YA BUSINESS MENTORSHIP NETWORK – WOODY NOOK GARDENS

Meet a Mentee: David and Emily Schermers of Woody Nook Gardens

I am David Schermers and I run Woody Nook Gardens with my wife, Emily. We are located in Central Alberta outside of Red Deer on Treaty 6 territory. 

Our mentor is John Mills of Eagle Creek Farm. 

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

We had lots of goals.  Lots of them were focused on setting our business up for long term success.  The big ones were rebranding our business, separating our business finances from personal finances, building a farm store, and writing a business plan with clear values.  We made some progress on these, but need to go back and revisit and advance them in the slower season.  Other goals were to integrate some cover crops, which we did.  And to explore some mechanical cultivation tools for next year, which I have some ideas for.  Some of the goals are larger than one year projects and we have some more work to continue well.

Did you meet your goals / did it work out? What went well this season relating to your goals? What didn’t go as you expected and what did you do instead? 

We made ten goals, which feels like too many, and many of them are more like five year goals, so it feels like we didn’t particularly finish many.

Goals went well – Rebranding, we have a basic website, and we did some cover crop integration.

Goals that didn’t go as expected – We ran out of time building our farm stand before the season got busy.  Hopefully we will open next July, not this July as we had hoped.

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

Our mentor, John, was a great resource. I often texted him questions throughout the season. We also went to his farm and he came to ours to get a firsthand look.  I also found the webinar series to be quite helpful and comprehensive, with great resources.

What were your best sales channels/avenues?

We sell the most at our two farmers markets and to our three wholesale customers.  We did sell more than we thought on the farm, even though we are not set up for that well, which makes us excited to get our farm stand up and going.  

Why do your customers buy from you? What was the best piece of feedback or praise you got from a customer?

We offer quality produce that is locally grown with care. We connect with our customers every week at the market first because they love our tasty veggies, but also just through kindness and caring about the things in their life that they share with us. 

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

It was helpful to have John as a resource to be able to ask questions to and bounce ideas off of. To be able to access someone who is doing the same things as us but further down the road was really helpful. It was also helpful to hear the different speakers that gave presentations, I would say especially the ones on marketing.

What specific business skills did the mentorship help you develop? 

Marketing was a topic that we learned about this year through the program. We heard about Design Farm through one of the presentations and got a logo and marketing material from Shauna.  I also like how John helped us break down our goals into manageable steps, a skill that will serve us well for years to come.

How has participating in the BMN program equipped you to adapt to environmental or economic challenges on your farm?         

Largely, I feel more connected with a couple other growers in my area which is huge.  The webinars also have us think through numbers, risk, and cashflow thoroughly which will help us face challenges.

What part of the mentorship experience made you feel most empowered as a new farmer?

I feel am grateful to have had a great mentor in the program who was genuinely interested in our business, but more so encouraged us to pursue our goals.  He encouraged us to dive into the season and try out our ideas.

In what ways did the BMN program help you refine or reshape the long-term direction of your farm? What will you do differently next year?

The webinar series had us go through a lot of thinking about values.  I feel like we need to revisit them this fall as things slow down and reevaluate our decision for next year.  I think the big thing will be to be more thoughtful and intentional about everything we do, and everything we grow – asking “does this fit with who we are, and how we want our lives to be?”

What’s the most valuable piece of advice your mentor gave you that you’ll carry forward?

He encouraged us that we have good ideas and inspired confidence in ourselves.

How has the mentorship program helped you create a stronger connection with your local community?

In our values, and visioning, it became clear that we value community and serving our community, and hope to integrate that more into our business (U-pick? CSA? Farm stand?)

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

Don’t wait to invest in your farm – especially mechanizing.  Make life easier for yourself even if it seems like small things (one percent better).  We rented a little garlic planter this fall and planted our garlic in one afternoon with some friends, rather than crawling around for a couple days on our hands and knees.  

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

We sold an incredible amount of dill in little bunches.  That was an unexpected win.  It was a strange growing season, but we actually managed to have pretty consistent offering of produce at our markets.

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

We had a baby in August!  It made for a busy and crazy season.  It shaped how much Emily could help, and made David do more.  It really did shape a lot of our summer.  We are grateful for a beautiful, healthy baby, but it certainly added to the stress and tiredness of the harvest season.

What are you most looking forward to this winter?

Rest.  Sleeping in.  Enjoying more family time. 

Where can we find you online? 

woodynookgardens.com

@woodynookgardens on FB and IG