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)? Read on to hear 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: Grow Moar Inc.
Hello, my name is Michael Moar and I am from Fort McMurray, Alberta. I am a former Chef who has found a new passion as an Urban Farmer. My mentor is Ryan Mason of Reclaim Organics.
I am in my 5th year as a small home-based business owner growing mostly Microgreens as a side hustle. I also grow some veggie and herb starters, make home made preserves and teas, sell seeds, beneficial insects and other popular growing gear.
2023 will be my first full season growing a market garden way up here in Northern Fort McMurray. I know, farming in the oil sands, am I crazy?
Living in a food desert has opened my eyes to the food insecurities we are living with in Northern Alberta. So naturally, I want to scale up and start an outdoor market garden to provide locally grown fresh produce to our communities.
I am taking it on as my personal obligation to grow more food and to make it easily accessible.
We will also ensure that a portion of our harvests will go to those who are in need through community and social programs.
I know the road ahead of me will be hard. It will be filled with successes and failures, and many obstacles to overcome. It will twist and turn. I’ll most definitely crash. I’ll get back up again.
Amazingly this year I have the support of a group of like-minded folks who love to be on the farm. The knowledge I have gained in the past 2 months is so immense and overwhelming. However, it has been easy to digest because of the attendees openness, the generosity of time from the mentors, and the well planned delivery from the Young Agrarians team.
We broke ground last year on a 1/4 acre, sparsely and haphazardly planted it and spent minimal time with the upkeep. I had just started a new full-time Chef gig.
This year we are pretty much starting from scratch. Myself, 2 children and a couple of volunteers here and there, will tackle the task of building a 1/2 acre market garden.
We are super excited to share our process with you!
Please follow along on all our Social Media:
Website: https://grow-moar.square.site/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growmoar/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grow.moar.farms/
Michael Moar
Treaty 8