Land Access Stories: Sol Kinnis, City’s Edge Farm – Saanich, BC

Sol is a seasoned farmer, who started farming full-time over 12 years ago. She founded City’s Edge Farm in Victoria, a small and ambitious urban farm, on less than one acre of land. In order to grow her farm as a viable business she needed long-term access to a larger space. Purchasing property was not an option for her, so Sol reached out to the B.C. Land Matching Program to secure new land.

She was able to secure a robust 10-year lease for a larger space, which has allowed City’s Edge Farm to grow and continue operating as a viable farm business – and to keep Sol farming! Sol is also now training the next generation of new farmers through the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program: learn more here.

Here’s what Sol had to say about accessing land through the B.C. Land Matching Program:

“My business wasn’t working on the previous land that I was farming on – I couldn’t operate a commercial farm business on a hand-shake agreement. I reached out to a Land Matcher when an opportunity came up that suited my needs. With the help of the Land Matcher and their established lease template, the landholder and I were fully prepared to negotiate a lease, took the time to understand what we both needed and wanted, and we created a document that clearly laid out our rights and responsibilities. 

Farming requires community support, and leasing is the main way that most farmers can access land on the south of Vancouver Island. Before I learned about farmland leasing, I thought the only possible way to run a viable farm business was to own land. But with this lease, I can actually run a commercial farm without owning land. I would say to all farmers: work with Young Agrarians (YA) to negotiate a lease. The B.C. Land Matching Program and YA have enabled me to stay in farming!”

CONNECT WITH CITY’S EDGE FARM

Website: citysedgefarm.ca

Instagram: citys_edge_farm

Facebook: City’s Edge Farm

STAY IN TOUCH

• Join our Young Agrarians Vancouver Island & Gulf Islands Facebook Group to stay up to date on all events in the region
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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 415 matches on over 13,120 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.

To explore more land access resources, visit youngagrarians.org/tools/land.

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.