Farm picture

  • We are a family that believes in sustainable, regenerative, and responsible farming practices.
  • We believe in “working with nature, not against it.” By following permaculture principles, we design our farm to mimic natural systems. This means:
    • Building Soil Health: We use organic, no-till practices to keep the soil fertile and full of life.
    • Promoting Biodiversity: Food forests and companion planting create a stable and resilient habitat for plants, animals, fungi, and beneficial insects.
    • Zero Waste: We aim to close the loop by composting everything back into the earth, catching rainwater, and harvesting solar energy.
    • Healthy Food, Fair Prices: We strongly believe in the value of shopping close to home, and supporting small farmers and growing local food sovereignty.
  • Our primary goal is to produce food that tastes better because it’s grown and raised with care and strong principles. We believe everyone deserves access to healthy, nutrient-dense produce and meat. By staying small and selling directly to you, we offer our harvests at a fair price that supports our local food system.
Our Land
  • Whispering Roots Farm is on 30 acres of beautiful forested land, just minutes from Qualicum Beach. This area is considered traditional and unceded territory of the Qualicum First Nation and the Snaw-Naw-As (Nanoose) First Nation. These nations are part of the broader Coast Salish Peoples.
  • We plan to foster the land’s natural and wild state, while constructing sustainable and regenerative habitats in harmony with nature that are synergistic with the health of all species.
Our Philosophy
  • We follow permaculture practices to create sustainable, self-sufficient, and regenerative habitats by learning from the extensive diversity, profound stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.
    • Permaculture is guided by three fundamental, interconnected ethics:
      • Earth Care: Rebuilding natural capital and ensuring the health of all living systems.
      • People Care: Providing and nurturing access to resources necessary for humans to thrive, fostering healthy communities.
      • Future Care: Setting limits to consumption, and returning any surplus to the community and ecosystem, to ensure sustainability for all to come.
  • Permaculture extends beyond mere gardening into a true form of regenerative agriculture, incorporating urban planning, community development, and sustainable economics. The aim is to create productive systems that work with, rather than against, nature.
Our Farming Principles
  • Regenerative farming - a holistic approach that restores soil health, increases biodiversity, and improves ecosystem resilience. It focuses on reversing degradation through practices like no-till farming, continual cover cropping, diverse crop rotation, and livestock integration to sequester carbon within the soil and improve intrinsic water cycles.
  • Key Principles:
    • Holistic System: Create sustainable agricultural systems that cultivate bountiful food by nurturing soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem harmony.
    • Soil Health: Minimizing soil disturbance to protect vital fungal and mycorrhizal structures - hidden ecosystems that play immense roles in promoting soil and plant life.
    • Biodiversity Enhancement: Using diverse crop rotations, cover crops, and planting trees to increase ecological diversity.
    • Livestock Integration: Utilizing rotational grazing to move animals through pastures, which naturally fertilizes the soil and prevents overgrazing.
    • Carbon Sequestration: Restoring soil organic matter to act as a carbon sink, mitigating climate change while feeding our communities.
  • These practices lead to more resilient, drought-resistant landscapes, often yielding higher-quality, nutrient-dense food. While this shares similarities with organic farming, regenerative agriculture specifically emphasizes rebuilding soil and ecosystem functions.