We are a family of four, Sachiko, Bob and our two boys, living on a small farm in the Comox Valley. As our boys get older and participate more, we can really say that we are a family-run farm.

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  How did we get here?

  We (Sachiko and Bob) were living an urban lifestyle in Japan. Our boys were not in the picture yet. We had a yearning to live more simply and rurally.

  Sachiko went on a couple of backpacking trips to various foreign countries. Her emails to Bob about her experiences included describing her encounters with "WWOOFERS" .(People who do short-term volunteer farm work through the WWOOF program.  "World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms".) This caught Bob's attention and led to him checking out the WWOOF program and reading more about simple, rural, back-to-basics, small farm lifestyles. Something resonated.

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  Our first son was born and before he was one year old, our family took an extended vacation in Canada. By the end of the vacation we had decided that the west coast of Canada would suit the kind of lifestyle we wanted.

  Our second son was born and we took another long vacation in Canada when he was just a few months old. Our purpose this time was to "try the lifestyle on". We joined the WWOOF program and, as we had decided that Vancouver Island and specially this area, was where we were thinking of settling, applied for WWOOFing opportunities around here.

  We were fortunate to get to go WWOOFing on a farm on Denman Island as a family. It was an inspirational experience for which we are very grateful to our hosts, Tracy and Shayne of "Ruby Slipper Ranch".

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  The following year, 2012, we moved to Canada and in 2013, purchased a small house on a 5 acre patch of rural property in the Dove Creek area of the Comox Valley. What we eventually named "HEIWA 平和 Farm" became our little homestead. We could grow vegetables and raise some livestock for ourselves. We could learn to live in a more sustainable, low waste manner for ourselves and the planet.

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  Our appreciation for this way of life has deepened with time. We find ourselves becoming more aware of our connection to the earth and the small part of it where we are privileged to live. This lifestyle comes with challenges and often teaches us that we're still on the steep part of the learning curve. Yearly weather patterns are inconsistent and things that grew well one year may not do so well in another.

 

  Eventually, we found ourselves producing enough to join the Comox Valley Farmer's Market. We very much enjoyed the connection to the community. We now find ourselves, due to Covid-19, shifting more to offering our products online and our onsite small farm stand. We are, as yet, unsure when we will be returning to the Farmer's market.

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  We look forward to welcoming you to HEIWA 平和 Farm. Thank you for reading!

   Bob and Sachiko

     

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