Jedidiah Wiebe (left) and Louise Lecouffe (right) talk with visitors about their personal vegetable garden during a farm tour in partnership with the Shuswap Food Action Society. Wiebe and Lecouffe get the entirety of the vegetables they eat from within their own garden, and had plenty of tips to offer for budding gardeners. (Jodi Brak/Salmon Arm Observer)
The Shuswap Food Action Society partnered with several local organic, sustainable farms and farming businesses to host open farm tours July 14.
From Sorrento to Enderby, Salmon Arm and most points between, visitors could drop by farms to see for themselves what makes each operation unique and what they produce all while discovering new ways to purchase local, sustainable food and drink.
The farms available to tour ranged from the world-famous Crannog Ales in Sorrento to Grass Root Dairies, Marionette Winery and Elderberry Grove in Salmon Arm and the West Enderby Farm.
An Observer reporter tagged along for a tour of the Elderberry Grove farm, where they grow elderberry plants and process the berries and flowers into concentrated syrups that have powerful health properties in addition to their potent taste.
On top of the acres of elderberry plants, Louise Lecouffe and Jedidiah Wiebe, proprietors of the farm, grow a huge vegetable, fruit and nut garden from which they take the entirety of their yearly produce from.
Trista and Grey Verhesen feed some of the chickens during a farm tour of Elderberry Grove as part of the Shuswap Food Action Society’s open farm tours July 14. (Jodi Brak/Salmon Arm Observer)Jedidiah Wiebe pours out some food for the baby ducklings at the Elderberry Grove farm during an open farm tour in partnership with the Shuswap Food Action Society July 14. (Jodi Brak/Salmon Arm Observer)Zoe, the farm dog at Elderberry Grove, herds a group of teenage ducklings back into their pen. (Jodi Brak/Salmon Arm Observer)Jedidiah Wiebe (left) takes a sniff of the fragrant elderberry bushes at the Elderberry Grove farm while Louise Lecouffe (right) explains some of the intricacies of the plant, how it is used and what makes it unique during a farm tour in partnership with the Shuswap Food Action Society. (Jodi Brak/Salmon Arm Observer)The Shuswap Food Action Society organized open farm tours of several local organic farms and farming businesses July 14. The event was a chance to get the conversation started about food sustainability, organic growing practices and the thriving community of sustainable farmers in the Shuswap. (Kayleigh Seibel/Salmon Arm Observer)A group of goats munch on some grass while a curious one takes a peek at the camera during an open farm tour July 14. (Kayleigh Seibel/Salmon Arm Observer)
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