Ward Teulon may just represent the future of farming in Vancouver, and it doesn’t involve Jetsons-like visions of highrise greenhouses. “I say just look out your window: there’s soil all over the place!” says the proprietor of City Farm Boy Ventures.
Teulon cultivates the backyards of 13 of his East Vancouver neighbours, and his customers pay $625 a year for a share in the pooled yield. Every week throughout the growing season, clients bring their baskets to Teulon’s house and help themselves to their portion of the harvest: spinach, lettuce and rhubarb in the spring; carrots, beans and tomatoes throughout the summer; beets, broccoli and Brussels sprouts in the waning days of August and into the fall.
A native of Saskatchewan, Teulon was born into farming but realized early on there wasn’t room for both him and his brother on the family’s 2,400-hectare wheat farm, so he set out for the city. After a few years working for a multinational lawn-maintenance company, he decided to get back to his roots, and he hasn’t looked back.
“I tell people I could probably make more on a 10-by-four-foot raised bed of garlic than my brother can on an acre of wheat,” he boasts. Teulon isn’t getting rich, but his city farming is profitable. In fact, his annual revenue of about $25,000 equals the income of the average 40-hectare farm in B.C. – without any subsidies, loans or crop insurance.
Anybody with a yard can start a garden-share business, Teulon says. With good soil, adequate sunlight and a green thumb you can grow your own little backyard crop; charge customers $50 a share and they can load up whenever they want throughout the growing season.
“That’s where I’d like to see it going,” Teulon says, gesturing toward the raised garden beds in his front yard. “Get everyone to realize this is worth something as something other than just as a chunk of grass.”
