The farm plan

1

December 13, 2012 by susanyvivi

One of the things that’s key to our vision of creating a sustainable way of life, is a farm that has many, many uses and produces many, many things. Perhaps we’ll start with a little background on why we feel this is so important.

Farming in our region has been in steep decline since the fifties when local farmers produced as much as 85% of our food supply. Today, it’s more in the neighbourhood of 5-10%, with the rest reliant on fossil fuels to get to us. With most geoscientists in agreement that peak oil production has already occurred or will occur in the next decade, the implications to our food security are enough to keep you up at night.

It’s become a well known fact locally that Vancouver Island has only enough food to sustain itself for three days in the event of an emergency. For a region with so much biodynamic diversity and one of the longest growing seasons in the country, that’s a real shame. To rectify this and increase food security in our region, we believe a transition must be made toward sustainable community farming.

Okay, putting our soapbox away now.

So. What’s our plan for The Village Farm?

Vivi’s visual aid from our last group meeting.

We envision a working farm producing a diverse array of foods, animal products, flowers and herbs to provide sustenance and well-being to the members of our ecovillage and the community beyond.

Susan and Vivi milking Nell.

The land will be used for Co-op owned enterprises like Fruit Orchards and Forestry, and also individual enterprises run by Participating Supporters who don’t live on The Village Farm but have bought shares to use the land for activities like bee keeping, farming produce and seed cultivation.

We plan on having a community building where there will be a Farm Stand Market, a Cafe, a commercial kitchen and a gathering space where we will hold classes, workshops and apprenticeships.

Some of our members have expressed interest in creating a healing centre using medicinal herbs grown on the farm. Others have a desire to produce artisanal food products like charcuterie and hold farm table dinners for the community. As you can imagine, the more we share ideas, the more excited we get.

And for those who’d like to experience living on an Ecovillage farm without pulling up stakes and moving there, we also have plans for a lovely guesthouse in addition to our village of eco-friendly permanent homes.

We hope this gives you an idea of what we’re envisioning at The Village Farm and why. We’d love to hear from you if have any thoughts for us. And if you believe in what we’re doing, please share using the buttons below.

In upcoming posts, you’ll hear about our progress on a number of fronts. Until then, all the best.