Amara Farm

Posted on Thursday, 1 October 2020 under Supporting Farmers and Ranchers Featured Farmers

Amara Farm, a 26 acre fruit and vegetable farm situated in the Comox Valley, BC, began production in 2011. Owned by Arzeena Hamir and Neil Turner, garlic was the first crop planted on the farm that now consists of 47 different vegetable crops and woody perennials. Arzeena explained that they use a number of practices to keep their farm climate smart.

Some of these practices include feeding their soil and ensuring the organic matter in the soil is as high as possible, cover cropping to conserve soil moisture and soil organic matter, using passive solar greenhouses, human-powered work, electric golf carts for moving produce, utilizing power from a 10-kilowatt solar panel on their house, ensuring there is diversity on the farm for beneficial insects, planting woody perennials for capturing carbon in a permanent way, and protecting their 8 acres of forest that acts as a carbon sink and habitat for overwintering beneficial insects.

Arzeena is incredibly passionate about soil health and works hard to implement techniques that benefit the land. This is both for environmental reasons, and to benefit Amara Farm’s crop production – healthy soil benefits farmers and the climate.

At Amara Farm, soil health is their biggest priority. Watch the video below to find out more about why soil and capturing carbon is so important and what Arzeena’s thoughts are on regenerative agriculture.