Producer

Farm Description_2024
Old Road Farm is located in the traditional territory of the Quw’utsun people. In the 1930’s a seed farm was located here, but now the farm is home to a flock of Icelandic sheep, vegetable, fruit and flower gardens and an orchard. At present, the orchard is slowly expanding with tree crops such as apples, plums, nuts, olives, persimmons, peaches, cherries, mulberries, apricots, figs, and loquats. With a 10-acre woodlot, foliage and Christmas trees are produced. Vegetables and flowers are grown as well as native plants. More berry bushes are being planted (blueberries, currents, gooseberries, Marion berries, Haskap berries, and raspberries). In summary, Old Road Farm is a diversified operation with the accent on meat, fruit & vegetables, Christmas trees, evergreen foliage, with more interesting crops and livestock planned for the future!

Old Road Farm got its name from Gibbins Road which ran through the property in the horse and buggy days, and still remains as a trail through the woods. When we were kids we picked lots of wild trailing blackberries along the gravelly roadside before the new bypass road was built. The old road also served as a great alibi for mysterious and suspicious objects brought home when we were kids – they had simply been “found on the Old Road”!

More information on our website: oldroadfarm.com; and Facebook: www.facebook.com/OldRoadFarm/

Our farm is modest in size so we do most of the farm and garden work ourselves. Being fairly small (especially in terms of revenue) we haven't pursued too many certifications (which can expensive). However we have done an Environmental Farm Plan which, in our case a plan to protect our wetlands and the biodiversity that is found there. Our animals all have daily access to fields, pastures and fresh water. We use peat moss on the floor of the chicken house, as it discourages mites, and we keep the nests as clean as possible. We rotate our chickens on different runs every 3-4 months, so they have access to fresh grass and other goodies. We buy chicken feed for the birds (our main cost), but we also supplement with garden greens such as kale and berries such as Goji, Goumi and Sea Buckthorn. We try to keep our garden soil healthy by mulching with leaves and wood chips, and organic fertilizers. We bring our sheep into a safe pasture every night to reduce the chances of bears or cougars killing our animals. As noted above, we keep about 10 acres of the property forested. We enjoy growing native trees, shrubs and flowers to encourage birds, butterflies, bats and other creatures.