Investing in small-scale processing on the farm can make a big difference in its bottom line.
By Jeff Nield, 9 Dec 2010, TheTyee.ca
Just north of a sharp bend in the Puntledge river on the edge of Courtenay sits Nature’s Way Farm. Arriving at the farm-gate, there are two options for entry. One is through the welcoming door that leads to Tria Culinary Studios and the retail outlet for Blue Moon Winery.
I veer to the right, bypassing this obvious choice and enter through a slightly skewed wooden gate and am quickly set upon by Gattie, a hefty Bernese Mountain dog who promptly sits on my foot in a maneuver she’s learned to demand attention. Once satisfied, Gattie releases her hold and I walk through to a central courtyard that offers a view of the 5.7-acre farm. Blueberry bushes, dormant for the season, sit straight-ahead, a farmhouse with cedar shingle siding is to the right and to the left is a building that I’ll soon discover doubles as an office and a winery. It’s in this final, also cedar clad, two-story building that I find farm owners George Ehrler and Marla Limousin hard at work on one of their many ventures.
Carrot Creek Farm 