Glen Valley Organic Farm
Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-operative began selling shares and purchased the land in 1997. The co-op leases land and facilities to individuals who wish to farm, and who endorse to their principles.
Contact:
Chris Bodnar, Jeremy Pitchford and Alyson Chisolm
Address:
8550 Bradner Road
Abbotsford
V4X 2H5
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Phone: |
Email: |
Website: |
| Produce grown: Salad Mix, Carrots, Tomatoes, Field vegetables, Apples, Plums, Rhubarb, Berries, Eggs and Stewing hens, Cut Flowers, and Herbs |
When it’s Available: Produce is available May to November and eggs are available year round. |
Where to buy our product: Farmers markets: East Van – Saturday*, West End – Saturday*, Nat Bailey - Wednesday*, Coquitlam – Sunday*, Lonsdale Quay – Saturday, White Rock – Sunday, and Kits – Sunday* Phone orders to the farm, Neighours Organic Weekly buying club network and Aphrodite’s Café, Vancouver. |
* denotes produce sold through Langley Organic Growers
More Information:
Glen Valley Organic Farm, located in Mt. Lehman on the south shore of the Fraser River, is a 50-acre farm consisting of over 10 acres of Class 1 and 2 soil, 25 acres of peat bottom land, 8 acres of mixed forest, with the remainder containing the farm house and other buildings, apple orchard and gardens. The co-op leases land and facilities to individuals who wish to farm, and who endorse to their principles. Lessees must be shareholders in the co-op. There are approximately 70 shareholders. There are currently two producer leases to farming enterprises.
The farm slopes from south to north. In the southeast quarter of the property the land is thickly forested and steep. This is the stewarded area. Several springs originate there to provide abundant water for the farm. There are drainage channels and ponds offering habitat for frogs, salamanders and insects. Reflected in one of the Glen Valley Farm Cooperative’s goals – “to steward the entire farm for the mutual benefit of the land, wildlife and people” – is their commitment to education and long-term protection of natural areas for wildlife habitat and water. Raptors and songbirds are abundant. Killdeer nest in fields. A box have been constructed to support barn owls.
Along the north boundary between the farm and the rail line is a lush grove of cottonwood trees. At the south boundary, there is a 10-12 meter wide hedgerow of elderberry, birch and cottonwood. Biodiversity is further supported throughout the farm by the large variety of crops grown, the nearly 30 varieties of heritage apple trees, hedges of blackberries, and wide mixture of cultivated fields and uncultivated grassland.
