Thistledown Farm, Cedar

Nestled in the Cedar area just south of Nanaimo, amongst second growth forest, you will find the fields, ponds and creek of Thistledown. A beautiful new post & beam cedar home, built from trees selectively logged and milled on the property, sits amongst scattered older barns, workshops and bird-watching blinds, adding to the pastoral charm. Inside a five-floor natural stone chimney stack connects fireplace hearth, basement and kitchen woodstoves, keeping the new owners cozy and warm – whenever they’re not outside planting, picking or weeding!


Jackie with spring daffodils, 2006
Contact:
Jackie Moad and Laurie Gourlay


Address:
2689 Cedar Road
Nanaimo, BC
V9X 1K3

Phone:
(250) 722-7223

Email:
Thistledownfarm@shaw.ca
Produce grown: When it’s Available: Where to buy our product:
Rhubarb, apples, plums, cherries, edible grapes
Raspberries and blackberries
Almond, walnut, hazelnut
Beets, chard, salad greens, corn, squash, asparagus, fennel, garlic
Daffodils – by the dozen!		 Produce is sold at the farm gate and to friends, and to staff at the Nanaimo General Hospital where Jackie works. Flowers are sold at the farm gate, Chuckwagon Store on Cedar Road, as well as the 49th Parallel Grocery in the village of Cedar.

More Information:
Increasing biodiversity is at the forefront of Jackie and Laurie’s minds as they plan for restoration work on their creek and wetland areas. Thistledown Creek gathers from the fields and neighbouring marsh, feeding J&L’s pond and meandering its way through Cedar to Yellowpoint, drying up seasonally as ephemeral streams tend to do.

Working with their Environmental Farm Plan a design has been developed to deepen the channel and increase the stream flow, adding to the complexity of the area by planting indigenous and riparian vegetation. This work is expected to aid in bird and wildlife habitat, while increasing the level of the pond for irrigation purposes.

The idea is to plant species along the pond and stream to provide a biodiverse corridor connecting the forested areas of this 20 acre farm – a seven acre mature second growth pocket to the south, linked to a two acre patch of wood and wetlands to the north. A healthy riparian area will help protect the creek from upland runoff flow, excessive silt buildup and stream bank erosion. Native trees will similarly be planted along the fence lines to serve as a boundary buffer and habitat corridor.

The organic farm’s 7 acres of hay is cultivated, cut and baled by Joanne McLeod, president of the local Farmer’s Institute, with 10% remaining on-farm for use in the garden. The beautiful garden areas are full of diversity – berries, vegetables, fruits, nuts … and the buildings remind of times past when many goats, sheep and chickens were raised by the original settlers to the area. Friend Lynn Wallace passed on the farm to Laurie and Jackie’s faithful care after fifty-plus years of farming the land sustainably – producing milk, cheese and yogurt from her Nubians and quality meat from her South African Boer goats – the first to be born on the island.

Jackie and Laurie share their hopes and dreams of an organic, sustainable and self-sufficient farm, look forward to many years and harvests to come, and can’t wait to share the land with the birds and wildlife while their new trees grow!