Half-way to Spring 2022! New course offerings & nursery reopening

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The nursery will be back in full swing in late March.

Imbolc is today, and that means it is the perfect day to start some seeds and begin thinking about the growing season ahead. I have an updated plant list available, and will be open for plant orders in late March. The farm is still resting, and I am spending most of my time behind a laptop right now, working on planting plans (I am incorporating more perennial foods into the farm), reading a lot about soil science, and planning some new course and workshop offerings for the upcoming season. Even though there is snow in the forecast, the snowdrops are in bloom, the sun was shining, and I felt the warmth of spring on my face today. I know it will be here soon.

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New Courses for 2022

I am so excited and humbled to announce two full-season, hands-on courses that I will be teaching this year. When I started my journey into growing food and medicine, I was searching for a way to feel more connected to this land and to increase my knowledge, skills and resiliency as we face the increased impacts of climate change. The food supply on Vancouver Island is precarious and fragile. We all bore witness to the impact extreme weather events have as we saw the number of animals, land and food that was lost to fire, heat and flooding this past year. Now is the time to begin your own journey into growing food at home. Build knowledge, skills and community while you work outside with your hands in the soil. This is the kind of program that I was looking for when I first started gardening, and I couldn’t find it here. I am so grateful to now be able to offer it to others.

I will be running two separate full-season courses, both of which will meet weekly in the evenings. “Grow Your Own Food” will be based at The Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture in North Saanich, where my farm is currently being established. The second course “The Urban Homestead” will run out of the education garden at Haliburton Community Organic Farm. I am so, so excited to be collaborating with both of these incredible community farming institutions. Follow the course links for more information or to register!

Grow Your Own Food.

Start this year and make the change towards increased food security at home.

Learn More

The Urban Homestead

Learn how to convert your city lot into a thriving urban homestead. Tend the land you live on, grow food, build resilience.

Learn More

I am also working on some one and two-day workshops specifically geared towards plant medicine. I will reach out with more details when that information is finalized. It’s going to be a beautiful season of learning, growing and community building, and I can’t wait to hang out in a garden with fellow plant lovers. What’s better?

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Join me in the garden this year and learn to grow food with your hands as much as with your head.

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Thank you for your time,

Stephanie - Fireweed Farms

May Update: The Plant Nursery is Open!

The medicinal plant nursery has officially re-opened! It has been an exciting, incredibly busy and humbling few months working to get the nursery up and running. There have been some beautiful days and some hard days as I find my feet in this new role. Mostly the past few months have been spent in awe and wonder of the magic that is starting a plant from seed.

Normally many of the plants Fireweed carries would have been seeded last fall or divided off in early spring from new growth on the farm. This season I am starting everything (including most of the plants for the farm) from seed. While I am truly delighted by how much of my time has been spent with a handful of seeds this spring, the circumstances of space and timing require that I scale back a bit from what you may be used to. As I take this season to re-establish the farm and inventory, please know that I am working towards the same extensive selection of medicinal plant starts previously available. I welcome your input so please reach out to me if there are particular herbs that you would like to add to your garden. I will do my best to grow them for you!

That being said I still have shelves stocked with plants ready to go to their new homes. Click here for the current Spring Plant List and email me directly with questions or to place an order fireweedandyarrow@gmail.com.

Upcoming Plant Sales

Fireweed Farms will be at the Compost Education Centre’s annual spring plant sale on May 8th 2021. I am grateful to be included in this incredible community event. I will be bringing a large selection of plants from the Spring Plant List, but not everything - so if you’re looking for something in particular, feel free to email me ahead of time.

With a nursery full of plants I can now turn my focus to building the herb farm at its new location. There are many long days ahead, in the field with my hands full of seeds or soil, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Stay tuned for more info about the farm and workshop offerings.

Thank you for your time and happy growing!

Stephanie

Fireweed Farms, North Saanich, BC, Canada

Farm and Nursery Update March 2021

Hello everyone!

The seasons have shifted and here at the farm I am feeling energized by the return of Spring. I don’t know about you, but the sun on my face feels especially warm and welcome this year. There is lots to catch you up on, so I will dive right in. 

I have spent a lot of time this month staring at this incredible expanse, imagining all that it was and what it will become.

Our New Location

As many of you know, Fireweed Farms was previously located on leased land in Brentwood Bay. Last fall that land was sold, the farm closed, and Jessy and Ravensong Seeds and Herbals relocated to the Comox Valley. I have spent the winter in search of new land, and am delighted to say that the farm has a new home! I am incredibly fortunate to have been chosen as part of the Farmpreneur program at the Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture in North Saanich. We are a group of seven individuals growing a variety of different crops, all in the start-up phase of our businesses. Through this co-operative program we have access to support from seasoned farmers, business and community orientated mentors, and each other. It’s so rad!

Below is an excerpt from Sandown’s website on the history of the land. 

“In 1857, just over 160 years ago, brothers John and Mark Coles set up a trading store and became the first resident settlers to the area. Around them, and since time immemorial, the W​ ̱SÁNEĆ people have practised their cultural version of land management & stewardship. Their medicines, foods & materials came largely from this land and waters – a truly robust local food system! 

Geographically, the Sandown site sits between two village sites: The original Tseycum village called W̱SE¸IKEM, or Tsehum Harbour, on the east side of the peninsula, and the later village site on the west side, where the Tseycum community lives today. 

As North Saanich became a centre for agricultural activity, the lands now known as Sandown became part of the 500 acre (!) Glamorgan Farm. The handsome buildings from this historic family farm are still in operation, right across the road.  Aerial photographs from 1952 show the first signs of work on two racetracks which became the Sandown Racetrack. Horse races took place here for over 50 years, and many locals have fond memories of the excitement of those races. 

​In 2014, the District of North Saanich approved the transfer of this Agricultural Land Reserve land to the municipality as part of the priority actions in the District's Agricultural Strategy. After a period of community consultation and input called Vision Sandown (led by the superlative local food organisation CRFAIR), land title was transferred in November 2017.  There was strong community sentiment for Sandown to serve as a site for local food production, teaching & learning, supporting emerging famers, and land and water stewardship.”

2021 is the first year that this vision will begin to take shape. The board and society members are working tirelessly, as there is so much to do. To be in the start-up phase means that there is a lot of enthusiasm, huge potential and a collective dream for the future. It also means that all of the infrastructure is going in right now - and things take time to get done. Putting in a greenhouse, power, irrigation, workable soil - everything is a bit of a waiting game right now - and yet spring waits for no one! Normally many of the plants Fireweed carries would have been seeded last fall/early spring or divided off in early spring from new growth on the farm. This season I am starting everything (including all the plants for the farm) from seed. While I am truly delighted by how much of my time is spent with a handful of seeds right now, the circumstances of space and timing require that I scale back a bit from what you may be used to. As I take this season to re-establish the farm and inventory, please know that I am working towards the same extensive selection of medicinal plant starts previously available. I welcome your input so please reach out to me if there are particular herbs that you would like to add to your garden. I will do my best to grow them for you!

With that in mind, there are still lots of things poking their heads up in the greenhouse and I have an initial plant list. I will be opening the nursery for plant sales in the first week of May. Please contact me directly for orders at fireweedandyarrow@gmail.com.

Plant List Spring/Summer 2021

• Alfalfa

• Meadow Arnica

• Wild Arugula

• Ashwaganda

• Camphor Basil

• Holy Basil

• Bee Balm

• Borage

• Burdock

• Calendula

• German Chamomile

• Roman Chamomile

• Chives

• Echinacea

• Elecampane

• Feverfew

• Western Goldenrod

• Coastal Gumweed

• Hyssop

• Lemon Balm

• Lupin 

• Marshmallow

• Wild Mint

• Spearamint

• Mojito Mint

• Motherwort

• Mugwort

• Mullein

• Broadleaf Plantian

• Narrowleaf Plantain

• California Poppy

• Clary Sage

• St. John’s Wort

• Self Heal

• Blue Skullcap

• Spilanthes

• 1000 Year Old Tobacco

• Valerian

• Western Yarrow 

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Thank you for your time and happy growing!

Stephanie

Fireweed Farms, Victoria, BC, Canada

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New ownership and new land - Fireweed Farms is re-opening in 2021

Hello herb-y friends!

I am writing to you with exciting news. Fireweed Farms medicinal plant nursery is re-opening in Victoria for the 2021 growing season!

Many of you know Fireweed as the sister business to Ravensong Seeds and Herbals, owned by herbalist, medicine maker, and teacher Jessy Delleman. Last summer, Jessy moved her business to the Comox Valley and opted not to take Fireweed with her. From its new location, Ravensong continues to offer a wide variety of seeds and medicinals, as well as workshops, and intern and apprenticeship programs. For more information, or to shop the apothecary, you can visit her website at ravensongseeds.com.

At the time of the move, I was part of Jessy's herbal apprenticeship program, and was given the incredible opportunity to take over Fireweed Farms as the new owner and manager. Hi! I’m Stephanie. I am an avid grower and like to refer to myself as an “urban homesteader”. It is a constant work in progress, but this season, in the midst of the madness that was 2020, we saw a large year round harvest of herbs, veggies, berries and eggs. 

When I applied to the herbal apprenticeship program, I was looking for a more holistic approach to my family’s health, and to learn how to use plant medicine to support us in times of illness. I did not expect to discover that the benefits of plant medicine are far more complex and magical than simply taking an herb to treat a symptom. So much of the medicine in plants comes from the connections we build; with the plants themselves and the land on which they grow. Spending time in the garden, hands in the dirt, can have a profound effect on one’s physical and mental health. 

The spring of 2020 saw an almost frenzied return to the land; as gardening supplies, seeds and starts flew off the shelves. This phenomenon certainly showed us that in times of uncertainty people seek connection to the natural world, and a sense of self-reliance and resiliency. Growing your own medicinal plants is an incredibly powerful way to do this. More than just food and medicine, there is also peace, beauty and hope to be found in the garden. My hope for Fireweed Farms is that I can uphold what Jessy has built, provide continued access to these amazing medicinal plants, and be of service to the community. 

I will have another update in the coming months, with information about upcoming plant sales, workshop offerings,and my new herb garden and nursery set up. Until then, I wish you all comfort and warmth in what remains of winter, and I look forward to all that is possible this spring. 

Thank you for your time,

Stephanie