Andrea Campbell & James Mayer
ANDREA CAMPBELL & JAMES MAYERS
Brookedale Heritage Garden
www.brookedaleheritagegarden.com
Now in its sixth year of operation, Brookedale Heritage Garden initially grew produce for its own family food supply and to provide to the local Food Bank. Today it is a market garden supplying a variety of non-GMO vegetables to the public via the Kelowna Farmers Market and its roadside stand on Benvoulin Road.
- We are proud to be farmers today because of the feedback we receive from our customers. People often thank us for the experience we provide them through the ambience of our heritage setting, our u-pick herbs and u-pick country garden flowers. Our corn has been rated by our customers as ‘Best in Kelowna.’
- A good day at the office includes our customers showing their appreciation for our market garden – that can really make our day. It’s can also include putting in a full day’s work tilling fields and planting new beds, seeing weed-free beds as a result of your hoeing, and harvesting a perfect crop free of defects. There’s nothing like seeing the first shoots of garlic from the fall planting appear in the early spring, or when the last chore of the year is done in November and everything is put to bed for the winter.
- A hard day at the office includes Sunday morning – oh no! The irrigation ditch is dry! The water pump is burned out! Temperatures are predicted in the nineties today! Waking up to discover that blackbirds slipped into the corn and destroyed five hundred cobs during the night can make for a less than perfect day.
- Our greatest inspiration comes from my (Andrea’s) grandmother. She lived in the city but you would never know by the amount of flowers and vegetables that surrounded her. She could grow anything. Just the experience of planting a tiny seed and watching it come to life is very inspiring – it never ceases to amaze us how that happens.
- Our advice for others looking to operate a farm business today is talk to as many experienced market gardeners as possible. There are support groups online and a wealth of information about the profession.