Hey Ken,
Thanks for the welcome! Sure I will tell you more about us and our farm...
My wife and I lived in Vancouver for the last decade or so. We had both grown up in the countryside and with the birth of our first child (our son Emil) we realized it was time to make the move. We had been inspired by the likes of
Sepp and documentaries that we had seen and a desire to move back to the
land. We spent the summer of 2011 searching the southern interior of BC (a climate that we knew we wanted to be in... Hot in the summer and dry and cool in the winters) for the right piece of land. We had certain requirements for the land (running
water or a large
pond or lake, flat areas,
trees and a decent size) and found what we thought was the perfect piece that fall. I was reassured that it was in fact the right piece when
Geoff Lawton put out his video on finding land about a year ago! Anyway
We moved to Jewel Creek In May 2012 and immediately got to work with the help of volunteers to get the projects started. The house that was here had been vacant for a few years and had become a party spot for locals... Every piece of copper that was accessible had been ripped out. there was no power, or water. We started by putting in
solar panels to run refrigeration and a couple
lights. It took several months before we had grid power, water and
hot water. At the same time we built our first small raised beds and started clearing what was a horse paddock to become our gardens. Last summer we put in the current gardens with a
greenhouse in the middle. We planted about an acre of 3 kinds hops (our "cash crop"). We tested several crops of grains in areas around the property, built some ponds and our first terraces and hugelkulture beds. This summer is all about learning from our mistakes in last years garden and improving upon them. We will be building a
Rocket Mass Heater in the current log house and starting a
straw bale /timbreframe house. We built a
cob oven where we make bread and pizza in. An outdoor kitchen with running water, fridge and beer... its really come together for us and we love it! We want this place to be a not only a working
permaculture farm but a showcase for what is possible with help. Check out our website for more info and to see recent videos and what we are up to here at the farm.
www.jewelcreek.ca
