This page will be updated regularly with notices of interest to Members as well as a Calendar of Events
Upcoming Events:
Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute
Annual General Meeting
7:30pm
Tues 21 Feb 2012
At the
Farmers’ Institute meeting room
Guest Speaker Adam Gold
Adam Gold is a young farmer who has bought and developed the property at the corner of North End and Suffolk roads.
The farm borders on St Mary Lake. He has planted hundreds of fruit trees, built a processing plant,
done a presentation on mushroom cultivation, and had a stall at the Saturday market.
This brilliant young man has a passion for farming and will speak on the work done and the plans for his new farm.
Please attend and support your Institute!
Note: Membership fees have been increased for the first time in over a decade.
Fees are now single $20 and for a family with children under 18 $25
Members enjoy free admission to the Fall Fair!
Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute
Receives Agricultural Land
in the Fulford Valley
One of the agricultural jewels of Salt Spring Island, within view of Mt. Maxwell and with Reid Creek flowing through it year round, the Fulford property has been active farmland for over 100 years. For almost six years, the owners of the land, Three Point Properties has worked with the Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute and the Islands Trust, to see sixty acres of this farm land transferred to our island for farming. A very generous corporate deed which will create far reaching opportunities for the agricultural future of this island.
As of May, 2011, the Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute now owns this property which is by prior agreement currently under lease for hay production for this year. However, upon completion of due diligence, the Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute is resolved to transfer
the land to the Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society. The Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society was founded in 2009 with a positive community vision of maintaining the pastoral and agricultural heritage of Salt Spring Island, a priority of this community’s Area Farm Plan. The Farmland Trust was established to help this community turn the corner on the eroding farm base on Salt Spring and provide opportunities for young, educated farmers. It is the vision of the Farmland Trust to help create access to affordable land, while offering other compatible agricultural uses for the community.
The Fulford property has the potential of becoming one of the island’s newest and most valuable assets, – our model would involve a mixture of private tenants, including young food producing farmers to use the land to its ‘highest and best use’. The produce from which will sustain local residents, restaurants and food outlets. Local farmers, in turn, would provide mentorship to new farmers. Finally, there would be an area reserved for community gardens for individual use, where islanders can grow their own food.
Island farmers once produced most of our food supply. Now it is less than 6%. With a rising cost in fuel, a changing climate and recognition of the health hazards of industrial agriculture, a return to safe, fresh, locally produced sustainable food production is critical. Precious farmland zoned for agricultural use requires protection so that young, hard-working farmers seeking long-term tenure can be supported. The Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society is committed to meeting these needs.
Our goals are consistent with the existing agricultural zoning regulations, the Salt Spring Island Area Farm Plan and the Official Community Plan. The Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society offers a model that islanders, the surrounding Gulf Islands and the Province can feel proud to support.
Our constitution was created to facilitate a diversity of strategies. These include the purchase and leasing of farmland, education and training, sustainable farming practices and the enhancement of the island’s capabilities. Our pact with the Islands Trust and the Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute is to uphold the covenant on the Fulford Property and to protect it as indivisible farmland for the purpose of farming in perpetuity.
The Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society believes that the values we hold and the work we will do here will serve this greater community as well. The Fulford Property will become home to a diversity of farming pursuits and a productive food source for Salt Spring Island. It will be a focal point for community agricultural education, farm marketing and events that are inclusive to all islanders, in cooperation with the Society, as managers of the land.
We encourage you to learn more about the Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society. We appreciate your interest, ideas and support. Correspondence may be sent to
Marguerite Lee, President, Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society,
380 Stark Road, SSI BC V8K 1M4
Marguerite Lee Rick Vipond
President President
Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute
2012 Farm Directory
If any of your information has changed or if you would like to be listed
contact Margaret Threlfall at 250-537-4535 or willowcrest@shaw.ca
2011 Directories are still available at Foxglove Farm & Garden or you can view a copy here on our website by clicking on the Farm Directory tab.