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Posted on April 16, 2026
“Community engagement and development is core to the farm and we hope that the amount of people we connect to the farming world is contributing to the sense of organization and solidarity that will be needed to address climate change.“
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 open in October 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.
My name is Nikolai Neun-Hornick (he/him) and I am the Farm Manager at the Sharing Farm Society which is located on a 4 acre plot of land nestled within the Public Terra Nova Park, located on the Northwest corner of Richmond where the Fraser meets the ocean. I acknowledge with respect and gratitude that I live and work on traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. My mentor is Carly Richardson of A Rocha Farm.
The farm is a non-profit community farm in operation since 2002. Mary Gazetas and a number of other community volunteers founded the farm with the aim of providing the local food bank with more farm-fresh vegetables and food. At the start of this project, the farm was only growing on a small plot of land. Once the City of Richmond recognized the impact of the farm on the local community, it began to support the farm by providing more land resources. The Farm also relies on grants and on revenue from vegetable sales. Alongside donating up to 20,000 lbs of vegetables to the local community, the Farm now has a 115-share CSA, farmgate markets and a wholesale program. There are 2 acres in production on land leased from the City of Richmond. We produce flowers, bee products and (soon-to-be) organic vegetables.
What inspired you to get into farming?
Like many people before me, I became disillusioned with city living and had the opportunity to move to a Gulf Island for a while. I ended up living on the island during the COVID years and became more interested in planting, growing vegetables and taking care of perennials. The interest in food growing was always part of an anxiety around climate change and community sustainability. More than anything though, farming and working outdoors with wholesome people just seemed like a fun way to spend my working hours.
How did you learn how to farm?
I attended the 6-month UBC Sustainable Farming Practicum in 2022. This was a great program for learning basics about farming and discovering if I truly enjoyed working on a farm. Starting a small farm CSA on a quarter-acre of land with 4 of my fellow practicum students a year later was also a key learning experience for me.
What types of ecological farm practices and/or responses to climate change realities do you engage in?
We grow organically at the Sharing Farm and are in the process of becoming certified. As much as possible, we try to reduce the amount of single use materials we employ. We are serious about soil health, employ crop rotations and try to use cover crops when possible. Community engagement and development is core to the farm and we hope that the amount of people we connect to the farming world is contributing to the sense of organization and solidarity that will be needed to address climate change.
Why did you apply for business mentorship?
I applied for the business mentorship program because while I felt like I was developing as a farmer, I had less experience and training on how to operate as a business. I wanted to develop more skills to analyze how the vegetable production side of the farm was operating and changes I could make to make the non-profit business more sustainable as a whole. Not only this, but because I felt like I jumped quickly into a managing position at the farm, I wanted to continue my education in how to better run a farm that reduces burnout and develops other farmers.
What is the greatest challenge you face as a new farmer?
Decision paralysis can be tough to deal with. It is daunting the amount of information out there to learn. You want to do it all, but you quickly learn the need to value your time and plan practically. Making decisions in the moment can be really difficult when there is a mountain of tasks and you are unsure how to rank them in terms of urgency.
What business tools or resources could you not live without?
I mostly could not live without the help of other farmers. I live with some farmers and lean on them a lot. There have been countless examples of me firing out texts to farmers I know regarding farm questions and them responding quickly and with amazing detail. The farming community is so helpful! I should probably listen to more farm podcasts! Other than that, the Johnny’s Selected Seeds website is an incredible resource for a new farmer. Instagram (regrettably) is honestly a very helpful tool for connecting with other farms and to just see what other farms are up to as well.
How can we find out more about you, your farm, and its products?
Look us up at sharingfarm.ca, on instagram and on Facebook OR visit us in Terra Nova Park.
