Business Mentorship Network – Applegrove Farmacy

Young Agrarians is celebrating the twelfth year of the Business Mentorship Network (BMN) program in BC and the fourth year of the BMN in the Prairies! The BMN offers a year-long farm business mentorship to a diverse array of new and young farmers. Through one-on-one mentorship, peer networks, and online workshops, new farmers develop the skills necessary to operate ecologically sustainable and financially viable farm businesses.

Applications for mentees across Canada open in Fall 2026. Click below to be notified when applications open!

Mentor applications are accepted year-round. Check out the Business Mentorship Network page for more information!

Meet a mentee from the current cohort and learn about their farm and why they joined the Business Mentorship Network. Want more? Head over to our BMN Blog for more mentorship stories.

Meet a Mentee: Applegrove Farmacy

Please tell us your full names, your pronouns, your farm name, who your mentor is and their farm name. 

David Snyder & Daniela Brehm from Applegrove Farmacy, mentored by Oliver Egen from Edible Acres and Winderberry Greenhouse, Farms and Cafe

Where do you farm? 

We farm in the beautiful Lower Arrow Lakes Valley a few kilometers outside of Fauquier, at the base of the Valkyr Range of the Selkirk Mountains – an area that was once the fruit producing region of BC until the valley was flooded due to the construction of the Keenleyside Dam in the 1960s. 

What type of business structure is your farm?

We are a partnership.

How much land is under production on your farm and what do you produce?

Our farm is located on 43 acres – a majority of it is forested with cedar, Douglas fir, and hemlock as well as cottonwoods and other moisture loving species of shrubs. The farm has been in operation since the 1950s and is located in a flat clearing surrounding a large pond. We are lucky to be able to take over land that has benefitted from decades of active soil building and it’s been a pleasure to bring back animals onto the farm and revitalize the gardens and orchards. We currently produce vegetable starts and early season greens in the spring, and berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants), fruits (apples, plums, cherries, grapes) and nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts) in the fall. We also supply our community with year-round chicken eggs. 

This year we will focus on expanding our perennial crops: berries, fruits and nuts as well as building a larger greenhouse to scale up our vegetable starts and early greens production.

What kind of land agreement do you have? Are there special relationships that enabled this?

We purchased our land from family friends, who wanted to see their dream of an organic farm continue. We cherish the old buildings and gardens with all their quirks and are deeply grateful to be able to utilize and maintain the existing structures.

What inspired you to get into farming? Would your younger self be surprised by where you are now?

Daniela always wanted to be a farmer, but her parents suggested that it was dirty, hard work 365 days a year without a break, so instead she became an archaeologist (which is also hard labour digging in dirt, but absolutely fascinating ). David has a degree in chemistry. After spending a year and a half travelling through Asia and living in Africa, both David and Daniela became teachers and got to share their joy of learning with students. After having children of our own, our focus shifted closer to home and we started putting more thought into the food we bought. When Covid turned our world upside down, we jumped on the opportunity for a fresh start and purchased a farm. It was a steep learning curve, but there is nothing more rewarding than sitting at the dinner table and eating a meal completely from our own land. Our bodies, minds and souls feel healthier thanks to all the time spent outside and the nutrient rich foods we produce. It turns out farming really is hard, dirty work 365 days a year, but we are so grateful to have the opportunity to grow healthy food for our family and the larger community. Food that is grown in healthy soil, from organic seeds with love and without commercial products is like medicine to us.

How did you learn how to farm? 

We are learning by doing! There are no farmers amongst our extended family, and we have few farming friends. However, we believe in life-long learning, and learning from mistakes. We are not afraid to ask questions from those with more experience than us, and we frequently use websites, podcasts, magazines and workshops to grow our understanding. And of course, we are so grateful to have Oliver Egen as our farm mentor, as he has so much practical knowledge to share with us.

What types of ecological farm practices and/or responses to climate change realities do you engage in?

Although we are not certified, we only use organic feed for our animals, and produce our own organic compost as soil amendment. We don’t use any commercial pesticides or herbicides and are working on implementing a permaculture-inspired way of gardening that allows us to work with nature rather than against it. We try to keep our nutrient cycle as small as possible. After spending a few years studying the seasons, the land and how things grow, we can now adjust with better watering and weeding practices, strategic planting depending on soil type and moisture, and using thermophilic compost.

Why did you apply for business mentorship? What are your primary business goals for the season?

We applied for a business mentorship to fast-track our learning and to (hopefully) avoid some costly mistakes of new farmers. Our main goals are expanding our perennial crop production of berries and fruits, as well as vegetable starts in the spring. 

What is the greatest challenge you face as a new farmer?

We do not have a business background, so in addition to learning how to farm, we have also had to learn how to do bookkeeping, taxes, record keeping, marketing, sales, finding funding etc. Our greatest challenge remains marketing: how do we tell our story?

What business tools or resources could you not live without?

Excel – it is where all of our record keeping happens (inventory, seed starting dates, harvest log, etc.)

Time tracking app to keep track of hours spent on each task with the goal of being able to find inefficiencies in our work (and eventually paying ourselves a fair hourly wage)

Small Farm Canada magazine through our local library

Meeting local farmers and growers at info sessions, workshops, markets, panel discussions etc.

How can we find out more about you, your farm, and its products? 

The best way to reach us is via email at ApplegroveFarmacy@hotmail.com. We also have a Facebook page and Instagram account, as well as a website.

Feeling inspired and ready to dig into your business with a mentor? Mentee applications open in Fall 2026. Mentor applications are open year-round. Click below for more information!