AUGUST 24, 2024: VICTORIA, BC – Farm Tour and Potluck at The Plot Market Garden and City’s Edge Farm

Posted by Kat Roger on July 02, 2024

You’re invited to a Farm Tour and Potluck at The Plot Market Garden and City’s Edge Farm in Victoria, B.C. If you’re curious about what land matching and sharing is all about, want to learn what it’s like to apprentice on a farm or host farm apprentices – or just want to check out what your local farmers are up to – join us for the event. Come out to connect with other farmers and food lovers, share a meal and learn about farm start-up!

We’ll enjoy a farm tour from farmers Emily and Tyler at The Plot Market Garden, who grow mixed vegetables on two acres of land including one leased acre that they found through the Young Agrarians U-Map. We will learn how Emily and Tyler set up their new leased acre this year, deal with wireworm challenges and are trialing flowers and farm stand sales for the first time! After our tour of The Plot, we will make our way to City’s Edge Farm just a few minutes away, where head farmer Sol was matched with 3 acres of farmland in 2023 through the B.C. Land Matching Program. We will learn how Sol and her crew turned 3 acres from field to production beds in their first year on the land and how Sol grows vegetables, herbs, berries and flowers with the vision of building a diverse agro-ecosystem over time. The day will wrap up with a shared potluck meal at City’s Edge and informal time to socialize with other farmers and farm-curious folks.

Farm tours connect farmers and farmland holders, and set them up to receive ongoing support through the B.C. Land Matching Program. Darcy Smith, who manages Young Agrarians programs in B.C., will be at the event to share information about how the BCLMP can help you find a farmer for your land – or farmland where you can build your dream farm business. Darcy will also share information about the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program (YAAP), including how you can apply for next year’s cohort of apprentices and host farms. The Plot and City’s Edge are both hosting farm apprentices on their farms this season through the YAAP, and you can read about their apprentices on the YAAP blog. Both farms’ apprentices will be attending the farm tours with us, so bring your questions if you are interested in an apprenticeship for next season.

Whether you are curious about land leasing, growing mixed crops, farm start-up, apprenticing on a farm, farm marketing or all of the many offerings from Young Agrarians, there will be something for everyone! We can’t wait to see you there.

DATE: Saturday, August 24, 2024 • 3pm-7pm

LOCATION: lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Territories.

The Plot Market Garden: 390 Brookleigh Rd, Victoria, BC V9E 2J2 (48°32’28.3″N 123°25’02.4″W) – Entrance on Oldfield Rd (see directions below)

City’s Edge Farm: 6458 Central Saanich Rd, Victoria, BC V8Z 5T7

REGISTER: At both farm locations, on-site parking is limited, so registration for this event is essential to make sure we can accommodate all attendees! Please register on Eventbrite.

SCHEDULE (times are approximate): 

3:00 – 3:45 Farm Tour at The Plot Market Garden

3:45 – 4:15 Drive from The Plot to City’s Edge

4:15 – 5:00 Farm Tour at City’s Edge

5:00 – 5:30 Intro Circle

5:30 – 7 Potluck Social

BRING: Please bring a dish to share potluck-style! Bring your own plate, cutlery, and cup for snacks/refreshments. Please include a little card with ingredients if you can for folks with food sensitivities. Your potluck dish will need to make it through the tour at The Plot before making it to refrigeration at City’s Edge, so no ice cream cakes please! There will be a wash station available to clean plates, so please plan accordingly. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on (some seating will be provided), and weather and farm-suitable clothing and footwear.

DIRECTIONS/PARKING: To reach The Plot Market Garden, make sure to use the Brookleigh Rd address or pin location above. If you type “The Plot Market Garden” into a mapping software, you will end up at The Plot’s other site on Kiowa Rd 8 minutes away – we will not be there! To arrive at The Plot’s Brookleigh Rd site for the event, take Oldfield Rd. The farm’s entrance is technically on Oldfield Rd, at the pin location (48°32’28.3″N 123°25’02.4″W). If you are going north up Oldfield Rd, you will pass by Brookleigh Rd and immediately find the entrance to the farm on your right. If you are going south down Oldfield Rd, you will find the entrance to the farm on your left just before Brookleigh Rd (you will enter the farm before you hit Brookleigh!). There will be clear signage on Oldfield Rd to help you find your way, and you can call 778-960-2018 on the day of the event if you need help with directions.

The drive north from The Plot on Brookleigh Rd to City’s Edge Farm on Central Saanich Rd takes 7 minutes. You can either take Oldfield Rd on the western route or Patricia Bay Highway on the eastern route to arrive at City’s Edge. When you arrive at City’s Edge, you will see two driveways – enter the driveway with the turquoise farm sign (not the narrow residential driveway).

Please follow parking directions upon arrival at both sites! Please do not bring pets to the event. Kids are welcome! More information below.

CARPOOL INFO: If you are looking for or can offer a ride to or from the event, you can coordinate carpools through the Facebook event. If you have space to ferry folks between The Plot and City’s Edge, please make that known on the day of the event!

ACCESSIBILITY: If you have any accessibility needs, please get in touch with us at bclmp@youngagrarians.org

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

  • This event is free and open to everyone!
  • Children are welcome but please leave furry friends at home
  • Please stay home if you have cold or flu symptoms
  • Please wash your shoes before visiting the farm, especially if you work on or have visited a farm recently
  • Please do not bring alcohol to this event
  • Not sure what to bring to the potluck? Consider supporting your local, organic farmer and/or food producer and find inspiration from their ingredients
  • Please bring any sunscreen and insect repellant you might need

ABOUT THE PLOT MARKET GARDEN

The Plot Market Garden is owned and operated by Emily Harris and Tyler Browne on W̱SÁNEĆ territory. They are a small team that has been growing vegetables since 2018 and have expanded onto the two acres that they steward today. Their goal is to produce delicious, quality vegetables grown with love using regenerative agriculture practices. Their vegetables are seasonally available direct-to-consumer through South Island Farm Hub for delivery or pick-up and wholesale to select restaurants and grocery stores. You can learn more about them and their farm through this short film produced by Growers & Co.

Instagram: @theplotmarketgarden

Facebook: The Plot Market Garden

Website: https://theplotmarketgarden.com/

ABOUT CITY’S EDGE FARM

City’s Edge Farm, owned and operated by founding farmer Sol Kinnis, is located on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. Situated at the edge of the city, Sol and her team have been gradually building up the soil on marginal land to grow an abundance of food for their rural/urban community. They’ve grown from a tiny, yet ambitious farm on less than an acre to their current 3-acre farm in Central Saanich. They now produce over 40 varieties of vegetables, herbs, berries, flowers and vegetables starts, as well as habitat for birds, bees and countless other living organisms. They continue to learn as they go about how best to nurture the land, capture carbon as they build up the soil, and create a healthy agro-ecosystem that can be resilient in the face of so many challenges to come.

Facebook: City’s Edge Farm

Website: https://citysedgefarm.ca/

Stay in Touch

If you are interested in hosting an event at your farm and bringing together the farming community in your area, please reach out to bclmp@youngagrarians.org with your idea!

GOT LAND? WANT LAND? 

Through the B.C. Land Matching Program, Young Agrarians offers support to farmers looking for land for their farm business, and landholders looking for farmers to farm their land. We’ve made more than 336 matches on over 12,253 acres to date!

Are you on the Young Agrarians UMAP? List your land or future farm dream today! You just might find a farmer who can turn your vacant field into a productive farm, or a landholder who has the ideal piece of land for you!

For more info about our land access resources, visit the YA Land page!

The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, with additional support from Cowichan Valley Regional District and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.