Urban Digs Farm is finally drying out after struggling to keep its herd above water.
Farmers Julia Smith and Ludo Ferrari had to move the majority of their pigs to Chilliwack after the farm flooded in February.
The flood has delayed work at the farm this season, with some areas still too muddy for planting.
“It was underwater. It was horrible,” Smith told the NOW, gesturing to one area. “We still can’t get in here, so a lot of stuff is going to be late.”
Smith believes development in the surrounding South Burnaby neighbourhood, alongside the Agricultural Land Reserve land, is at least partially responsible.
“There’s giant piles of sand all around us,” she said. “We’re already below sea level and it’s a peat bog, so it’s like piling sand on sponges. Every year it gets worse.”
However, Smith and Ferrari aren’t letting the challenges of farming on a peat bog interfere with their plans for the season.
While two pigs are currently on site and the piglets will be living there this summer, the rest will live out in the Valley, according to Smith.
“We expanded our farm out to Chilliwack because we just don’t have enough land here,” Smith said, adding the farm now has more than 100 pigs. The demand for, particularly, our pork has far outstripped our ability to meet it.”
This allows Urban Digs in South Burnaby to operate seasonally, she added.
“Because after three winters here, we’re pretty beat up,” Smith said. “We don’t own this land. I can’t dig any more drainage ditches.
“This is a great location in the summer,” she added.
The three-acre plot of land is leased to the pair, so there can’t be any permanent changes, including buildings, according to Smith.
So for this year’s market, they’ve brought in two shipping containers – one which will be a store, and one a storage cooler – with a covered area between them.
Smith and Ferrari also purchased a butcher shop under the Oak Street Bridge recently, according to Smith, and will be able to butcher their own meat, as well as provide services for other local farms.
The shop does not have retail space but it does include a 30-foot walk-in freezer, which makes Smith very happy, she said.
“We have meat in, like 16 chest freezers here and it’s just a gong show,” she said, gesturing to some of the freezers at the farm. “I’m so excited.”
The farm also has a new resident – Mr. McStinky, the billy goat.
He was brought in for the sake of the two female goats on site, according to Smith, who says the females are much happier since his arrival.
“Within minutes, they had a complete personality change,” she said.
In addition to the chickens, ducks, goats and pigs, the farm is home to about a dozen community garden plots, with members paying $20 per year for the space.
“It creates a community feel,” Smith said of the garden space.
Urban Digs Farm plans to open its Saturday market this weekend.
Click here for more information on the farm and its web store.
