The Land ...
Haliburton
Community Organic Farm is a publicly-owned farm within the Agricultural
Land Reserve (ALR). The farm was saved from development by a group of
concerned citizens and the District of Saanich, who purchased the
land. The Farm is now being developed as a community and
educational organic farm.
The farm is 4.09 ha (approximately 9.3 acres), and
is located on the south side of Haliburton Road (741 Haliburton Road)
in Cordova Bay, which is a neighbourhood in Saanich, BC.
The farm was previously zoned P-2 (Utility Zone)
and has been rezoned to a new Rural Demonstration Farm Zone.
It contains
an underground water reservoir and a single-family dwelling on the west
part of the site, a forested area on the southern part, and a fruit
orchard on the north part. It has a sunny southern exposure and the
soil is designated class 3, on a scale of 1 (the best) to 7 (the worst).
Fifty years ago, Haliburton, or Four Winds Farm as it
was then called, supplied fruit and vegetables to the neighbourhood
and provided jobs for a family. There was no active farming on
the land in over 30 years, yet the fruit trees continued to produce bountiful
amounts of cherries, pears and plums. Also, the farm had been used to
graze sheep during the spring & summer, which was helpful in
keeping invasive species, such as broom and Himalayan blackberry, from
taking over the property.
|