2020 Farm Crew

Before I introduce our crew for the season, I wanted to provide an overview of what Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) means to us. There are many variations of the weekly food box model, however, for us, CSA means getting to know our members. Over the years, our CSA members have come and gone (life has a way of doing this) and we are always thrilled when they return. We are so grateful for the many CSA members who have become good friends and we look forward to getting to know our new members this year.

Why do we offer a CSA? We love growing delicious, fresh, and organic food for our family and the community that we are a part of.

How does it all work? Many food box programs have shifted to sourcing items from multiple places. Our CSA is traditional in the sense that all of the core items are grown right here at Golden Ears Farm. If we lose a crop, which can definitely happen, we do our best to source that from another organic grower so that we maintain a good variety from week to week.

Now, on to our crew!

Nana Anne is the guardian of our strawberry patch--collecting slips for the Chase Hamper Society this spring and diligently weeding the strawberry plants since they were planted last spring. She is also the master egg collector and washer when she isn't visiting Tristan's sister in Armstrong (at Fresh Valley Farms). Since the pandemic started, Anne has been here pretty much 100% of the time and we are very grateful for her hours of egg care, as well as her farm loops with our two dogs, Nina and Lily. And, of course, she is our daughter's #1 choice for bedtime stories and songs.

---

We welcomed back Amanda for her second season and appreciate her focus and perseverance. She has tucked into many big jobs, such as composting the strawberries, weeding onions, sanitizing our bins, and transplanting thousands of plants! Not to mention her calm, yet playful, nature with our daughter. Off the farm, she's into soccer, helping to facilitate a youth group, and taking a course on herbalism. So grateful to have Amanda back this season!

On the right is Tristan. His energy for farming this year has been off the charts. It's been great to see and also a bit hard to reign in, lol. One small example: there are more people who would like to get eggs from us than we have eggs to provide. Tristan's solution? Get 100 or more birds. Ummm, no. We don't have the time to build more coops/nesting space, so that isn't possible. Outside of farming, Tristan has gotten into weights (kettle bells) and loves jiu jitsu.

After a year away from the fields, I'm enjoying being back out there (and being physically able to do so after some nasty chronic pain). I'm the main newsletter writer and curator of social media posts (hint, hint, you can find us on Insta and Facebook). Alongside farming, I'm completing a Master of Arts in Professional Communications through Royal Roads University--and am loving it! I just completed a research course in which I was able to focus on crisis management/communications in nonprofits. It's also been exciting to have a Research Assistant position shift from data collection to co-authoring a book chapter in a volume titled, Pandemic Rhetoric. Fingers crossed that it all works out! PS - thank you to my cousin, Jim, for this fun headshot in the garden behind the Mount Paul Community Food Centre in Kamloops, Michelle

This is our 6-year-old daughter. She's our primo snail caretaker, worm finder, and chicken catcher, so the farm is a great place for her!