We’ve been on this path to commercial farming for quite a while…5 years now at least and probably longer than that if we really look at it.
Up to now we have been doing various homesteading and farming activities in our back yard in town; garden, chickens, quail, composting, etc. Being in the back yard of our 50 x 200 ft lot means we have had room for what we were doing but not enough space and freedom to do what we want.
A little over 3 years ago (October 2018) we applied to the government for a parcel of public land that has never been worked. The process for getting access to public land here for agriculture is a little onerous, but the upside is that cost is much lower so it is helpful to those young or new farmers who don’t have the money to purchase land. We will be leasing the land from the “crown” (government) for a renewable period of 50 years at a time.
The parcel of land we picked was previously identified by the government as suitable agricultural land and was classed as A01, which is “arable, no significant limitations”. As part of the application and design process we had to go out onto the land and dig several exploration holes so our contractor could complete their analysis for a certified well and septic design.
We have about 6-10 inches of top soil under the moss and then sand, sand, sand. It is mostly flat with a slight raised area on the NW corner. There’s a drainage creek running along the west side and the North runs along a very large buffer area, or what they call a safety template for an out door shooting range that is a mile or so away.
Now, you might be asking what has taken so long to get this lease for this piece of land. It can be a long story but let me just boil it down for you:
When we first applied we used the maps provided online by the crownlands department of the Province. We selected our land so that it would completely outside of the municipalities boundaries. We did that just to eliminate the extra red tape and make the process easier. Well, that’s not the way it worked out.
It turns out that the online map provided by the government had the towns boundary in the wrong place. They didn’t even realize, until we were several thousand dollars into the process and rounding the final bend to finalizing the land lease, and an inspector from the government services department responsible, for stamping approval for our well and septic plan, noticed that a few acres along the west side of the property was actually within town limits. So it was sent to the town for approval.
So this was frustrating, but not the end of the world. We were already three years in this process so what was a few more weeks. The town technologist got ahold of our application and submitted to the towns development committee. The committees job is to review it and then put it forward to town council with a recommendation to approve or deny.
That was last month, February 2021. The town holds council meetings once a month. We waited patiently for the town meeting and were eager to get some movement. The town meeting came and went, and there was no mention of our application. I called the town and then the councilor who chairs the development committee. He was helpful and explained that the committee looked at it and some people on the committee did not want to approve it because only a small part of it was within town limits and they didn’t want to approve or deny something outside of their jurisdiction.
I contacted the crownlands department and let them know and the information officer started the process to see if we could split the parcel along the town limits to make it two parcels on one application. That way the town could approve just the parcel completely within the limits.
A week later I called the councilor who chairs the towns development committee again, and to my surprise, he said the committee had another meeting and decided that they would put forth the original application to the town council as is, with a recommendation for approval. That town council meeting is tomorrow evening. So needless to say we are pretty eager.
So, 38 acres is almost ours. We have another 40 acres to the east of this property in reserve for future expansion. The reserve status is for 5 years at a time.
I am still hopeful and optimistic that we will be able to start clearing trees and putting in applications to get electrical service to the property in the next few weeks. It’s going to be hard now to get everything done to the point where we can sow any crops this year, so we are now planning to revive the garden at our house in town this summer.
It’s going to be a very busy and exciting year for the farm. Both my wife and I are working off farm as well, but we are taking a long view and are so grateful to have the opportunities we have had.
Hopefully we will have some good news to report tomorrow evening.
Why tell you all of these details? One of the things we want to do is to help others along their homesteading and farming journey. Part of that is being transparent so that anyone doing the same kind of things will know what to potentially expect. So I hope this is helpful.
Keep growing friends!