On October 24, 2021, more than thirty people met for the seventh event of the Young Agrarians 2021 Farm Club event series, Tool School 3.0 at Linden Lane Farms in Krestova, where we learned about the Kootenay Local Agricultural Society Tool Library and all the farming equipment that is available for rent.
Kootenay Local Agricultural Society hosts three tool libraries across the Central Kootenay in Creston, Kaslo and Krestova at Linden Lane Farms, the host of our last Tool School event way back in 2019 and this year’s event.
Linden Lane Farms is a thriving organic farm 20 minutes from Nelson serving retail, Farmers Markets and consumers directly in the area through their CSA and on farm sales.
After an introduction circle surrounded by pumpkins from the last days of the popular Pumpkin Fest at the farm, we went over each piece of equipment with Andrew and Matt Carr, including maintenance and use tips, and then had an opportunity to tour the farm, ending in one of the fields where we took the BCS power harrow and rotary plow for a spin!
Thank you to our hosts at Linden Lane and everyone who joined us. Check out the photos from the event below!
Kootenay Local Agricultural Society Tool Library
The Tool Library is a unique resource available to the public. Kootenay Local Agricultural Society (KLAS) members receive a discount.  Tools were carefully selected to ensure they would help farmers be more efficient, but which—because of cost or infrequency of need—farmers wouldn’t buy themselves.
The centrepieces of their fleet are BCS walking tractors and implements such as the tiller, rotary plow, and flail mower that quickly prepare soil and incorporate cover crops on farms the use land intensively with diverse crops. They also have honey extractors, hoop benders, an essential oil still, BCS hay making equipment, root washers, and dehydrators to name a few. All the tools in the library were purchased with grants from Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) in 2009 and more tools are on their way from a successful 2021 grant from CBT. Thank you CBT!
Participants will be able to check out the library’s tools including tillage and haying equipment as well as a chipper and flail mower, and more, and ask the tool guardians all your questions about the rentals and equipment available.
About Linden Lane Farms
Linden Lane Farms is located on a multi-generational family-operated farm in Krestova, situated at the southern mouth of the Slocan Valley. The farm is 150 acres consisting of a mixture of forest, pasture and fields on amazing sandy-loam soil, 25 minutes west of Nelson, and 15 minutes east of Castlegar. On this land, Linden Lane Farms produces vegetables, small fruits and nursery plants that they sell online, at local farmers’ markets, grocery stores, and through their CSA.
The Carr family has been farming in Krestova since 1978. In 2012, grandson Matthew began leasing land from his grandparents and has since grown Linden Lane Farms into a successful business producing on 6 acres with the help of the entire family and some dedicated staff members.
Linden Lane Farms focuses on providing high quality, safe products, and are committed to soil health, sustainability and organic practices. One of their biggest goals is to be able to feed their family for an entire year and although it has not been possible due to recent commitments, they look forward to striving to reach this goal in the near future.
They are members of Kootenay Local Agricultural Society (KLAS), and house one of three KLAS tool libraries on their property in Krestova.
You can check out Linden Lane Farms’ online farm shop here, Facebook can be found here and you can follow them on Instagram @lindenlanefarms
Check out the rest of the events this season here.Â
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Join our Young Agrarians Columbia Basin Facebook group to stay up to date with all events.Â
- Sign up for our e-newsletter to get events and opportunities for your region delivered straight to your inbox.
If you have any questions please contact Hailey@youngagrarians.org.
GOT LAND? WANT LAND?Â
Through the B.C. Land Matching Program, Young Agrarians is offering support to farmers looking for land for their farm business and landowners looking for farmers to farm their land. The Columbia Basin Land Matcher will be attending the event to answer any questions about accessing land through this program. For those unable to join us, you can send a message to hailey@youngagrarians.org for more information.
THANK YOU!
The Columbia Basin event series is made possible with funding from Columbia Basin Trust.
