We are not alone- thank goodness!

Sometimes it feels like we are out here on our own doing something wild and crazy, but in fact, there are lots of new farmers out there in the world at the moment. I think we've mentioned The Greenhorns before but it definitely bears repeating- they are documenting the new farmer movement and helping us connect to one another.


Here in BC, there are new farmers all over the place! Amy and I attended an event of The BC Young Farmers Association recently and were amazed by the number of people in attendance. Although not all young farmers are new farmers (many young farmers have been farming their entire lives), there were plenty of new farmers in attendance. In Richmond, The Richmond Food Security Society has teamed up with Kwantlen Univeristy to offer a farm school, which was featured in the Vancouver Sun last week. In the Fraser Valley, Community Futures South Fraser has been helping new farmers connect. In fact, that is how Amy, Jamie, and I found each other.


This winter, we started an email listserve for new farmers in the Fraser Valley and began touring each other's farms. I've gotten to visit three other farms, which has been an inspiring and humbling experience. As new farmers, we share a number of challenges and it is invaluable seeing how others approach them. We hosted the group at our farm last weekend and gave them a tour of our site including our almost-completed hoophouse and various new areas that have recently been cleared of blackberries. It is good to know that there are new farmers close by that understand our issues and share our goals!


If you are a new farmer in the Fraser Valley, drop us an email at skeeterfarm@gmail.com and we'll add you to the listserve.