YA Business Mentorship Network – Milpa Naturals

Meet a Mentee: Milpa Naturals

We are Steve Olsen (He/Him) and José Julián Espinal Bueso (He/Him), the owners of Milpa Naturals, a farm located on Treaty 7 – Siksikaitsitapi territory, just outside of Cardston, in the southwest corner of Alberta.

Prairie Roots

I (Steve) got my start with agriculture growing up on the family ranch, where I enjoyed helping my dad and grandparents take care of the sheep and cows and produce hay. My grandma had a huge garden and I loved helping her with it, especially eating freshly harvested raspberries, carrots, and snap peas. However, after high school, I wanted to go out and explore the world, so I left the rural Alberta life behind forever (so I thought) and moved to the city. I spent time all over Canada and pursued a Management Degree with plans to work in the non-profit sector.

Growing a Passion

My interest in growing food started to blossom just after finishing University when I was living in Montreal and wanting to eat high quality organic food but struggling to afford it. I decided to start growing a few things on my balcony and it soon became a flourishing garden. Volunteering with an urban rooftop farm reignited my love of growing food I had as a kid, and reminded me of the incredible flavours of fresh produce. This experience also made me realize that there are different ways to farm than what I had seen growing up. I was eager to learn more, and immersed myself into all the books, videos, and all information I could find on market gardening, urban agriculture, and Permaculture. I considered going back to school to study something farming related, but decided to gain some hands-on experience by WWOOFing (volunteering on farms in exchange for room and board.) I wanted to travel as well so it was a perfect combination. I spent 6 months travelling around South America and then 6 Months around Central America and worked on a total of 12 different farms. I also took a Permaculture Design Course in Costa Rica.

After returning from my travels, I started job-hunting for something urban agriculture related, but ended up finding a job with a Montreal-based NGO, SUCO, promoting Agroecology in Honduras. I moved down there for a year, came back to Canada, did a farm apprenticeship in BC for a season, and then spent 2 more years in Honduras. I met Julián that first year I was down there, and when I went back the second time, we ended up moving in together. After a lot of consideration, we decided to move to Canada after my third contract was finished.

New Directions

I started working as a Program Manager with an environmental non-profit, while teaching Permaculture classes on the side. Julián worked at a health and wellness store where he got immersed in the world of supplements and medicinal herbs. We had a dream to start up a farm but didn’t know how or where. When COVID hit and my other job prospects dwindled, I started working for my dad’s construction company, commuting an hour from Lethbridge to Cardston. After doing that for a while, we decided we might as well move to my parents’ land and start up the farm we had been dreaming about. We combined my farming background with Julián’s relatively new passion for horticulture and herbalism as well as his sales and marketing skills to create a farm with a focus on producing herbal teas and pastured meat chickens.

Milpa Naturals

Our business is set up as a general partnership between the two of us. Currently, we lease about an acre of land from my parents, most of which was previously covered by lawns. We have gotten the farm started by investing our off-farm income and have not accessed any financing yet. However, we are currently looking into funding options to scale our operations. We sell our teas at markets, pop-ups and wholesale to one store. We have an online store and sell all our chickens direct to consumer.

Protecting the Land

We are considering a certification at sometime in the future but don’t currently have one. We adhere to all the Organic standards and go above and beyond. We use regenerative practices, and my family has a large area of native prairie and riparian areas that we are working to protect and conserve. We are in a semi-arid desert and have a creek running through the property. The creek is getting lower every year, and rainfall is getting more and more scarce. We are lucky enough to be connected to an irrigation district but have had restrictions on irrigation usage so we are working on finding ways to collect and store rainwater.

The Balancing Act of Growing

The biggest challenge we are facing as we are getting started and looking to scale, is figuring out the best way to allocate our time and resources. There are countless tasks and expenditures demanding our attention, but we are determined to figure out how to not only produce, but also to create a profitable business. Balancing slow and steady growth to avoid overwhelming debt while working toward the advantage of economies of scale is a delicate dance.

Tools of the Trade

I have found that the most valuable business tool I have is my phone. I take pictures to document what’s going on, use Toggl to track labour, and make notes and keep track of everything with the help of Airtable. After losing several notebooks, I have found my phone to be indispensable: I always have my phone with me, and it is easy to copy and paste into spreadsheets for analysis.

Where to Find Us

For more information about our farm and to explore our products, please visit out website at Milpanaturals.ca. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram @milpanaturals.