The UBC Farm is a 24-hectare farm and forest system on the southern end of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

(UBC) campus in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. The farm is operated by the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, which is part of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and has existed in its current form since 2000. It hosts a variety of crops and fruits, as well as some animals and

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and man ...

ing facilities. Several academic programs allow the students to use the farm for research and teaching. The UBC Farm shares the land with the Tal A'xin: Mayan in Exile Garden, the Musqueam Garden, and the xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden.

History

The farm, located on traditional

Musqueam The Musqueam Nation ( Hunquminum: ) is a First Nation whose traditional territory encompasses the western half of what is now Greater Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. It is governed by a band council and is known officially as the Musq ...

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

territory, has been a part of UBC since 1915. However, the farm of 1915 was not located at its current location but reached from the

Nitobe Memorial Garden The Nitobe Memorial Garden is a -acre (one hectare) traditional Japanese garden located at the University of British Columbia, just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Although it is part of the UBC Botanical Garden, ...

to the

Thunderbird Stadium Thunderbird Stadium is an outdoor stadium on the UBC Vancouver campus in British Columbia, Canada. It is located west of Vancouver's city limits, and is primarily used for soccer and football by the UBC Thunderbirds. It seats 3,500 in the main ...

. In 1970, the farm moved closer to its current location at Wesbrook Place. During the 1990s, activity in the agricultural area at the south end of campus declined, and in 1997 the area was declared a Future Housing Reserve. A student-initiated program, supported by the Faculties of Science and

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

, began in 1999 to advocate for the revival of the UBC Farm. During 2008 there was an announcement of plans to reduce the size of the farm or move it somewhere else. This caused the Alma Mater Society club Friends of the UBC Farm to start the "Save the Farm" campaign and advocate for the conservation of the farm. This campaign caused a shift in policy, and on December 1, 2009, UBC's Board of Governors stated that the site of the UBC Farm would no longer be considered a housing reserve. In 2011, the area was declared a "Green Academic" zone, which "will be kept primarily as open areas to support land-based teaching, research, and community engagement".

Farm facilities and mission

Farm facilities

The farm consists of two small buildings, which can serve a variety of purposes, including as classroom, office, kitchen, storage, and processing areas, and it is surrounded by a coastal hemlock forest. Two

tractors A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

and other tools are stored in several sheds on site, and two glass

greenhouses A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

and three

polytunnel A polytunnel (also known as a polyhouse, hoop greenhouse or hoophouse, grow tunnel or high tunnel) is a tunnel typically made from steel and covered in polyethylene, usually semi-circular, square or elongated in shape. The interior heats up bec ...

s offer to extend the seasons and further spread the crops. A 300 m³ composting facility can process the farm's and other local produce wholesalers' organic waste and turn it into soil fertilizer. Two trailers offer staff accommodation to take care of the animals 24 hours a day. The farm includes a wide range of crops and livestock, which represent the agricultural possibilities of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. Vancouver's moderate maritime climate allows cultivation of certain crops year round. Over 70 different kind of apples grow in the heritage orchard, and the farm also features grapes,

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

raspberries The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

, and

truffles A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Peziza'', '' Choiromyces'', and ' ...

. The farm normally hosts some free-range poultry and honeybee colonies, and has occasionally been a seasonal home for cattle. It provides a habitat for "a range of birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles not found elsewhere in the city".

References

External links

UBC Farm Homepage

{{UBC University of British Columbia