YA BUSINESS MENTORSHIP NETWORK – THREE CHI’S ACRE

“I aim to create a positive impact in my local community by offering a product that nurtures the land, supports its biodiversity, and provides a safe haven for the animals that inhabit it—a constant home for them.”

– Kirsten R, Three Chi’s Acre, Sooke, BC

Young Agrarians is celebrating the eleventh year of the Business Mentorship Network (BMN) program in BC and the third year of the BMN in the Prairies! The BMN offers a year-long farm business mentorship to a diverse array of new and young farmers. Through one-on-one mentorship, peer networks, and online workshops, new farmers develop the skills necessary to operate ecologically sustainable and financially viable farm businesses.

Applications for Mentees across Western Canada open in October 2025. Mentor applications are accepted year-round. Want to be notified when applications open for the 2026 cohort? Click below!

Meet a mentee from the current cohort and learn about their farm and why they joined the Business Mentorship Network. Want more? Head over to our BMN Blog for more mentorship stories.

Meet a Mentee: Three Chi’s Acre

My name is Kirsten Riewe, my pronouns are she/her, and I own and operate Three Chi’s Acre in Sc’ianew Territory – The Place of the Big Fish, also called East Sooke, Vancouver Island. My mentor is Claire Jutras from Earth Candy Farm/ Earth Candy Flowers. 

What inspired you to get into farming?

As someone who celebrates the earth and all the beautiful animals that call it home, I felt an undeniable connection to the land. About ten years ago, we moved to the island from Alberta and instantly fell in love with the rugged coast and its ancient trees. Joining the fight to protect them was a challenging and slow-moving process, but it ignited a passion within me to make a difference in any way I could. I aim to create a positive impact in my local community by offering a product that nurtures the land, supports its biodiversity, and provides a safe haven for the animals that inhabit it—a constant home for them. 

 I choose to grow flowers, because they just called to me, with my artsy interests and my background in textile and design studies. I also wanted to celebrate and share what hyper-local florals could look like. The environmental impact from the floral industry is still quite large, and I wanted to be a part of the local movement to minimize that impact.  

How did you learn how to farm? 

As a “first” generation farmer ( both sets of my grandparents farmed during parts of their lives), I learned to farm through reading books, reading articles, watching videos, and LOTS of practice and trial and error. I also just went for it. I think one of the best teachers is bravery, and just going for it!

My farm is a sole proprietorship business, and I currently grow cut flowers on just over half an acre. I own as well as lease land. My acreage is not suited to farming, as it is on a rockbed hill. We built and fenced in some raised beds at our home, but most of the farm is a 2-minute drive down the road, on the acre of land that I lease. The universe had my back, and I was lucky to connect with a friend whose parents own the land that I farm on.

Did you access any financing to buy land or start your farm business? 

To start my farm, I used a few funding channels. My own savings and income input, I also qualified for a line of credit, as well as being super grateful for some family support.

What types of ecological farm practices and/or responses to climate change realities do you engage in?

This one is tough to answer, because, if I am honest, in the last 4/5 seasons of farming, no year has been the same… so, navigating these different and changing seasons has been “fun”! I try to do things organically, so no chemicals or pesticides are ever used. I decided to get a couple of ducks to help with pest control and to avoid disturbing the soil too much. However, the slugs in my area were larger than the ducks, so that plan didn’t work out as I had hoped. Instead, the ducks just became part of the cute freeloaders club here on the farm. Added to that, we use hoop houses and frost covers to overwinter our crops, low-profile watering/ drip tape to deal with the high winds we get, and we use cover crops throughout the year so we keep our soils living, healthy, and from eroding during our heavy rain season. 

What informational resources do you use regularly, or have used in the past, to operate your farm business? 

So many! I use all of the options! I love podcasts, I try to listen to one every day during a walk, while driving, or working in the field. I have a huge and always growing book collection, and love a good YouTube deep dive. I also love to join free courses, online chats, and am always grateful for my most awesome fellow experienced farmer friends that I get to have a seasonal coffee with, or send a quick text message to discuss.

Why did you apply for business mentorship? What are your primary business goals for the season?

I applied for the mentorship because I wanted help with marketing my farm better, organising all of my ideas for my business, and a sounding board (who wasn’t an obligated family member), to talk through farming details with.

My goals for the season are to fine-tune my sales channels, create a concrete marketing plan, and get my financial documents and spreadsheets up and running.

The biggest challenge is getting my farm out into the world, marketing my farm effectively. 

What business tools could you not live without?

I could not live without my phone and computer….. Canva, Google Docs.

How can we find out more about you, your farm, and its products?

You can find me at my website  threechisacre.ca, and IG @threechisacre

We currently offer our products online, at our local grocery store, and at our farm stand.