B.C. farmers hope to serve as mentors

Dec 21, 2018

Tim and Linda Ewert are inviting families to live with them

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A B.C. farming couple is taking a unique approach to showcasing rural living.

Tom and Linda Ewert, owners of Wildwood Farm near Pouce Coupe, B.C., are inviting families to participate in a residency program and live with them on the 160-acre property next summer.

The Ewerts are in the midst of an application process.

The deadline to apply is Jan. 31. The couple will conduct interviews and invite selected applicants for farm visits in February. The Ewerts will notify the winners in March. The successful applicants must pay a fee of $1,500 to help purchase food and supplies.

People are already inquiring about the experience, Tom said.

“We’ve had calls from people wanting to apply and from people looking for more information,” he told Farms.com. “I think this unique approach we’re taking is an attractive one.”

The farm has pigs, dairy cows, chickens, barns, and greenhouses, as well as grain and vegetable fields.

The farm operation should be able to produce more goods with the contributions of extra hands, he said.

Applicants selected for the residency program will serve as primary contributors on the farm beginning at 7:00 a.m. daily. Duties will include milking cows, feeding livestock and operating machinery.

Aside from a tractor and combine, “the field work, cutting hay, milling grain and hauling firewood is done with horses,” Tom said.

Selected farmhands will also help prepare supper, which is served at 7:00 p.m.

The Ewerts see the residency program as contributing to their succession plan and knowledge exchange.

The couple hope whomever they select to stay with them will want to form a co-op.

“We hoping to find a small group of people who would like to work in a co-operative setting and eventually take over the farm,” he said. “I think there’s a group of younger people out there who would be interested in a rural off-the-grid lifestyle and we feel we’ve got experience to pass down in a mentorship role.”

Tom and Linda moved onto the property in 1974. They started their operation without any help and don’t want others to have to do the same.

“If we had someone help us get started instead of us learning it all on our own, it would’ve made it much easier for us to operate the farm,” Tom said. “We’ve got almost 50 years of experience to draw upon and show people the ropes.”

Anyone interested in applying can contact Tom at 250-786-5830.

Wildwood Farm photo

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