Young Agrarians is celebrating the ninth year of the Business Mentorship Network (BMN) program in BC and the expansion of the program across the Prairies! The BMN offers business mentorships to a diverse array of new and young farmers. Through one-on-one mentorship, peer networks and online workshops young farmers develop the skills necessary to operate ecologically sustainable and financially viable farm businesses.
Applications open for Mentees across Western Canada in October 2023. Mentor applications are accepted year-round. Check out the Business Mentorship Network page for more information!
Want to learn more about our Mentees (or Mentors)? Below you’ll find a Q&A where you can learn all about their farm and why they joined the Business Mentorship Network. If you’d like to read about the experiences of other Mentees/Mentors, head to our blog here.
Meet a Mentee: Busy Bea Florals
We are Josephine Junas-Grant and Collin Robertson of Busy Bea Florals and we are paired with Elizabeth Boschma and Eckehart Marenholtz of Chickadee Farm Herbs.
Where do you farm?
We grow near Edmonton, Alberta which is located in Treaty 6 territory. This year we are growing at 2 separate plots, one at Good Note Community Farm 30 minutes SE of Edmonton and at our new farm east of Edmonton near Blackfoot Recreation Area and Tofield.
What do you farm?
Busy Bea Florals has a focus on dried flowers and herbal teas. While we do grow many flower varieties that are found on most flower farms, we have tailored the garden specifically to produce as many dried blooms as possible. As many flower farmers are bringing their abundant harvests to markets, and florists in the summer months, we are squirrelling ours away in the rafters to sell throughout the colder months. What drew us to flowers and dried flowers in particular is the opportunity to mesh our passions for growing and art.
We have been growing and wildcrafting herbal teas for a few years, too. Our herbal tea enterprise is the enterprise we are looking to expand with mentorship from Eckehart and Elizabeth this year. Our teas have only been available at markets up to this point, so a big goal of ours is to grow more tea and have it in shops this year.
What inspired you to get into farming?
Josephine has always been drawn to growing things. Her parents were beekeepers in Demmitt, AB near Grande Prairie and she has many fond memories of bees, gardening and the beautiful boreal forest. Her family moved to Edmonton when she was quite young, but continued spending a lot of time outdoors in the river valley and filling urban lots with vibrant, abundant gardens. She got to know more about foraging through a season of field work studying understory vegetation in the Boreal Forest and time spent hiking and backcountry skiing.
When the opportunity to apply for the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program came up a few years ago, it just seemed like the thing to do and organically morphed into what Busy Bea Florals is now. A lifetime of growing and immersion in nature has pulled her in the direction of a career in farming which is so apparent now as it can only be in hindsight.
What did you do to learn how to farm?
More than anything else, the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program has allowed us to gain confidence and skill in scaling up a farm business. Josephine apprenticed at The Homestead with Lisa and Donovan Kitt, an hour west of Grande Prairie. Their mixed farm was a great opportunity to gain experience with a number of different farm ventures from cattle and chickens, to 2 acres of market garden. The variety and scale of their operation made every day full and interesting.
Josephine’s first season went so well that she stayed on for a second season and Collin came to join her after selling the house in Edmonton. We started growing dried flowers in a corner of the market garden and selling them at the Homestead booth at the Grande Prairie Farmers Market. It allowed us to dip our toes in the water and try out some new things without having to jump in right away.
Having made the decision to live closer to home in January 2022, we moved to Good Note Community Farm, where we share land with Maryann and Kevin Borch. We turned over a fresh garden there and have continued to expand. In the last months we finally found a piece of land that fits our needs and are now in the process of moving and starting yet another garden. This season will be a another year of transition. We are growing in two places, but it is made easier with the help of our YA apprentice, Jacob Ulickij. We feel so fortunate to have mentorship from Chickadee Farm, and to be able to provide mentorship at the same time!
What types of ecological farm practices do you use?
We use no till and regenerative practices in our garden and we use drip line and mulch to help conserve water. Dried flowers and herbal teas are an excellent local alternative to largely global products. The flower industry in particular has significant ecological and social costs, using a whole array of harmful chemicals, exploitative working conditions, and significant carbon emissions in shipping blooms around the world. We strive to provide a beautiful, local alternative year round.
What type of business structure is your farm?
We are registered as a partnership. Josephine is the primary force behind the garden. Collin is continuing to work off farm, but contributes to the operation both with hands in the dirt and on the computer.
How much land is under production on your farm?
This year with the two plots, our garden is a little more than ¼ acre. At the new farm we are planning to expand to an acre of garden in production and we have about three acres available to develop, so there is lots of room to grow!
What is your land tenure? Are there special relationships that enabled this?
We have been renting a loft above the garage at Good Note Community Farm and growing in their pasture, but we are transitioning to growing at our new property. Maryann and Kevin at Good Note have been so giving with their space and facilities and they have been crucial to our transition back to Edmonton from Northern Alberta.
The land sharing opportunities that we have had in the last three years have been invaluable. We have been able to continue growing and learning incrementally without the immediate stress of having to purchase land. Plus the added bonus of wonderful friends!
Why did you apply for business mentorship?
Young agrarians has been such an important part of our farm education. They have been key to developing skills, knowledge, community, and confidence to make farming happen. Every time we come to the next step in building our business they are there with another program or event that is just what we need. We started with apprenticeship, then moved on to the Business Boot Camp, and the Business Mentorship Network has been the next natural step. Each of these programs is filled with interesting, motivated people to learn from, commiserate, and celebrate with.
What is the greatest business challenge you face as a new farmer?
Our largest struggle is dealing with the business backend. Unfortunately, neither of us like thinking about money. We’re pretty good at not spending it, but that’s just not enough when you’re starting a business and buying land. We are actively working to develop skills and systems to improve, and have hired a bookkeeper to fill in the gaps.
What is your primary business goal for the season?
Our first goal is to make the transition to the new farm. We will need to cultivate a garden for this season while planning for expansions in the near future. A secondary goal is to increase tea production and to get our teas into shops, not just sold direct to market. There are a lot of requirements to meet to make this happen, but our specific focus will be on traceability and production metrics this year.
What business tools could you not live without?
We couldn’t live without Quick Books! It allows us to keep everything in order with the least possible amount of work and it’s easy for our bookkeeper to use too. We are learning the importance of delegating tasks like this as we go and hiring help to make sure things are done properly and on time.
If you had a farming robot what would it be?
Our farming robot would bundle and sort flowers. We are working on improving efficiency and processes this year, but it’s still a lot of hours of sorting stems
How can we find out more about you, your farm, and its products?
We are on:
Instagram: busybea_ab
Our website: www.busybea.ca
Facebook: Busy Bea Florals
