You’re invited to a socially-distanced outdoor Land Social at Elderberry Grove in Secwepemcul’ecw, Salmon Arm, B.C.! If you’re curious about what land matching and sharing is all about, join us for the event.
Be inspired and learn about the incredible farming that can be done on leased land! Elderberry Grove is an elderberry syrup farm. In 2017, farmers Louise and Jed couldn’t find any locally grown elderberries, so they planted Elderberry Grove. Since then their little farm has grown to multiple leased sites, and they love making farm-to-bottle elderberry syrups and elderberry cuttings so you can grow your own.
We’ll tour the farm, network, and look at the steps to building a successful land sharing relationship. Your regional Land Matcher will share information about how the B.C. Land Matching Program can help you find the perfect farmer for your land – or farmland where you can build your dream farm business.
Land Socials connect farmers and farmland holders, and set them up to receive ongoing support through the B.C. Land Matching Program. Both farmers seeking land and farmland holders thinking about sharing land are encouraged to attend – as well as anyone who loves food, farming, and getting out onto the land.
DATE: Saturday, July 10, 2021 • 1-4pm
LOCATION: Secwepemc Territory. 540 Hwy 97B NE, Salmon Arm (ensure it’s “NE”). To get to Elderberry Grove your best bet is to google maps: Elderberry Grove, Salmon Arm. We don’t recommend following GPS map directions.
REGISTER: Due to COVID-19, we require registration for our events so we can limit the number of attendees to allow for physical distancing. PLEASE REGISTER HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.
SCHEDULE (times are approximate):
1-2 pm Farm Tour
2-3 pm Introduction circle & B.C. Land Matching Program overview
3-4 pm Eat, hang & mingle
BRING: Please bring a chair or blanket to sit on. A catered snack will be provided, but if you’d prefer you can bring your own snacks instead. There will not be any wash stations for dishes available. Optional: face mask.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
- Please stay home if you have cold or flu-like symptoms, OR if you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19 and are completing a period of self-isolation as mandated by public health, OR if you have had contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case in the past 14 days. Refer to the BC COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool for more information.
- We welcome cancellations at any time – you can do so through Eventbrite, through the link in your registration confirmation email, or by contacting tessa@youngagrarians.org. Please let us know if you aren’t able to attend so we can open up a spot to someone else.
- Please follow physical distancing guidelines and keep 6 feet apart from other people. No handshakes or hugs please!
- Masks are not required, but bring one to wear if you’d like.
- We will have a hand sanitizer station for your use throughout the event. Please refrain from touching tools, pets and livestock, and door handles etc. on the farm.
- If provincial health guidelines for events change, we may cancel the event and you will be notified by email.
- A catered snack will be available
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- This event is free and open to everyone! Children are welcome but please leave furry friends at home.
- Parking will be available at the farm- please follow the signs.
- There is an outdoor composting toilet on site
- Join our Young Agrarians Okanagan Thompson Facebook Group to stay up to date with all events and to connect with your local YA farming community
- Sign up for our e-newsletter to get events and opportunities for your region delivered straight to your inbox.
ABOUT Elderberry Grove
Elderberry Grove is an organic elderberry syrup farm with a vision to inspire health, get closer to nature and grow ecosystem abundance.
Their farm is a dedicated elderberry farm. They grow 25 elderberry varieties and produce juice, shrub and syrup, as well as some elderflower for sale. This is in addition to a homestead farming endeavour in which they grow an ample supply of veggies for themselves, as well as a handful of chickens and a gaggle of ducks.
Louise and Jedidiah started their farm on family land, but demand for their products quickly outgrew what they could produce there. They reached out to Tessa, the Thompson Okanagan Land Matcher, to help develop a lease agreement with a neighbour, and were matched in April 2020. The following year they needed even more space for growing elderberries. They knocked on doors for weeks and finally found someone who was already looking for some young farmers. They contacted Tessa to develop a lease, which they signed in March 2021.
“The BC Land Matching Program made the process of creating a solid lease a total breeze for us. Tessa knows all the right questions to ask the potential lessor and lessees so that they can think of everything that needs to be in the lease agreement. It is an efficient and easy process. And we feel confident that the lease agreements will give us much more security with the landowner in the long run than any lease agreement that we could have come up with on our own. I know we have saved a lot of time and money because of this fantastic program. We look forward to working with the B.C. Land Matching Program for our next land search.” – Louise and Jed, Elderberry Grove
Louise and Jed were also participants in our Business Mentorship Network in 2019 where they were paired with production and business mentors to increase their farm viability. You can read their interview about all things berries and business on our blog!
Check out Elderberry Grove online:
Web: elderberrygrove.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/elderberrygrove
Instagram: @elderberrygrove
UPCOMING Thompson-Okanagan EVENTS
Not able to join us for this event? Fear not! Here’s a quick look at the dates and places we’ll be visiting this season:
JULY 18, 2021: VERNON, BC
Silverstar Veggies (registration coming soon!)
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 146 matches on over 6,000 acres to date! The Thompson -Okanagan Land Matcher will be attending the event to answer any questions about the B.C. Land Matching Program. For those unable to join us, you can send a message to tessa@youngagrarians.org for more information.
The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded in the Okanagan by the Province of British Columbia, with support from Patagonia.
