FARM NEWS

Well This Week Was A Nightmare 😓

Our new van, Moby, got her first taste of Kootenay pow this week and it did not go well. During our Sunday deliveries we discovered that our van gets basically no traction in the snow, even with good winter tires and front-wheel drive. We couldn’t get up many of the hills in Nelson and had to walk a few orders to their destinations. We even had two customers in Six Mile who we had to ask to meet us because the hill they lived on was too steep for us to get up.

Then, on Wednesday morning - after the first big snow dump - we had to cancel our day at the commercial kitchen in Winlaw. The roads where we live in Pass Creek hadn’t been plowed yet and we couldn’t even get out of our driveway. Fun stuff!

We’re going to buy studded winter tires and pray that they work. Unfortunately, we can’t get them put on until Monday, which means we have to do one more delivery day with Moby as is. We’ll have to be strategic about our delivery route to avoid getting stuck. Wish us luck!

Why Are Our Egg Yolks Pale Yellow?

We recently had a customer ask us why our egg yolks are pale yellow instead of dark orange. We thought it was a great question so we want to share the answer with you all.

We get our eggs from Kootenay Natural Meats in Creston. This time of year the hens are being fed mostly grain that Kootenay Natural Meats grows on their farm for them. Pale yolks are typically at this time of year as there's no more grass or bugs for them to eat. You wouldn't be able to find local eggs with orange yolks unless the farmer was feeding them a marigold extract, which would artificially keep the yolks orange. Grocery store eggs use this trick as well.

We had laying hens for the past two years and their yolks changed from orange to pale yellow as the seasons changed, so it's normal. They’re still highly nutritious. And because Kootenay Natural Meats grows their own grain for their hens, instead of having it trucked in from Alberta, these eggs are more sustainable and use far less fossil fuels.

Meet Simon and Darcy From Mountain Valley Farms

Simon and Darcy are new farmers from Winlaw. This year they launched their winter microgreens program. We were really excited when they reached out to us because microgreens are a welcomed addition to a local diet this time of year.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Local Farms

1. Who are you and where are you from originally?

We are Simon and Darcy Van Eck, an inspired Husband and Wife Team and we love to provide Nutrient Dense Organically grown food for our Family and for our Community. We own and operate Mountain Valley Farm in Winlaw, BC. We are following in the footsteps of other inspired regenerative farmers who want to treat the land with respect, and build healthy Soil for ourselves now, and for future generations to come.

Simon was born in South Africa, and moved to Vancouver when he was 12. Darcy was born as a prairie farm girl in a small town in Saskatchewan, and moved to Calgary at the early age of 5. We met here in Winlaw and began homesteading together in 2017. We recently got Married on the beautiful shores of Slocan lake this past summer of 2022 and we are blessed to have given birth to our Daughter, Evelyn, in October of this year.

2 How did you end up in the Kootenays?

Simon found the Kootenays during his BC travels in 2008, and was amazed by the beauty of the forest, the pristine waters, and the different people he encountered compared to the City. His previous city life began to crumble fast after realizing the beautiful rural countryside was calling, and a simpler life was possible. Simon moved to Nelson during the summer of 2010.

After many worldly adventures, including trekking through India, Darcy found herself yearning for the natural world while back in Calgary. She remembered her early years on the farm in Saskatchewan, and felt the pull to leave the City life. Darcy followed a tip from a friend to try woofing on a farm in a small town called Winlaw, in BC. She arrived in 2015, fell in love with the Kootenays, and has been here ever since.

3. What inspired you to become a farmer?

We have both been inspired to grow our own food since learning about and healing from eating low quality, chemically produced, pesticide rich "food" for most of our younger years. We have both suffered from ailments that were cured by changing our diets, and have thrived ever since we started to know where our food came from, and what goes into the soil that feeds it. After Homesteading for 5 years, growing all of our vegetables, and eventually producing more than our own needs, we decided that we would love to be Market Farmers, and support our Community with our organically grown food that we have healed with, and benefited so much from.

4. What's your favourite part about being a farmer?

First, to experience the amazing process of watching tiny seeds sprout into big beautiful plants, which grow into incredible colours and shapes, that also happen to be the freshest, highest quality food available.

Second, we love that we are taking up the old ways of Farming that have sustained human life in good relation with the land for so long.

Lastly, we love watching our customers filled with joy and excitement over the healthy food we have put hard work into producing for them.

5. What are your future dreams?

Our goal is to continue to grow our Family in a healthy joyful manner on our farm and live long lives together, while continuing to expand our Farming Operation into a highly efficient, productive and successful Business that provides for our Family and Community abundantly, while staying true to the farming methods that promote the wellbeing of this Beautiful Land.

Finally, we want to thank Nathan and Emily for the incredible community building work they are doing, as well as their passion for their farm and service to this community. We are really thrilled to be working with them, and wish them major success in their farming ventures!

NEW PRODUCTS

Zesty Microgreen Mix

Description: Grown by the hard working folks at Mountain Valley Farm in Winlaw, microgreens are a great way to add fresh and nutritious greens to your winter diet.

Zesty Microgreen Mix includes:

Sunflower Shoots

Pea Shoots

Broccoli

Cilantro

Details: Sold in a 3 oz plastic clam shell.

Description: Grown by the hard working folks at Mountain Valley Farm in Winlaw, microgreens are a great way to add fresh and nutritious greens to your winter diet.

Crunchy Salad Microgreens Mix includes:

Sunflower Shoots
Pea Shoots
Red Radish
Broccoli

Details: Sold in a 3 oz plastic clam shell.