Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Food and drink: Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…

Grab your cloth bag or your picturesque basket and head to a farm — or a farmers market

Summertime, and the livin' is easy... well, at least it is if you aren't one of our fabulous local farmers, because, hey, or should that be hay?, this is one of the busiest times of the year for a farmer, what with all that fertile soil and hot sun pumping out the best of the best that the land has to offer.

In case you haven't yet discovered all the farm-fresh bounty in your own backyard, here's a round-up of some of the ways you can source the wonderful products hard-working farmers right up the road from you are producing right now, wherever you live on the amazing southwest coast.

One easy and fun way is to head out to your favourite farmers market. Pemberton's is every Wednesday, 4-7 p.m. in the Legion parking lot beside Pemberton Valley Supermarket. The Squamish Farmers Market is held every Saturday until Thanksgiving on Cleveland Avenue at Victoria Street, right in the heart of downtown Squamish, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. And, of course, Whistler's own farmers market is on every Sunday until Thanksgiving between the Fairmont Chateau Whistler and the Glacier Lodge, near the base of Blackcomb Mountain, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Plus there are a plethora of farmers' markets and outlets throughout the Lower Mainland, from those at Trout Lake, the West End (Nelson Park), Main Street Station, Kitsilano (10th and Larch) and Granville Island in Vancouver to those at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, Ambleside in West Vancouver as well as those in Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Ladner, White Rock and beyond.

Need some more help sourcing the best and the freshest? The Fraser Valley Farm Direct Marketing Association's website at www.bcfarmfresh.com is a great way to find all your favourite farm produce and framer's markets in the Fraser Valley, as is www.eatlocal.org for the Vancouver area, and the Pemberton Farmers Institute at www.pembertonfarmers.com for the Pemberton area.

Bounty from Pemberton, plus

To get you started, here's a sampling of what you can find sourced right in Whistler's own backyard:

• Across the Creek Organics: located in Pemberton Meadows, this organic farm, operated by Brenda and Bruce Miller and their five boys, is your local mother lode for organic potatoes in so many tasty varieties, from Yukon golds to the delectable, and very colourful, Russian blues. July means early potatoes are here, so pick them up at your favourite grocer. Fire an e-mail to info@acrossthecreekorganics.com if you can't find them.

• North Arm Farm: with 55 acres right on Highway 99 in Pemberton pumping out the finest Mother Nature has to offer - organically, naturally - this is way more than just a farm, this is an experience! So grab your whole family or a friend or three and head on up for a huge selection of fresh produce, baked goods, jams and goodies. The Sturdys and their staff will make you more than welcome - and if you're really into it you can even pick your own. Apricots, raspberries, fresh garlic, basil, early beets, carrots, cherries, lettuce, and much more are for the asking right now. Dial up www.northarmfarm.com for info.

• Helmer's Organic Farm: Doug and Jeanette Helmer and family do a bang-up job of running this certified organic farm on Pemberton Meadows Road, producing 18 varieties of potatoes - banana fingerlings, bintjes and Cal Whites, to name a few - as well as garlic, honey, celeriac and other vegetables. These fields enjoy a five-year rotation under cover crop system that replenishes nutrients and stimulates soil health, so you know such healthy soil is sure to produce produce brimming with nutrients. For more info, helmer@direct.ca or www.helmersorganic.ca.

• Rootdown Organics: located right on Helmer's farm on Pemberton Meadows Road, this new site run by Sarah McMillan and Gavin Wright is specializing in organic salad greens, tomatoes, basil and root veggies, naturally, with a name like Rootdown. For more info contact rootdownbc@gmail.com

• Goat Mountain Produce: located on the forestry road in Upper Pemberton Meadows, this quaint honour-system farm stand sells fresh potatoes plus carrots, beets and corn. For info, potato@uniserve.com.

• Ice Cap Organics: Delaney and Alisha Zayac are a young couple farming with the intentions of promoting sustainable land stewardship and access to local, naturally grown food. You can enjoy a harvest box fresh selection from their 30-plus varieties of seasonal organic produce... for $25! Their list is full now but you get on the wait list by contacting cecaporganics@gmail.com

If you live in the Lower Mainland, it isn't so hard to source farm-fresh produce and goodies, either. Given the list of farmers' markets above, there's sure to be one in your neck of the woods, but if you're out for an afternoon's drive through some of the most fertile and beautiful farmland in Canada (besides Pemberton Valley, that is) head to one of my all-time favourites, Mary's Garden in South Surrey at 15649 40th Ave.

Part of me is reluctant to tell you about it since the lineups can already be long and winding out the shed doors on Saturdays, but the other part of me - my angelic side - says I must share, for picking up one of their zucchinis or summer squashes still warm from the sun in the field and bringing it home to cook within hours is a little slice of heaven unto itself.

Mary's Garden is aptly named, as it was started by Mary Nootebos over 40 years ago as a farm gate operation to sell the extra fresh flowers and vegetables from her garden. Now it's run by the Nootebos boys, Mike and Ken, and while the operation is not officially certified organic, this is a great source of what I call "clean food" as the soil is fertile and properly managed and they rarely spray for anything - if it's a must they ensure they do it long before harvest.

Also, they follow all the "support local, support good farming - or supplier" practices with everything they bring in; from the no-preservative delicious baked goods to the Okanagan fruit to the locally grown greenhouse tomatoes that actually taste great (these in addition to their own field-grown ones). Open from mid-May to Nov. 30, Monday to Saturday and holidays (except Thanksgiving Monday) 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Sundays. www.marysgarden.ca

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning freelance writer who never met a farmer she didn't like.