Four generations of the Meggait family have worked on the same farm in Armstrong, B.C., that has been in the family for 100 years now.
Many of the family members still live on the 154-acre farm that Bill Meggait purchased for $6,000 in 1923.
Bill’s son, Martin Meggait was the second generation to take on the farm with his wife, Gerry.
“When Martin, my husband and I were married in 1952, we lived here for a year and then our son Jim was born. And when he was three months old, we decided to move into town and live our separate lives,” said Gerry Meggait.
“Then in 1975, we moved back when my father-in-law died.”
Gerry’s husband of 70 years, Martin, died earlier this year, living long enough to see the centennial year of the farm. Both Martin and his father’s legacy lives on as the family continues to expand the business.
His grandson Steve Meggait is now the fourth generation working on the farm.
“I am the fourth generation in my family to farm on this farm,” said Steve.
The team behind Fresh Valley Farms does all their own processing and some of their meat cutting at the certified-organic farm that sells pasture-raised organic meats and garlic to the Shuswap to the Central Okanagan.
“We have layer chickens we have young turkeys, we have baby chicks, we have older chickens, we have pigs, we have cows, we have a variety of cover crops, we have some annual crops integrated with our livestock rotation,” said Grube-Cavers.
From their historic roots, the family is branching out into agrotourism to introduce more people to agriculture and keep farming in the family for another hundred years.
“We have been leasing the farmland for a little while but now we are going to be leasing the buildings as well to be starting on this agrotourism adventure,” said Grube-Cavers.
“We are going to have accommodations, farm tours and the long view of this property is we are hoping it will be an ecological farming centre where people can learn, share resources, host workshops and educational events.”
In its 1ooth year, the fifth generation of the family is now learning how to farm on the properties.
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