Meet a Mentee: Christine Fuller of Fuller Farm Organics

My name is Christine, I own and operate Fuller Farm Organics on Lekwungen/Songhees land (Victoria, BC).  My mentors are Robin and Sasha from Seabluff Farm. 

What were your goals for this season and what did you do to try to achieve them?

My goals for this season were to streamline my processes and work out more of my business strategies.  For the most part I met my goals, slowly but surely I am finding a work flow that works well for myself, my farm and my staff. I suspect this will be an ever changing and evolving goal and I look forward to getting things even more streamlined in the years to come. The colder spring certainly made for a challenging start to the season. 

What resources did you find most valuable to support your business during the season?

The most valuable support was by far was having site visits with my mentor. During these visits Robin was able to help me prioritize my work flow and help me focus on my wins which was invaluable. This spring I moved my farm onto new land and with that and the cold spring it was easy to be overwhelmed with what went wrong instead of seeing all my wins.

What were your best sales channels/avenues?

My best sales channels right now are the Moss street market and my weekly veggie box customers. We have an amazing group of regular customers at Moss street that are so supportive and kind and my Veggie box customers are always cheering me on!

Why do your customers buy from you (what is your unique value proposition in your market)? 

I think a large part of why people choose to buy from my farm is because my farm is certified organic and grows a wide range of super fresh, high quality veg and fruit. The best feedback I got this season was in regards to my strawberries, which was lovely because those suckers were a labour of love! I had several people tell me they were the best they’ve ever had!

What was the most important thing you gained from the YA Business Mentorship Network Program experience?

The best thing I’ve gained from the YA business mentorship program has been the opportunity to build a larger community within farming. Sometimes farming can be lonely work and it’s priceless to know you’ve got people in your corner that are experiencing the same challenges. 

What specific business skills did the mentorship help you develop?

Through the mentorship program the skills I most developed were to look at the bigger picture and think about how my processes could be more streamlined, repeatable and understood by all members of staff. 

What were one or two big, hard lessons this season you would want to share with other farmers?

One of the biggest most expensive lessons I learned this year was in regards to scale. I had much more growing space than last year but I lost a lot of crops due to weeds, pests, lack of labour and disease. I think I would have had larger overall yields if I had grown on a smaller portion of my land and cover cropped the rest. 

What were one or two additional victories, small or large, that you had this season?

My biggest victory this year was really just making it through the season with a shred of sanity! My business has also started growing at a great rate, I tripled my weekly veggie box shares, took on several more wholesale clients and also greatly increased my market sales!

What future plans and goals do you have for your farm and how will you achieve these?

My biggest goal moving forward is focusing on sustainability, moving to make the farm profitable while working at reducing the amount of hours spent on farm. Next season I’m aiming to have one day off a week and one week vacation during the season to make sure I don’t burn out. 

What will you do differently next year?

Next year I am going to focus on extending my season so there is not as much pressure to make all my earnings for the year in such a short time. I would like to have one full time staff for the entire season and start attending an additional farmers market. 

Share a story of something interesting/ funny/weird that happened on your farm this season.

The weirdest thing that happened this season (and also a great win) was the disappearance and reappearance of my ranunculus corms. After the ranunculus was done blooming, I covered it with a tarp to kill the weeds and make it easier to gather the corms for the next season, but as time has a way of doing on farms, I left the tarp on too long and some little shrews took up residence. I started to dig the top half of the bed and was devastated to find that they had eaten all my corms, or so I thought. Just as I was about to give up and call it a loss I figured I would try the centre of the bed just to double check and lo and behold there they all were. Four little pockets FULL of my corms! It appears that the shrews had gathered them all up for a tasty winter snack. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for me I found them first!

What are you most looking forward to this winter?

This winter I am most looking forward to sleeping, dreaming and planning for the coming season and doing a bit of travelling!

Where can we find you online? 

You can find my farm on Instagram Fuller Farm Organics or through my website www.fullerfarm.ca