Creston Valley Tour de Farm is back on track! The day long cycling tour of 5 of our local farms has been rescheduled for September 13th. Hopefully the weather will have cooled a bit by then!
For all those who had already purchased tickets, if you can’t attend on September 13, please contact Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Centre to arrange a refund by calling 1-866-528-4342.
For those wishing to see a non-bike option, keep your fingers crossed. We will do our best to organize an alternative in the meantime!
Get your bicycles tuned-up and your picnic baskets stocked-up, it’s time for the second annual Young Agrarians Creston Valley Tour de Farm.
Last year’s farm bike tour was an amazing day! Almost fifty farm and food loving folks gathered for a celebration of the beauty and potential of our local food systems. A calf was born. New friendships were struck. Flat tires were few. Farmers and cyclists all called for more. So here it is!
What: We will meet in downtown Creston and take off for a day of exploring farms in the southern half of the Valley. Our mission is to showcase the Creston Valley’s agricultural diversity. Stops along the 35km loop will include: an organic market garden, a small-scale organic grain farm, an organic dairy and fromagerie, an organic orchard, and a vineyard and winery!
When: Sunday, September 13, 10:00am to 4:00pm (depending on biking speed)
Where: Meet at the Creston & District Community Complex – 312 19th Avenue North
What to bring: Lots of water, your own food for the day, your bicycle, helmet, snazzy bike gloves, etc.
Cost: This year, we are running Tour de Farm as a fundraiser for Young Agrarians. The $20 ticket fee will go towards offering YA activities in the Kootenays!
Want to volunteer? Tickets are free to volunteers. Email kootenays@youngagrarians.org for more info.
Full Circle Farm
Full Circle Farm is an organic grain farm and market garden in Canyon. On the farm, Drew Galius and his wife Joanne strive to grow wholesome food in wholesome ways – in fact, their last year has been all about rethinking how they will farm into the future in ways that care more fully for people and the earth. Drew does more and more of his farming with an electric solar tractor that he designed and built himself. A passion for becoming a carbon neutral food source for their community is driving other innovations on the farm. Full Circle’s main crops are hard spring wheat, spelt, rye, khorasan, and potatoes, which they grow for the local Harvest Share program. If we’re lucky, we’ll see Drew’s tractor in action!
Last season, beginning farmers Nigel and Laura coordinated for YA in the Kootenays. This season, they are doing less organizing and more growing! Cartwheel Farm is their new home – a half-acre certified organic mixed market garden. The farm is using bio-intensive methods and permaculture principles to maximise output, minimise labour, and restore health to a farm in need of care. It is a Kootenay experiment in finding a viable business model for small-plot veggie production. The visit will be a chance to get a taste of the joy and chaos of a first-year farm!
Kootenay Meadows / Kootenay Alpine Cheese
Kootenay Meadows is the region’s premier organic dairy and fromagerie. The family farm follows careful land and livestock stewardship practices and innovates new ways of delivering fresh grass-based dairy products and handcrafted artisanal cheeses to local eaters. Kootenay Meadows works to cultivate ecological sustainability and food culture. They nurture the health of their soils, fine-tune their facilities and processing to be as low-energy and low-impact as possible, and celebrate the fact that small farms can make for flavourful, nutritious foods that taste of the local landscape.
Just-A-Mere Organic Farm
The Just-A-Mere story is a pretty inspiring one. In 2011, the farm had seen better days. In owner Danny Turner’s words, “There was environmental contamination from leaking fuel tanks, buildings were in disrepair and falling down, the irrigation system was contaminated, and the orchards were overgrown with signs of significant disease.” When Danny and his wife Miranda purchased the farm, they hired a farm manager who had grown up on the land. Over the last years, they have been on a mission to rehabilitate the farm – bringing it back to health and becoming certified organic. Now, they grow gorgeous apples and cherries – among other tasty crops!
Baillie-Grohman is an award-winning Valley vineyard and winery known for its small batches of premium wine. Grape production follows organic principles and is maintained at a low yield, with the aspiration of quality and concentrated flavours. The vineyard and winery are run to be carbon neutral – power from their solar set-up is fed back into the grid. There is also an intention to be a gathering place for community – awesome cultural and culinary events are hosted onsite. A tour and tasting should be a great way to end the day!
Join the event on Facebook: facebook.com/events/850940478316597/
Reserve your tickets through the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce: 1-866-528-4342 or 121 Northwest Blvd. (Hwy 3)
Have questions about Tour de Farm? Email kootenays@youngagrarians.org.
Thanks to Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce, Columbia Basin Trust, and Creston & District Community Complex for supporting this YA event!
P.S. You can do it! Tour de Farm will be hard for folks with training wheels, but doable for most riders. We’ll be stopping frequently along the way to stretch our legs and rehydrate. A lead vehicle will be on hand, should anyone feel the need to call it a day before finishing the route.
Hi, I really would like to see this tour being able to be made by car.
Hopefully it will happen soon.
Thanks, and much success and fun with the bike tour.
Uta
It’s wonderful to here that. I am doing agricultural since 2011. I like learn more about you crops and how you do it.
It’s fabulous to here that. I am farmer and I am doing farming since 2011. I like to know about your crops and how you grown up that.