InFocus Magazine

Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.
Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, visit web
woods, about it
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, healing the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.
Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, tadalafil woods, this web
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, here
woods, treatment
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, rx woods, and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, ampoule order woods, and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

[caption id=”attachment_2244″ align=”alignnone” width=”602″ caption=”Looking for the perfect Christmas tree? Head out to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm in Dove Creek for an authentic holiday experience. “We offer a little something more,” says Mike Day, taking his wife Libby, son Ian and niece Damaris Brown for a spin on their antique Doukhobor wagon.”][/caption]

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, nurse
woods, and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, generic
woods, case
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, search woods, otolaryngologist
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, pills
woods, discount
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, prostate
woods, store
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, healthful
woods, and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, visit
woods, this web
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, abortion
woods,
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk. For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.
Dirt roads aren’t that surprising in the Comox Valley. The surprise is what’s at the end of them.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is one of those surprises—a family-owned and locally operated cut-your-own-Christmas tree business on Todd Road in Dove Creek. You know you’ve arrived when the pasture, stuff woods, impotent
and horse trails that make up Dove Creek give way to rows and rows of Christmas trees.

I arrived at the farm just before sunset a couple of days after the first snow of 2011. The ground was white, the trees green, and two golden retrievers barked my car up the driveway past a large, modern barn to a parking area. The whole scene looked like a station stop for the Polar Express en route to the North Pole. And when I opened my car door, I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Christmas wonder in the cold air.

Owner Michael Day would smile to hear anyone say that. He, along with his wife Libby, have spent the last 10 years transforming their 13.5 acre tree farm into a place for families to make Christmas memories. Not only does the farm sell Christmas trees, they also offer wagon rides, carol singing, hot chocolate and bonfires, along with the opportunity to hike around their rural property. These are all the sorts of things Day remembers from growing up, first in the Lower Mainland and later the Alberta Rockies.

“I have a sister whose birthday is in December,” says Day, noting that every year, his family would head out on the weekend closest to that sister’s birthday and cut their own tree. It’s a tradition Day continued with his own family and hopes to share with everyone that comes to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm. “My goal was trying to recreate the experience of going into the Rockies and making it an event, making it a day.”

This isn’t to say, however, that Day grew up wanting to be a Christmas tree farmer. He and his family (which includes two sons, now grown) moved to the Comox Valley in 1993 for other work opportunities. Day is a teacher by training, working at Vanier. His wife Libby is a surgeon.

It was one of Day’s teaching colleagues, Bob Tsable, who started the farm 25 years ago to gain farm status and generate income on the property. The rural location, though, made it a popular spot for Vanier staff parties, providing a spectacular backdrop for teachers like Day and their families to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, by 2001, Tsable was ready to sell the property, and the Days took the opportunity to buy.

“My wife had fallen in love,” says Day with a laugh. “I was just scared, which was probably justified on my part. I knew nothing.” In fact, the incentive to buy was the property and the location—not the tree farm. However, the Days were determined to keep farm status on the property and that meant figuring out how to be tree farmers

“The trees at the time were well established,” says Day. “Bob worked them very hard, but after he retired he found it a bit of a hassle. He let the trees go so they weren’t marketable.”

Luckily for Day, he had another Vanier colleague whose husband happened to be a tree farmer. That farmer was Brian Black, and the two formed a partnership. “He advises and directs; I provide the grunt labor and the marketing,” says Day.

Part of that advice the first year was a massive haircut to bring the trees back to a manageable and marketable condition. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” remembers Day with a laugh. “We didn’t sell any trees. But by the next year we had enough trees to legitimately make our farm status.

“It’s not strictly a commercial operation,” adds Day. “What we discovered the first year, we recognized that to compete with established operations we had to offer something a little more.” And that’s where Day’s own Christmas memories come in.

“From the first days we offered hayrides and bonfires,” he says. From there, inspiration just seemed to keep striking. Take for example a trip through Grand Forks several years back. On the drive home, they happened to pass a shop with an antique Doukhobor wagon parked out front. Day bought the wagon and had it shipped to the Valley, where he fixed it up to tow behind the tractor. Customers now get to ride through the trees, singing Christmas carols on a piece of history.

Then Black suggested Day reach out to the local schools, offering the farm up for class tours on silviculture. Although not organic, Day and Black have experimented with low-impact and ecologically sensitive farming methods that offer a lot of learning opportunities for students.

First, there’s stump culturing. “Some people tend to stay away from cutting a Christmas tree because they think they’re increasing their carbon footprint,” says Day. “When we cut the tree, we don’t kill it. We grow new trees off the existing root system.” A branch is left on the stump, and that branch eventually becomes a new tree. That means the tree keeps doing things like absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen into the air even as it re-grows.

“We can get four or five trees off a stump before it dies back,” explains Day.

Then there are the sheep. “The grass needs to be kept down to maximize tree growth, otherwise the grass competes for nutrients with the trees,” says Day. That means either extensive mowing with gas powered mowers, or some alternative. The Days recently tried sheep, and liked the results.

“There are a lot of advantages to sheep over say goats—like they don’t eat the branches,” says Day. Instead, they eat the grass and fertilize the trees, making for low-impact maintenance.

Finally, the farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between ecology and farming. Much of the Day’s property is made up of wooded areas left to grow wild. The property is also bordered by Dove Creek, a salmon-bearing stream that’s undergone significant rehabilitation over the past decade. And like many other salmon-bearing streams in the Valley, the benefits are starting to show in increased salmon returns. “Two years ago you couldn’t step in the creek without stepping on salmon,” says Day. That means visitors to Doveside farms get to learn about how farming practices and the sort of fertilizers you use can impact something like a salmon-bearing stream.

“We wanted to talk about the environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming,” says Day. “We talk about erosion and the effects. We don’t use herbicides, but we try to be thoughtful about what we use.”

The kids love the tours, and their families appreciate a local business giving back to the community. In fact, many of these kids and their families have become some of Doveside’s most loyal customers. There’s Amethyst, who first came to the farm as a six-year-old on a school tour with her mom chaperoning. They’ve come back every Christmas since, and even approached the Days about partnering with YANA to raise funds through donations for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. They raised $300.

Then there are the families that just seem to find the farm by chance. “We had a family that came six years ago,” says Day. “They were from Victoria on a ski trip to Mount Washington and decided to stop at the farm on their way home.” Every year since then, they’ve come back and brought other families with them. “They have multiple families that come for a ski weekend and then cut a tree on their way home.” One year, they even showed up on a bus to accommodate all the people and the trees.

When asked what keeps bringing such a determined group back, Day has a simple answer.

“What drew them back was the opportunity to be together, and that is what the farm is about,” he says. “Sharing the blessings that we’ve been given.”

“It’s labor intensive, and you’re not going to make money,” continues Day. “There’s got be something else you’re doing it for. What makes it worth it for us is the people. Where else can you go out and sing Christmas carols all day?”

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is open weekends from 10am to dusk.

For more information call 250-703-2047.

Doveside Christmas Tree Farm is located at 6077 Todd Road in Dove Creek. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and be prepared for uneven ground —boots are a good choice for everyone. Wagon rides (fleece blankets provided), bonfires and hot chocolate are available during the selling season and there are washrooms on site in the barn. You are also welcome to hike through the property, but know that you’ll likely be accompanied by the Day family’s golden retrievers Amber and Honey. You can get there from Courtenay along Cliffe Avenue, through downtown. Make a right on 1st Street and a left on Anderton. Cross the Condensory Road bridge and through the flashing lights at Piercy. Continue straight through for 5.7 km before turning right onto Todd Rd. Go 250m to Doveside Christmas Tree Farm on the left.

Dyan Spink’s entrepreneurial journey started in 1986, when she moved from Quebec to British Columbia. Along with her household belongings, she brought 11,500 pounds of maple syrup. Her plan was to sell the syrup at Expo but, once Expo ended, she found herself with remaining inventory. She started making and marketing gift baskets so she could unload the rest of the syrup. This home-based enterprise was a huge success. Always on the lookout for the next trend, she then mastered the art of hand-painted leather jewellery-making and developed a product line that was distributed in boutique stores across Canada.

Spink’s enthusiastic entrepreneurial spirit and achievements did not go unnoticed. In 1997, she was hired by the Business Development Bank Canada to teach people in the Comox Valley how to be self-employed and write business plans. Always eager to take on a new challenge, she moved up Island from Coombs.

Dyan teamed up with Gary Spink soon after moving here. The couple clicked—partly because the entrepreneurial spirit bug had bitten him, too! Gary had been successfully self-employed for many years as well. After selling his Parksville/Qualicum-based business, he had moved to the Comox Valley to help Tory & Sons Plumbing and Heating grow what was then a new business.

While Gary worked full-time at Tory & Sons, Dyan was kept busy with the teaching contract during the fall and winter months. She loved what she was doing but needed to generate some income during the summer. Not one to sit back and simply smell the coffee, she decided to build a business based on her favorite beverage.

Dyan had previous restaurant industry experience and was a barista, so she bought a mobile coffee cart and christened it ‘Joe Cartos.’ She began selling Joe Cartos specialty coffees at the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market. The locals quickly learned to love their signature mochas topped with chocolate whipped cream, Chai lattes, espressos and other decadent specialty coffee beverages.

A few months later, the Spinks launched Joe Cartos Coffee Cart Manufacturing. Gary’s technical background and Dyan’s business experience proved to be a winning combination. They introduced Joe Cartos to entrepreneurs across Canada by selling their Food Safe-certified mobile kitchens at industry trade shows.

“We didn’t just sell coffee carts,” explains Dyan, “we made it a complete turnkey operation. I taught people how to operate their new enterprise, giving instruction and support on everything from how to make coffee to keeping financial records.” In 2002, the Spinks were recognized for their efforts with the Vancouver Island Business Excellence Award (BE) for Small Business of the Year.

While attending trade shows to sell Joe Cartos to others, the Spinks became sold on the idea of artisan custom coffee roasting and began researching this as another possible business venture.

In 2004, their coffee cart business moved in a somewhat unexpected direction. In preparation for Westjet’s then new airline service to the Comox Valley, Dyan responded to a Request for Proposal to operate a new restaurant at the airport. (She was, after all, an expert at writing business plans.) The challenge was to build a menu based on a food service operation that could not have a grill. Of more than 30 submissions, Spink’s innovative plan for ‘Joe Cartos On the Fly’ was selected. A modified Joe Cartos Coffee Cart formed the basis for the food service operation—who knew you could make scrambled eggs using an espresso machine!

The Spinks operated Joe Cartos On the Fly from 2005 through 2007. In addition to building a successful food service operation that focused on local and organic food, they also won more awards. Joe Cartos On the Fly was voted by airport patrons as #1 in Food Service for airports under 500,000 passengers by the Airport Council of Canada. In 2005, they earned another BE Award for Small Business of the Year and were the runner-up for Restaurant of the Year.

While Joe Cartos On the Fly was deemed a success, the Spink’s interest in building a coffee roasting business continued to brew.

“We were in Mexico—and in the process of buying a coffee roaster—on the day we learned that we had won the airport restaurant bid,” says Dyan. “We walked away from the roaster at that time but never let go of the idea. We continued to learn about coffee roasting and, by 2007, knew it was time to take the idea of a roasting company off the back burner, so to speak. We sold the restaurant and bought a vacant lot in Royston. Over a two-year period, we built a home for our family and a Carriage House for our new venture— Royston Roasting Company. The Carriage House zoning in Royston also allowed for us to include a two-bedroom suite above the roastery, where our guests could, quite literally, wake up and smell the coffee!”

During its first season of operation, the two-bedroom vacation suite, called A Great Place to Stay, attracted visitors from all over the world. Guests enjoyed all the comforts of home, a view of the ocean and, of course, fresh Royston Roasting coffee.

I am impressed by the Spink’s success and ask how this growing enterprise has been funded. “This company was ‘funded’ with sweat equity and my credit card,” explains Dyan with a laugh. “That, and the support of friends and family. Gary, my daughter Sareh, son Tannaar, and family friends Natasha Mew and Holly Ha, have all been a tremendous part of our success to date.”
My attention is now drawn to the large steel and hand-tooled copper coffee roaster positioned just a few feet away from Dyan’s office area. To me, the assortment of knobs, dials and gizmos on the front of the machine resemble a big smiley face and remind me of the cartoon characters Thomas the Train or The Little Engine that Could. I can imagine how ‘perky’ it looks when its ‘mouth’ spews toasty brown coffee beans into the big cooling dish positioned below.

The roaster, explains Dyan, is a gas-fired OZTURK, imported from Turkey. When they bought it in 2008, it was the first of its kind to be sold in Canada. (I am not surprised when Dyan tells me that they have been asked by the Turkish Company to be the exclusive Canadian distributor of OZTURK products.)

It is capable of roasting about 15 kilos (33 pounds) of coffee in about 20 minutes. The roasting process combines state-of-the-art high tech instruments with old-fashioned hands-on techniques. Green coffee beans poured into a hopper on the top are then dropped into a rotating drum where the temperature easily reaches 200 degrees Celsius. The roastmaster controls the roast by paying close attention to timing, temperature, smell and color. In this business, mere seconds can make the difference between the perfect espresso or over-roasted.

“Anyone can take a bean and roast it,” adds Dyan, “but to create great coffee using this special equipment is considered to be an art. We are attentive to the roaster throughout the entire process, carefully recording the time and temperature while we wait to hear the distinctive ‘crack’ that tells us the coffee bean has reached a particular stage. The size and moisture content of the individual beans, the type of beans used, and many other criteria all factor into the roasting process. When I know the beans are just right I empty them in the cooling tray where a blade rotates and a fan circulates air around them to ensure they cool quickly and evenly.”

Dyan then guides me over to an assortment of 40-to-75-kilogram burlap sacks that contain fair trade organic raw green coffee beans. Then, she starts opening bulks bins that contain the soon to be packed finished product. Royston Roasting has four signature roasts—Swiss Water Processed DeCaf, Dark French, Medium Colombian and Espresso. For their Christmas Blend, they package a special mix of espresso and medium roast. They also make a ‘half-caf’, a 50/50 mix of medium and decaffeinated beans. She takes a scoop of each variety and points out the special attributes of each one. Color, size and aroma are part of the analysis. I inhale deeply—they all smell exquisite!

Coffee doesn’t grow like a typical bean. It grows on trees and, prior to being handpicked, the ‘fruit’ looks like cherries with the coffee ‘bean’ as the ‘pit.’ Coffee is grown in several equatorial countries and is typically harvested from January through March. The beans used at Royston Roasting Company are purchased from several countries, including Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Panama and Nicaragua.

“All of our coffee is Fair Trade Organic,” adds Dyan. “At the moment, the concern with Fair Trade coffee is that the farmer is required to pay big dollars to certify that he has received a fair price for his coffee. Then, when those certified Fair Trade coffee beans land in distribution centres in the US, a broker pays the Fair Trade License Fee again to the US government, the cost of which is added to the price. When those fair trade beans arrive in Canada, the Canadian government requires the Fair Trade License Fee over again for the same beans. In the end, the price we pay for green coffee beans is nowhere near what the farmer was paid!”

In an effort to truly give farmers fair prices for their coffee beans, considerable effort is being put into a system to buy Direct Trade. No broker. No Government. As a member of collective buying group called the Roasters’ Guild of North America, Royston Roasting is now working toward buying all their coffee direct from the individual farmers or through the Collective, paying them in advance to secure the harvest. The Spinks have been personally visiting farms where their coffee comes from and this spring Gary will be working and participating with one of the harvests. Now that’s a nice perk of owning a coffee roasting company!

While Dyan Spink takes pride in her abilities to roast fabulous coffee, it is her efforts in packaging and marketing her product that are setting a new standard of excellence.

Royston Roasting Company packages are made with 100 per cent biodegradable rice paper. A zip-lock top eliminates the need for the cumbersome (and wasteful) twist-tie foil strip that is commonly used on other packaged coffee and tea products. As an added bonus, the zip-top keeps the coffee fresher, longer. A modification of the package design ensures that it doesn’t tip over as easily as other coffee bags and the insertion of a special one way valve that prevents air from getting in and staling the coffee, but keeps flavor and aroma fresh by allowing the roasting gases to escape.“The other great thing about Royston Roasting is that we can be anybody’s coffee,” claims Dyan. “We offer personalized labelling for corporations, individuals, Christmas and birthday gifts, and non-profit groups.’

Interest in Royston Roasting coffee has spread by word-of-mouth. In addition to wholesaling coffee to non-profit groups, custom packaging for business promotions, and selling at the Farmers’ Market, Royston Roasting Coffee is sold in a select group of local specialty or convenience stores. See their website for a list of locations.

Again, Dyan Spink’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Last spring, she applied for and was invited to a preliminary screening for a potential appearance on the hit TV show Dragon’s Den. She didn’t make the final cut but had a blast meeting the crew! She has also had to make more room on her awards shelf, adding the Business Excellence Award for 2011 Manufacturer of the Year.

If past success is any indication of the future, there is a good chance that Royston Roasting Company will soon be up for another award. “I am excited to announce that this December, we will officially open the Royston Roasting Coffee House,” Dyan says.

“Renovations are almost complete in our new digs in downtown Royston, the former Fat Bonos Ribs restaurant. In addition to exclusively serving Royston Roasting coffee, we will be offering a variety of healthy and local menu items. We anticipate being open for the early morning and lunch crowd only. In the afternoons, the coffee house will close to the public and be used to roast and fill wholesale orders as well as coffee barista and latte art training.”

The Spinks are excited about this latest venture. The new location will enable them to employ several local people, continue to promote Vancouver Island products and tourism, and educate others about something they are obviously very passionate about—a great cup of coffee.

FMI call 250.338.7511 or stop by the coffee house: 3904 Island Highway S, Royston. www.bccoffee.ca