Dear local food box members and friends,
We have a farm update to share. In past years, we have learned that we are not able to significantly expand Wind Whipped Farm while farming at the same time. With a baby in the mix, this juggling act has become even more of a challenge.
In order to focus on growing our business, we have decided that we will not be operating the Local Food Box Program and will not be growing fruits and vegetables this year. We are sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause. Please know that we are planning on coming back better than ever in 2021.
We are in the process of securing a VanCity Small Business Loan to install field drainage, water and fencing so that we can cultivate an additional field, erect a third greenhouse and expand our washing and packing area. We think this will enable us to more than double our farm’s production and get closer to reaching our business objectives. Our goals include having a farm business that can be our primary source of income and that we can manage more effectively. With little Yanou in our lives, a better work-life balance has become more of a priority. Here he is, our sweet farm baby, happy as can be in a milk crate.
We do not consider this to be a year off because we will still be doing lots of farm work. We did something similar in 2015 (see Stepping it up for 2016 and We’re back!). While we missed growing food for our members, we think it was really worthwhile in terms of improving farm efficiency, as well as product quality and diversity.
We are looking forward to having more space to grow crops like strawberries, sweet melons and sweet corn. More greenhouse space will also mean more tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplants. We are also planning to plant perennial berry fruits and replace our old orchard with more productive varieties.
Once again, we really appreciate all your support and trust over the past years. We love providing you with good food and we hope you will want to join the Local Food Box program in 2021. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue supporting our box program farmers and other local producers in 2020. Stillmeadow Farm and Parry Bay Sheep Farm, who provide the fantastic Local Food Box meats, offer a weekly farm store: Saturdays, 12-3 pm at 4198 Stillmeadow Road. For vegetables we are happy to be able to recommend Metchosin farms: Sea Bluff Farm and Umi Nami Farm. For flowers and eggs, Ninebark Farm offers a spring bouquet and free-range eggs subscription. Sweet Acres Farm, located in nearby Langford, also offers a CSA Harvest Share program.
If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with us.
Best,
Alex and Virginie
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