About Us
Our Mission
- Farm practices are focused on enhancing local diversity while protecting waters downstream and building soil health.
- Our goal is to grow and proliferate functional plants that produce an abundance of food, habitat, fuel, beauty and so much more.
- The plants we grow have co evolved with humans and wildlife feor millennia as fountains of life. Our mission is to continuing this tradition of our ancestors to find the best seeds and share them.
- We focus on plants that will work in Canada and source seed from cold adapted populations.
- We aim to improve food security in our community and yours. These plants can be staple food crops. The less we ask from the outside world the more we give to the greater whole.
"The Creation of a thousand forests is in an acorn."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
How We Farm
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Soil First
Once we picked out all the big rocks a sandy loam soil was revealed to us and we’ve been protecting and building it ever since. We practice no till soil conservation by using cover crops, silage tarps and a 12” broadfork to loosen the soil without turning it over. We armor the soil surface with chip mulch and add compost or manure each year along with farm based fertilizers such as comfrey, nettles and horsetail.
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Human Powered
Our best machine is our body. We believe that working within a hand tool state of mind keeps us in a balance with our scale and mission. All of our plants are seeded, transplanted, grafted, staked, harvested, and packaged by hand. We rent 15 hours or less of local tractor work a year and keep our farm truck use as low as it can be. Buckets and wheel barrows built this farm.
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Simple
We started this business with little money and a strong work ethic. We hope to be a living example to others who want to make a difference especially if all they have to offer are there hands, hearts and minds. We hope to inspire more people and farmers to plant their orchard, or start their nursery. Find the mother trees and plant their seeds.
Who We Are
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We Are Dirtbags
DIY, BYOB, tuck tape and hike for your turns. Minimalism is not only an ethic on the farm but a driving force to keep practices simple and overhead costs low. We believe that by using clean natural inputs, recycled materials and appropriate technology we can grow nursery plants that are affordable to more people.
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We Are Learning
Growing perennials is not like growing vegetables. We are constantly amazed at how complex and brilliant these wild plants are. So many small things to learn that aren’t always easily found on google. Taking chances with growing plants is a relationship humans have had for a long time. We are honored to be walking along this path and will do our best to bring to the world the best plants we can.
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This Dude
Brian has a degree in Enviromental studies and a background in the production of market vegetables in dry and cold high elevation environments. Originally from Colorado, Brian wandered North in search of deeper snow and bigger trees where he found it in the kootenays of British Columbia while taking his PDC in 2014. Falling in love with the place, Krista and her kids Brian calls the kootenays home where he finds interesting plants and learns how to grow them.
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This Crew
Krista and her kiddos, Madyson and Sawyer, moved to the Kootenays from Vancouver in 2018. Originally from the Carolinian forest of Ontario Krista lived on the coast for over a decade before moving to the interior where Mady and Sawyer could be let loose into the wonders of the Columbia mountains. She works for Nelson Community Services as a family support worker while farming and being a full time mom. Her extensive experience in landscape design and project management along with an ability to shovel non stop and provide endless support to everyone around her helps make it all happen.
Our Story
Zero Fox Tree Crops began in the spring of 2018. We worked with Young Agrarians to secure a farm site to lease in Harrop, BC. We are hosted by a generous couple looking to enhance economic opportunities and promote food security in the community. Both Brian and Krista had never farmed in the Kootenays before and it was a fast learning curve to adjust to the rhythms of the seasons. When and where to collect feral tree seed has been the main challenge to overcome and our patience and fortitude has paid off. Growing perennials from seed requires a multiple year outlook as many plants we grow require finding the mother tree seed the first season, then collecting the seed the next year and planting it, growing it the following year or two and selling it the following spring. There have been mistakes and successes that are beginning to reveal themselves as our project progresses and we are proud to share with you what we have learned through our quality nursery plants
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