Sooke Farm Tour set for Sunday, August 18

Meet regional growers on their home turf while visiting a colourful mix of new and historic farms on the west shore from Metchosin to Otter Point

A collection of remarkable local farmgates will again swing open to the public on Sunday, August 18 as the Sooke Region Food CHI Society presents its third Farm Tour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine.

The ticketed, self-guided tour features ten bountiful working farms in serene, picturesque west shore settings. Participants will meet some of the Sooke region’s busiest and friendliest farmers, walk their acreages, visit with farmyard critters, and learn from the experts about food gardening and sustainable production systems. Everyone is invited to bring a stack of shopping bags to carry home a bounty of fruit, veggies and value-added products available for purchase at what will be the height of the local growing season.

“It’s a great day out for anyone interested in the farming workstyle and life behind the scenes,” says organizer Keeley Nixon, one of Sooke Region Food CHI’s volunteer directors and a farmer herself at Otter Point’s ALM Farm.  “Our hosts will be greeting visitors and showcasing the everyday tasks like cultivating, composting, transplanting and harvesting that it takes to produce food locally”.

The Farm Tour ($12 per adult; free for kids 12 and under) highlights working farms featured in the latest edition of Food CHI’s annual Food & Farm Guide. The event is a fundraiser for a variety of Food CHI community initiatives, which include the Sunriver Community Garden and the Sooke Farmer2Farmer Network.

Tour stops in 2013 stretch east from Happy Valley Lavender and Herb Farm in Metchosin as far west as Silver Cloud Farm on the border between Shirley and Otter Point. Along the way drivers and cyclists are invited to detour to eight other area farmgates: Eagle Paws Organics, Ragley Farm, Mrs. Lewers Farmhouse, T’Sou-ke Nation Ladybug Garden, ALM Organic Farm/Full Circle Seeds, Barefoot Farm, Oreveas Creek Organics and Tugwell Creek Farm & Meadery.

Tickets will be available starting in early July at various locations in Sooke and on the south island, including the Sooke Country Market and Victoria’s Moss Street Market (both on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).

Please visit http://sookefoodchi.ca/events/farmtour for further details and event updates, or email info@sookfoodchi.ca.