Northport farmers Rebecca (Becca) Jones and Nick Smith are about to see a dream come true. After three years of market gardening and growing numerous varieties of vegetables on a relative’s land, they are starting to farm on their own property.  

It all started three years ago with the help of CBCC Cumberland, who provided financial support for a business start up. “CBDC gave us a safety net in the event that our first year was not as successful as we had hoped,” says Becca. “It also helped us to purchase equipment such as farm tools, a caterpillar tunnel, and a market tent to sell our products at the Pugwash Farmer’s Market. In year two, they helped us buy a greenhouse.”

The organization also provided valuable advice and workshops related to business planning. “This forced us to think about things like marketing and advertising, our competitors, and how we would set ourselves apart from them,” says the 28 year-old. “These were all skills that neither Nick nor I really excelled in prior to running our own business.”

The notion of having a farm and growing a market garden started back in 2011, when, after a stint planting trees in northern BC, Nick and Becca spent the better part of a year traveling across North America, volunteering on farms en route back to Nova Scotia.  

Although those short work-farm stints were valuable, there were lots of gaps in their education—especially related to the production end of market gardening, and the business side. The learning curve was steep.  

However, they soon discovered that in the farming community, sharing information and lending a hand is par for the course. “Everyone wants you to succeed and everyone wants to support you.” Along with visiting other farms, they plugged into several organic or farm organizations, went on field tours, and attended seminars and conferences.

In spite of their success, it’s come at a price. “Farming is not easy. Things like the sheer amount of physical labour; the stress that comes from pests or disease pressure; unpredictable weather; overcoming mental exhaustion—all these can wear you down over the course of the season,” says the young farmer.  

“But you know you're doing something right when you have repeat customers coming week after week, telling you that you have the best tasting tomatoes they have ever eaten.” 

Reflecting on the skills required to be a successful entrepreneur, Becca says it's important to learn how to manage time. “You need make good schedules and to set aside some time for yourselves, otherwise you get overworked—both mentally and physically.” 

As well, she believes that communication skills are essential, especially when your business partner is your life partner. “You need to be able to acknowledge each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and proceed in a way that works for both of you. And you need to be open-minded about which direction your business might go in.”

Initially, she and Nick planned on growing a lot more herbs, and they hoped to make value-added products with them. “When we discovered that herbs were not an easy sell at our market, we adjusted our crop plan to focus a lot more on vegetables. Essentially, we allowed our market and our customers lead us in a direction that is best suited and most profitable for us.” 

Nutshell: for this couple, farming is a rewarding profession. Becca says, “I recommend more people get into it. We need more farmers in the world!”