We were once city dwellers on a typical city lot with a big garden, and a few fruit trees and blueberry bushes for landscaping. Eating truly sun-ripened tomatoes, crisp iceberg lettuce, sun-warmed strawberries, cucumbers eaten like a pretzel stick; it changed our world. When the garden had a bumper crop, we gave it away to our neighbors, family and friends. Their smiles, the jars of canned produce, eating so fresh it made us laugh ~ we began to dream.

With two kids and two dogs in tow, we started to drive the country roads and back lanes in search of our dream, though at the time, it couldn't be described. It was more a feeling, like we would know it when we saw it. Being complete newbies to farming and how to look for land, we prayed for the right place. With a DIY aptitude, we were undaunted when we found our farm. Little did we know (it is so cliché, but so true!) what we were getting into. Restoration began in earnest with removing the farm rubbish, collapsed buildings, and buried fencing from the boreal jungle of invasive weeds and scrub trees.

We opened in 2015 with a community farm stand on a red gingham covered table, a vintage tin as a cash box, and Facebook posting the vegetables of the day. The farm was once a thriving dairy and sheep farm from early 1900’s to 1980’s, then was fallow. The past farm families continue to drop by and share their stories; giving us a history to build on, our roots intertwined with theirs as we cultivate the land into a vibrant, self-sustaining, diversified farm.

Our name comes from the very land from which we were reclaiming the farm. Borealis. Northern. North wind. Boreal Forest. Dominated by coniferous trees, birch, aspen. Boreal Climate. Long, very cold winters, and short, warm to cool summers. Boreal Ecosystem. Soils tend to be young and poor in nutrients, lacking a deep, organically enriched profile as cold hinders soil development. That's us. The Boreal Farm.