Meet Your Farmers
We are Nigel and Laura Francis. We have been in love for 23 years, gardening together for 18, and market gardening for 13. Since 2014, we have been tending organic vegetables, herbs, and fruit on land we call home – Cartwheel Farm.
We are working to build a farm that feels right for our time and place… and for our family. We grow on a small-scale with joy and attention to detail. We farm to cultivate health, justice, freedom, beauty, and contentment. Our two kiddos and farm dog are trusty companions.
Our Valley
We practice community-supported agriculture. Most of what we grow feeds our own community – friends and neighbours who value the food we produce, as well as how and why we garden. This year, we expect to deliver our harvest to 200+ families in our area and to local cafes and restaurants.
We proudly attend the Creston Valley Farmers’ Market as often as we are able. Being part of the vibrant and evolving Creston Valley food system inspires us!
How We Grow
We strive to grow delicious and nutrient-dense food with ecological integrity. We keep a bio-intensive market garden. This season our garden will be home to 150+ varieties of vegetables, herbs, and fruits. We select the varieties we grow for taste, nutrition, and beauty. We test and feed our soil so that what we grow is truly nourishing. Our automated in-vessel composter helps us to turn local organic waste into compost for our garden. We work a few little fields, rotating crops and resting land from year to year. We practice minimal tillage and work mainly with hand tools. A conventional greenhouse, two insulated eco high tunnels, and seven high tunnels help to extend our growing season.
Certified Organic
Our land was farmed organically for two decades before we started growing here. Today, everything we grow is certified organic through the North Okanagan Organic Association. For us, growing to organic standards is about caring for the health of our family, our customers, and the planet. Going through annual certification and keeping our farm and our records open for inspection is about accountability and transparency.
Stewardship
We farm like the future depends on it! We are embracing our potential to advance climate solutions. With support from regional, provincial, and federal programs we have made some big changes to how we farm. We have transitioned to solar power and electrified much of our operation to run off that solar system – including our delivery vehicle. We are also piloting some exciting low-tech solutions to green how we farm – like insulated high tunnels and in-vessel composting! We have dramatically reduced our emissions. Growing more food and sequestering more carbon are goals that move us.
Food Security
The Cartwheel Farm Sharing Fund is a collaboration between our family and farm supporters. Together, we flow food from the garden to improve food security for friends and neighbours. Collaborators include the Creston Refugee Committee and the yaqan nuʔkiy community (Lower Kootenay Band).
Regular deliveries of local food provide more than nourishment. They offer a continuous sense of belonging that can make all the difference in people’s lives. Please reach out to learn about getting involved.
A Mighty Crew
Cartwheel Farm exists thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our crew. Farm labour isn’t generally encouraged or celebrated. Still, dozens of remarkable individuals have showed up and given generously of themselves to build this farm and feed this community. Whether crew members have joined us for a summer job or years of work, they have left a mark on this land and our hearts.
Reach out if you think the Cartwheel crew might be the right place for you.
