Meet The Rudys

 

Michael & Courtenay

We are first generation farmers, and 10 years ago when we first started this journey Mike was a part-time welder in Kelowna and I (Courtenay) was finishing off my degree in Physics and Economics at UBCO. At the end of Michael's first year farming, I bought a bag of purple potatoes from him at our local farmers market.  That was the beginning of it all.  Fast forward 10 years and we have five children, four dogs, too many cats, and a selection of livestock roaming about.  From the outside it looks like so much has changed over these years but our ideals are still the same.  We are still dedicated to producing high quality, chemical free produce that everyone can afford.  Family and health are the two most important things to us and through farming we are able to focus on both.  We are passionate about doing things the slow way, taking our time, and truly enjoying the process of growing food and raising our family. 

 

Sustainability

Sustainability can mean a lot of different things to different people.  To us it means leaving our land in better condition than when we found it and ensuring that our soil will be bountiful for generations to come. In order to accomplish this we use a few different techniques including; rotational grazing, composting, minimal tillage, and cover cropping.

Early in our farming adventures we decided to add livestock into our operation.  By doing this we were able to utilize a lot of the waste from our farm and other local businesses (farms/breweries/grocery stores), turning it into rich fertilizer for our fields and a source of meat for our family and community.  Every animal is unique in its abilities and plays an integral role in our farming activities; pest management (chickens), stone removal/tillage (pigs) and weed control (cows/sheep/goats).  We call this "full-cycle farming", growing crops that feed our animals, who in turn create fertilizer for our crops, everything working together the way it was intended.