Market farm works smarter, not harder

VERNON – Silverstar Veggies, a five-year-old mixed vegetable and herb farm in Vernon, thrives on passion and innovative ideas.

A former watersport and adventure sport instructor, owner Eric Feehely began farming in his native Ireland in 2010 before emigrating to BC and working for Hermann and Louise Bruns at Wild Flight Farm in Mara in 2013.

“I was blown away how they were making a living with seasonal cultivation with year-round sales,” says Feehley, who returned to vegetable growing in 2021 after seven years in the wine sector.

He started as field crew at Lake Country’s 50th Parallel Estate Winery, then Peak Cellars, eventually assisting with vineyard management. But he also built gardens to supply the wineries’ on-site restaurants, a sideline that eventually led him back to market gardening following COVID as he considered what kind of a world he wanted to create for his son.

“I was wasting my skill set producing alcohol when I could be producing acres of vegetables that BC actually needs,” he says.

Today, Silverstar Veggies grows 30-plus crops on 2.5 acres. While the farm embraces organic practices, it’s not certified since it grows Salanova lettuce, a variety not approved for organic production because the seeds can’t be saved, and because most customers don’t ask.

Crop variety aids in marketing and keeps farming interesting for Feehely and partner Miho Shinbo. She’s a skilled cook who’d worked in fine dining in Europe and was cooking at SilverStar Mountain Resort where they met.

“The farm would not have succeeded without her. I went into it thinking, I can do this all by myself. Really, you can’t. It’s easy to make plans on paper in winter, then executing it in July is a whole different story,” says Feehely.

In addition to their meeting, another chance ski hill encounter helped procure their farmland on the site of Cambium Cider Co., formerly BX Press Cidery. A long-term lease was signed with the help of Young Agrarians, with sod turning in just six months. The land was already deer-fenced, and Bobcats were on site ready to be put to work.

“We’re in a unique and blessed situation that changes the game,” reflects Feehely.

Although farm revenues aren’t fully supporting them yet, it is growing. It now has six hoophouses, up from two hoophouses on a single acre at the beginning.

In 2022, the Community Futures Reach program in Vernon aided an initial business plan as well as funded professional photography, branding and a website, assets for which Feehely lacked cash.

More recently, the BC government’s New Entrant Farm Business Accelerator Program helped fund the development of a five-year business plan, aided by consultant Andrea Gunner, plus new irrigation on 1.5 acres. In spring, they’ll add fruit, planting a quarter acre of table grapes on their existing land.

Staffing

Like other farms, finding employees willing to come back season after season isn’t easy. Two new full-time seasonal employees are being hired this year, one of which brings four years of experience on a CSA farm in Vancouver. While the staff may not be the same, experience can bring a fresh perspective to the farm’s development.

A community-supported agriculture (CSA) program accounted for 45% of sales last year.

“If we could do 100% CSA, we would go that route, but I don’t see it happening in Vernon,” says Feehley. “We’d be talking a 400-member CSA, and we haven’t broken 100 members yet.”

Wholesale and restaurant accounts make up 35% of sales, including to Butcher Boys, SilverStar Resort, Masiero Pizzeria and Cambium restaurant.

To diversify sales, they’re returning to the Vernon farmers market this year after trialling that last year. Feehely says restaurants tend to want only certain products, usually at the same time, so selling at the farmers market provides balance.

To encourage a larger spend per market customer, they’re introducing a loyalty program this year. Buying a set-value voucher will save the customer 10%.

“The market crowd like to spread their dollars buying one or two things from each producer … they aren’t motivated to buy $500 in credit from us in March, so I think we’ll sell a lot of the vouchers at the market,” he says, hoping customers come back to spend remaining voucher credit.

It’s another way to appeal to Vernon’s older and often bargain-hunting market crowd.

“After the pandemic, everything changed with production costs, transportation and logistics. Every producer feels those costs, but you can’t really increase the price of a bag of spinach to match inflation every year, or you won’t sell much,” says Feehely.

Instead, Silverstar has shrunk package sizes to keep retail prices in check. A six-ounce salad bag, for example, is now five ounces for the same price.

“Efficiency is your best cost-saving measure on a small farm,” says Feehely.

They’ve encouraged growth for the 28-week CSA program by opening customer registration a month earlier this year and starting the service one week later, ensuring a greater variety of produce.

“CSA is great because people sign up for a long term and it becomes a pattern for them. We’re also quietly expecting a little Canadian vacation resurgence and maybe more Americans coming this way (at the market),” he says optimistically.

Having such crop variety enables CSA substitutions if a crop is later than expected or doesn’t grow well, while labour intensive peas and beans help attract customers.

“It can be a bit difficult for crop planning and logistics, where we are growing and when we are sowing or resowing crops, but I’m counting on making a living here. It’s part of a much bigger picture.”

Now in his 40s, Feeheley is aways trying to work smarter. The future picture could include gardening classes and farm tours, attracting school student visits and hosting events.

Eventually, SilverStar Veggies hopes for more direct sales and a possible diversification into gardening supplies. It’s also working with Polson Market’s team to collaborate and expand a successful pumpkin patch begun last year.

“We have a two-acre field for parking. We’re fenced off the road. We have the insurance. We had the porta potties. So, these are alternative means for income,” Feehely says.

Given its high-volume traffic location, there are early plans for a potential roadside store, four shipping containers fashioned in a square with vegetable prep space in the middle.

Ideally, it would be built after this growing season but it’s a large investment requiring borrowing at a time of less economic certainty in BC, Canada and the world.

“We’re wondering, is this a great idea or a terrible idea? I don’t think it’s terrible since people are always going to want food, and they’re going to want to buy it nearby if they can,” Feehely says. “We’re always ebbing and flowing with our ideas. I tend to have large ambitions but Miho keeps me in check. Ultimately, we’re trying to make something that’s viable, that we can be passionate about and that the community needs. It’s easy to grow too fast. I’d rather sell 95% of my produce and feel successful than selling 60% of my produce and feel like we failed, with the same gross income either way.”