Making Every Acre Count: A Rocha Farm

Posted on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 under Stories Featured

For more than a decade, A Rocha’s farm in Surrey has grown food for its community. What began as a 10-member Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) program now provides fresh produce to hundreds of households each week from June to October.

In November 2025, the farm lost access to two acres of City of Surrey land, representing about 65% of the farmland it had used for more than 10 years. Faced with a significantly smaller growing area, the team needed to rethink how it used its remaining land and infrastructure.

With support from FarmFolk CityFolk’s Community Farm Endowment Fund, A Rocha is investing in infrastructure that will help the farm make the most of its available growing space and continue feeding its community.

A farm adapting to change

“A really big year for the farm” is how Carly Richardson, A Rocha’s CSA Farm Coordinator, describes the season.

The team has remapped the farm, rebuilt growing tunnels and redesigned its production plan to make better use of a much smaller growing area while continuing to prioritize soil health.

A Rocha uses regenerative farming practices, including cover crops, crop rotations and habitat for beneficial insects. The farm is also transitioning toward no-till production, which minimizes soil disturbance and helps build soil organic matter. These practices can help sequester carbon and increase the farm’s resilience to climate change.

While A Rocha is not certified organic, the farm follows organic growing practices and does not apply synthetic chemicals to its land or food.

Building a better irrigation system

Before this year’s infrastructure improvements, irrigating the farm could take one person an entire day. That was a significant investment of time, especially as the team worked to expand growing space on its remaining land.

Support from the Community Farm Endowment Fund helped A Rocha invest in a more efficient irrigation system. Since this spring, the farm has installed drip lines and created 12 irrigation zones that can run automatically, including overnight.

Photos of A Rocha's irrigation project

Growing food for the community

The impact of A Rocha’s farm extends well beyond its CSA members. Through its Farm to Families program, around 30% of the farm’s production goes to community food programs.

Each week, approximately 80 families receive fresh produce through local partnerships, including newcomer and refugee families and seniors. Last year, the farm donated more than 5,000 pounds of vegetables.

“Vegetable donation is a big part of what we do. With these partnerships, we help more people to have access to fresh, healthy food,” highlighted Carly.

Growing the next generation of farmers

This season, A Rocha has welcomed interns and students who are experiencing food production firsthand. They get to put their hands in the soil, grow food for the first time and learn what it takes to maintain a working farm from soil preparation to harvest.

For Carly and the farm team, creating these opportunities is another important part of the work. A community farm can help people build practical skills, develop a connection with the land and discover what it takes to grow food.

Building for the future

The Community Farm Endowment Fund supports the development and long-term viability of community farms across British Columbia that advance local, sustainable food systems.
At A Rocha, that support is helping the farm make better use of its available land, improve essential infrastructure and continue growing food for its community despite a significant change in land access.

A Rocha’s experience is a reminder of the role that long-term investment can play in helping community farms adapt to change while continuing to serve the people and communities around them.

Learn more about the Community Farm Endowment Fund

Photos from A Rocha Farm