About Us
Earth Apple Organic Farm and Close to Home Organics live and work alongside each other as members of the Glen Valley Organic Farm Cooperative. GVOFC is a land co-operative in Abbotsford, BC, which stewards a beautiful 50 acre property bordering on the mighty Fraser River. GVOFC has overseen the farming of this land since 1999, and we acknowledge the traditional ancestral and unceded shared territory of the Kwantlen First Nation and Matsqui First Nation. These two First Nations are part of the Stό:lō Nation. The Stό:lō people have lived in the Fraser Valley for 10,000 years. It is for this reason that we acknowledge the traditional territory in which we reside and grow food.
Earth Apple Organic Farm was founded in 2011. Shirlene Cote (former sole proprietor) and Michael Nyberg (formerly of New Mountain Farm 2011-2019) merged their businesses and lives in 2020. The two farmers put together have over 20 years of experience growing organic vegetables and feeding local communities. In 2020 Earth Apple launched a seed garlic venture-- New Mountain Garlic aptly named after Michael's former farm and extensive expertise in growing big, beautiful, healthy bulbs.
We are proud of the work we do and it is evident when you bite into some of our quality produce found in our CSA program. We are committed and dedicated to feeding healthy food to local communities, acting as stewards and caretakers of this sacred and beautiful land and to one another in love and life.
Close to Home Organics is a family farm business, operating at Glen Valley Organic Farm. Chris Bodnar and Paige Dampier manage the business, overseeing crop planning, growing, harvesting and sales. We grow an array of certified organic, seasonal vegetables and fruit, selling through this Community Shared Agriculture program.
Chris and Paige have lived and worked at Glen Valley Organic Farm since 2007. We started Close to Home Organics in the fall of 2011, building off of five years of farming experience. Our guiding philosophy is that the healthiest, most flavourful and environmentally sustainable food is grown close to home.
Our Partners
To provide a Fruit Share option to our CSA we partner with Snowy Mountain Organics — a long standing organic farm hidden in the South Similkameen with a 33 year history of organic farming. In 2021, Aaron and Carly Godard purchased the farm and will continue to provide cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, pears, quince and apples (in season) for our Fruit Share in 2024.
Snowy Mountain Organics
Aaron and his wife Carly moved to the Similkameen Valley, BC in 2010, and instantly fell in love with their surroundings. For the past 10 years they have been working in, and farming vineyards. In 2018 they co-founded Scout Vineyard, a wine farm and cooperative with a focus on organic farming and natural wine-making. After years of dreaming of owning their own permaculture farm, the opportunity presented itself to purchase Snowy Mountain Organics. They hope to continue to foster the diversity that Lauren brought to her orchard for 33 years, build soil health, and feed their community.
We occasionally partner with other BC certified organic producers to bring our CSA members even more variety of local fruits, berries and melons.
Our Program
To learn more about our CSA program, click here.