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Explore Local Regional Producer Profiles: Summer's Gold | |
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Arlin and Gloria Loewen and family run Summer’s Gold in Crooked Creek. They grow an incredible variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs on their farm as well as running a 12 week Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and partnering with local meat producers to diversify their product line.
While their strawberry U-Pick is a major draw for customers in the area, their vegetables are available through their 12 week CSA, by special order, U-Pick at the farm or ready to purchase at the farm. You can learn more about Summer’s Gold’s products, including their CSA on their website.
How Summer’s Gold began:
Arlin and Gloria planted their first crop of strawberries in 2001. With production that runs from June until autumn, their delicious berries were a hit in the community. It wasn’t long before customers noticed their vegetable garden (grown only for their family at the time) and began asking if they would expand to sell vegetables to the community. In 2006, they planted their first veggie crops for the public and they haven’t looked back!
Arlin proposed the idea of a CSA in 2009 but Gloria was hesitant. She wasn’t sure people would agree to a model so based on risk and reward. They went forward with the plan at a time when very few CSAs existed in the province. It began small, with only six participants but in the course of only a couple years their numbers had grown to over 100. Each year, Gloria and Arlin host a barbecue for all their CSA customers out on the land to celebrate the season together.
Their connection with their Customers:
In early years, many of their customers didn’t know what a CSA was so they spent a lot of time educating their community. While more and more people are becoming familiar with the model, every week Arlin still has people stop by his truck when he’s delivering CSA boxes to ask questions about their program.
While their CSA is a great way to access their products and share in the farming experience, most of Summer’s Gold customers still come directly to the farm to purchase their produce. Gloria and Arlin work hard to make sure both their customer service and their produce are top notch. It’s because of this commitment to quality that they see such loyal customers, some even visiting the farm for their veggies every week.
When customers come out to Summer’s Gold to pick berries or veggies, Gloria and Arlin’s main goal is to make sure they enjoy their day. From an ice cream counter to a picnic area, they do their best to make their farm a fun experience for families. They want people to be able to connect that enjoyment with their food and take that home with them.
Their role in the community:
In an area where local veggies are not always readily available, Summer’s Gold strives to be a place that people can rely on for fresh, healthy food. They’re motivated by the customers who return again and again because the quality and flavour of the produce they grow has no comparison.
Their vision for Summer’s Gold:
Arlin has always been employed in off-farm work in the past and they hope to get Summer’s Gold to be self sufficient. They look forward to being able to giving themselves 100% to the production of healthy, local food. From creating a winter CSA to amping up production in their greenhouses and making them self sufficient year round with fish tanks, they’re looking at new ways of producing and marketing their veggies.
They also envision a food hub model in their area. They’d love to partner with other producers in a co-op style of growing where they could focus on specific crops instead of stretching themselves thin with their current varieties.
“We aim to do our part in providing local food for the community” - Arlin Loewen
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For more information about the content of this document, contact Mimi Lee.
This document is maintained by Delores Serafin.
This information published to the web on January 26, 2017.
Last Reviewed/Revised on April 11, 2017.
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