About the Farm — Bullock Lake Farm

Our mission is to be a place of connection and nourishment for our island community

Bullock Lake Farm is 24 acres of field and forest in Coast Salish territory.

Before the arrival of European settlers, this would have been rich forest and marshland, part of an abundant native food system. By the end of the 19th century, English settler Harry Bullock had cleared over 300 acres around the lake for agriculture, including fruit and nut orchards, grain crops, vegetable gardens, and mixed livestock.

At its peak, the farm was home to the island’s first creamery, first car, a grass tennis court, and a school for orphaned boys. Harry was known for throwing lavish parties with formal dress codes - there’s an island legend that he kept a collection of white gloves for ladies who arrived bare handed.

Over the following decades, orchards became pasture and food production declined as the farm was subdivided into smaller and smaller pieces.

Today, this 24-acre segment of the old Bullock farm is home to our organic produce and flower operation, educational programs, events, two families, and a seasonal team of farmers. It’s a busy and vibrant place, supported by community who have come to love the farm for the food, flowers, and the beauty of the land itself.

The agricultural story of the past 130 years occurs within the context of a much longer, richer story - the story of Hul’qumi’num and SENĆOŦEN speaking people, who have stewarded this island since time immemorial. To this day this territory remains unceded, making our relationship with the land we farm complex, and often uncomfortable.

Agriculture, as an implement of colonization, has been catastrophic for Indigenous land and food systems. For us as small farmers, trained in agroecology, farming and colonization have a complicated relationship, with some deep contradictions. While many of the methods and values of small-scale organic agriculture borrow from Indigenous systems, the larger context we operate within, with private ownership of land and food resources, is very much a colonial legacy.

We’re learning all the time. We’re taking time to understand the history of this land, the names and stories of the landscape around us, and how we can best support Truth and Reconciliation.

As one part of this commitment, we donate 1% of our sales to the Stqeeye’ Learning Society, whose mi tse ‘ t’akw - coming home campaign will bring Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Elders back to live in their traditional territory in Xwaaqw’um (Burgoyne Bay) for the first time in 150 years. This commitment began February 2024, and includes sales across our produce, flower, workshop, and wedding programs.