delta Food Bank and to families who are in need.
Small operations like ours really do stand out as an example of what can, and probably should be done in communities elsewhere.
Hard work and collaboration in the spirit of social enterprise will ensure the long term success of Farm Roots. Eventually, students will once again have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the importance of the agri-food industry and its contribution to our economy.
Food sovereignty starts as close to home as you can be, and on behalf of everyone who has been involved with Farm Roots, we thank you for the support you have shown us.
Spring will be here before we know it!
Mike Schneider is founder of Project Pickle and likes to write about growing, cooking and eating food. He is a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution ambassador.
