Vernon Food Trails: Know Your Farmer, Explore the BX

Sustainably focused, dedicated, passionate land caretakers are some words to describe those who farm in the BX area. These farmers share a commitment to respect the terroir of the land and to work with each other to support and promote this unique farming community.

While you can visit each farm during the annual BX Farm Tours, feel free to contact them at any time of the year. Most farmers have farm stands or are at area farmers markets. As well, you can enjoy local fare at Cambium Cider Co at their restaurant and cidery.

Now, let’s go explore the BX!

Ever adjusting to environmental challenges and focusing on best practices for certified organic sustainability, Curlew Orchard farmers Patrick and Sean work hard to provide apples for us to enjoy. While they produce traditional favourites like Gala and Macs, curiosity and taste has led them to cultivate lesser-known varietals like Salish, Gravenstein, and Calville de Blanc. We are interested to see what kind of apples they will grow next!

Besides almost 10 acres devoted to growing certified organic apples, another acre of mixed vegetables, berries, herbs, fruit trees and other companion plants support permaculture farming.

You can find Curlew Orchard apples at their red barn farm stand or at select grocery stores around Vernon. They also offer a CSA program.

Bee and land health are top priorities at Bee-Yotch Honey. Beekeeper Christa and her husband Cory believe that “honey is the [naturally sweet] by-product” of being gentle to bees and the earth. Christa does not force her “spicy sky raisins” to pollinate, resulting in less stressed “sassy ladies” as she fondly calls them.

Just when you thought you’ve tasted all kinds of honey, you’re introduced to Christa’s delicious experiments: Darkened Honey (marshmallow-like tasting using solar extraction), Sweet & Spicy (infused with garden hot peppers), and cold-smoked Smokey Honey. Wildflower Honey is a perennial favourite with delicate sweet notes from BX area wildflowers.

Pick up honey at partnering farm gates like Brookside Orchards (5393 East Vernon Rd) or contact Bee-Yotch Honey for delivery.

Brookside Orchards has been certified organic since 1996. Operating since 2014 as third owners, Dwayne and Christine continue the tradition of making premium Brookside Orchards “Northern Select” certified organic apple juice from their orchard. They nurture 21 different varieties of apples, from Ambrosia and Jonagold to heritage apples like Winter Banana and Ribston Pipin.

Ultimately, Christine and Dwayne wish “to keep this property well maintained and certified organic and continue to make the best organic apple juice on the market.”

At the Brookside Orchards farm stand you can buy apples, apple juice when available, and Bee-Yotch Honey. As well, plans are for a “flea market” offering rustic boards and timbers suitable for organic properties, wildlife management and displays.

Picturesque family farm Vanzel Acres is run by Jenn and Brett. Since 2020, this diverse 5-acre parcel is home to spray free flower gardens, vegetable patches, heritage fruit trees, hay fields, and rescued and retired horses.

The land is cultivated with various vegetables and plants throughout. You’ll see cheerful flowers and luscious produce cozy in their beds, while grazing horses and clucking chickens nearby remind you of the important relationships between farmer, plants and animals on this land.

You can buy seasonal fresh cut flowers, veggies, and fruit from Vanzeal Acres farm gate stand. Brett and Jenn are continually expanding their acreage so return often to see what else they offer.

The challenges are plenty, but hardworking Amber, Kris and family of Indigo Valley Farm are fiercely determined – watch out voles, deer, birds! – to produce exceptionally nutritious purple-blue jewels for all of us to enjoy. Health benefits and taste are some of the reasons these farmers keep growing certified organic haskap berries on their rolling hills in BX.

You can gobble them up fresh in season as well as freeze dried or frozen and in syrup, jam and even popsicles! No matter what you choose, you can be sure you’re getting pure flavour and nutrition in every mouthful.

Purchase organic Indigo Valley Farms haskap berries at Vernon local farmers market, grocery store, or on their website.

The fields on this small but mighty farm have transformed from garlic to elderberry fields all in a few short years. There have been lots of farming challenges, from heat domes to birds, but we are glad that muscle and fortitude keep Rosemary and Christian of Elderberry Fields producing nutrient-rich elderberries.

Good thing the elderberries are delicious and healthy to make their efforts worth while! The “sticks” of the elderberry bush/plant produce berries that are handpicked by the head and harvested typically from late August to end of October. You can enjoy them fresh or freeze dried.

It almost feels like coming home when stepping onto this property… or perhaps Wildwood Acres Garden Farm is the place you wish you could come home to, with its magical spaces offering wellness and harmony. Passionate stewards of the land, Shelley and Jason have created a special location that is truly one of a kind.

You will want to come back often to this naturally beautiful and peaceful “little piece of paradise.” 

Visit their farm stand or website to purchase wellness and garden products or to contact Shelley and Jason about special event requests.

Missy, her husband Dave, and their co-partner Chef Christian have created something extraordinary at Cambium Cider Co., located in the hills of BX. It wasn’t even a thought that an eatery would be built – more like a definite “no way it would happen” – when Missy and Dave first opened their cidery in 2012. But as things evolved and with food added to their cider tasting experience, the idea of a creating community in a full-service restaurant was born.

All Cambium cuisine is prepared from scratch. You won’t find pre-packaged foods here. The meals are intentionally chosen based on seasonally availability and know-your-local farmer relationships. Expect flavour, freshness, and unique takes on food and beverage in what Missy describes as a “contemporary farm-to-table” experience. Food you can feel good eating and feel good knowing it came from within just kilometers of the farm. This is the heart of sustainable and ethical eating.

You can devour selections like aged steak with assorted produce, tender fish with accompanying vegetables, creative appetizers like duck salads, and sumptuous desserts with their star produce, apples. Cider is varied and changing, but favourites like traditional or modern dry apple to the more unique haskap berry add to dining pleasure.

Watch Cambium Cider Co as they continue to pivot and create new food and drink experiences while staying true to their roots, vision, and desire to be the neighbourhood gathering place. Reserve your restaurant table online and visit them on location for cidery-related purchases.

Articles and Images by
Loretta Friedrich
@foodstoryhost
yourfoodstory.ca