THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE SANDOWN FARMLAND
OUR FARMERS
Our farmers are an integral part of the restoration project at Sandown Centre, as they steward our soils and bring biodiversity back to the land.
Veronique Emmet
Frozen Coast Farm
Véronique is the farmer behind Frozen Coast Farm; a small but mighty contribution to ensuring food security on Vancouver Island by providing food that is good for the people and good for the earth. She loves growing food, connecting to the land and being part of the community that comes along with it. Let's get excited about eating seasonally!
frozencoastfarm.com
Ella and Ashton
Tiny flwrs
Located on unceded lək̓ʷəŋən territory, tiny flwrs is a bio-intensive, pollinator friendly, micro flower farm and florist focusing on biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. Our goal is to contribute to the creation of a hyper local flower industry that emphasizes ecosystem resilience while rivalling the output of major flower importers. We use regenerative farming methods and grow without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or other agricultural chemicals. Our floral designs incorporate a variety of farmed and foraged native and cultivated plants, arranged in an organic and playful way.
tinyflwrs.square.site
Anna-Lise
A-L's Herb & Flower Co.
Anna-Lise is the grower behind A-L’s Herb & Flower Co, a small farm specializing in culinary herbs and cut flowers. Growing up in on a small hobby farm in North Saanich, Anna-Lise was raised in a home where gum boots were the footwear of choice, tomatoes were a seasonal vegetable, and Julia Child reigned supreme on the console TV. Anna-Lise believes the best moments are when people gather around to share some food-- a belief that is the driving vision behind A-L’s Herb & Flower Co., where Anna-Lise applies her passion to spark joy at your next meal.
frozencoastfarm.com
Ali Boechler
fireweed farms
Ali Boechler is the owner and manager of Fireweed Farms. She strongly believes that soil, human, and environmental health are all connected. She has a passion for the healing arts and has studied yoga, meditation, and reiki. She hopes to weave these beautiful practices with the natural medicine of the plants to engage in community healing on all levels. Her goals are to grow potent, accessible medicine, to help heal the soil at Sandown Centre, and to teach others some of the skills necessary to build resilience and thrive during these uncertain times we’re living in.
fireweedfarms.ca
Lauren Fairweather
FAIRWEATHER FARM
Lauren is passionate about combating the climate crisis and delighted by the endless magic of plants. For her, stewarding healthy soils is all about interconnectivity, and is a meeting place of so many of her interests, from biodiversity and climate justice, to human health and incredible local food. Lauren is excited and humbled to be following her farming dreams at Sandown, combining vegetable growing with medicinal and dye plants, and extending the harvest with winter vegetables.
Garrett Simon
Ben Kjernisted
Brooke Williams
Jasper Kjernisted
FARM OR DIE
Farm or Die was founded in 2018 by Garrett Simon and Ben Kjernisted, two friends with a shared passion for good food, live music, and the great outdoors. While studying music in Vancouver and gardening during every moment of spare time, we both felt a strong desire for a deeper, more meaningful lifestyle. As we began to draft plans for an urban agriculture business, we received a fateful call from Ben’s family that changed the course of our lives forever. Ann Marie, Ben’s grandmother caught wind of our interest in agriculture and graciously invited us to develop a market garden on her five acre North Saanich homestead called Whiteoak Farm. Without any hesitation we loaded all our belongings into a single truck bed and moved straight to Whiteoak farm, never looking back. A month later Farm or Die was registered, garden beds were laid out, and crop maps were drawn for our inaugural season. For four years we farmed full time, providing the best food we could grow to markets all over the southern island. These were humbling years that taught us grit, humility, and a deep respect for the farmers who came before us. Now we are using our acquired knowledge and teaming up with other like minded farmers and organizations to produce a food box program that will feed many families in our community. We want to demonstrate the power of small scale farming and community supported agriculture to inspire a new generation of farmers focused on land stewardship, quality growing, sustainability, and community.
