Wild Plum Farm, in the Vimy area of North Cowichan, is bringing back the concept of family farm; however in recent decades, it is the children that are leading the way. Increasingly children raised without a farming background are being drawn to farming in their early professional life. With the tradition of family farms waning in the past decades, most parents today are no longer offering an inheritance of farm skills and knowledge. However this new generation of non-farming parents are gifting their children with support in other ways. In the case of Wild Plum Farm, farmer Dave Wilson has the fortune of having parents who own agriculture acreage, and who are enthusiastic about supporting their son in turning their land into a productive farm.
Dave Wilson, and his parents John and Sylvia, started Wild Plum Farm on 7 acres in North Cowichan. After helping out at their neighbour’s farm, SOL Farm, they were inspired to transform their underutilized pasture land into food production. They started fencing the property in preparation for food production and discovered a wild plum tree. Once freed from the Hawthorn trees around it, the wild tree produced beautiful plums and became the namesake of their farm (and the source of their tasty wild plum freebies at the market).