We're pleased to introduce over 22 varieties of garlic for sale this season.
About Earth Apple Farm &
New Mountain Garlic
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 20 years of experience growing organic vegetables, some fruit and specialize in growing garlic for seed and culinary use.
We acknowledge the traditional ancestral unceded shared territory of the Sumas First Nation and Mastqui 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.
We believe in growing sustenance food and we subsidize our love of labour by growing some other fun things too like cut flowers and salad greens. We have some passions in particular that become evident in viewing our fields. Farmer Mike has a healthy obsession with garlic (#NewMountainGarlic) and Farmer Shirlene sure loves her potatoes. We grow carrots and peas, rhubarb and berries, kale and chard, onions and beans, tomatoes and eggplant, squashes and melons, and a few other things in between. All together we grow around 40-50 different types of crops all certified organic on a cultivated area of about 6 acres. We put put a lot of effort into taking care of our soil through crop rotations, cover cropping, regular soil tests and reducing our tillage as much as possible.
We are shareholders of the Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-operative (GVOFC), a land co-operative, in Abbotsford, BC, which is a beautiful 50 acre property with much wildlife and natural waterways that meet with the Salmon migrations of the mighty Fraser River that we reside alongside. The coyotes and snakes, mice and rabbits, owls and hawks, eagles and newts, frogs and herons, native plants and much much much more all interplay with us and we do our best to work humbly within the natural cycles and ecosystem that we are a part of here.
We cooperate with other farmers and share the risks and responsibilities of food security in our region and with local communities via our Community Shared Agriculture program and other partners.
Learn more about the groups we work with by clicking on the following links and check out our Community page:
Farm Circle Organics Collective
Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-op
Read more about Glen Valley
The Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-operative (GVOFC) is a group of 50 individuals who have come together with the goal of sharing, owning and operating Glen Valley Organic Farm. The Co-operative’s members come from a variety of backgrounds, including conventional and organic farming, education, law, project management, marketing and group facilitation. Our farmers steward 50 acres of fertile loam, woodland, and wetlands plus several homes and outbuildings on our farm just east of Fort Langley, BC on the south shore of the Fraser River. We seek to feed and educate present and future generations by cooperatively holding, stewarding and sustainably farming our land.
Learn more about the Glen Valley Organic Farm land co-op and follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Read More About The Farmers
Shirlene Côté
Hi, I established Earth Apple in 2011 with a penchant for potatoes and an urge to use my hands and be outside more. Since graduating with a BSc (U of Guelph) and then a MEd (SFU), I worked in the non-profit sector for several years on social and environmental justice projects. I taught a variety of science-based and outdoor recreational classes in Canada, the US and South America.
It was while working for a large climate change research institution that I decided I could contribute in a solutions oriented, but much more direct way that also suited me and my talents better. Something that would serve local communities and would allow me to do my part in building resilience and finding sustainable ways to fulfill some of our most basic needs as humans. I left Academia and pursued small-scale farming, market gardening... call it what you will.
Despite farming’s never ending hardships, huge life commitments and relatively low earnings-- its the sound of birds singing in the morning; the smiles of people visiting us at the farmers markets excited for the bounty; the smell of freshly turned earth or the scent of a freshly picked carrot, strawberry or rose; the strength I feel in solidarity working side by side with other farmers; the apprentices that carry on the skills & knowledge acquired here to forge new small farms; and the dreams, hopes and plans of how we can always do things better keep me married to this vocation. Shirlene joined Glen Valley in 2016 and currently sits on the board of GVOFC.
Mike Nyberg aka Farmer Mike
Michael Nyberg has been farming on Vancouver Island as New Mountain Farm for nearly a decade. He worked through university landscaping for the city whilst obtaining a degree in International Development at the University of Calgary. He followed his heart to the Island and found many new loves, but mostly in growing food where he started his business, New Mountain Farm (from the Swedish translation of last name: Nyberg). He became a well-loved member of the Halliburton Community Farm in Victoria, BC where he farmed for 8 years and served as a board member.
Halliburton Community Farm is community-supported, certified organic, educational farm. His passion for human relations, good communication and community living was fed through his experiences at Halliburton and with community living. The decision to move to the mainland was a difficult one, but the draw of farming with his lady love and proximity to his family won him over. With a strong interest in how we are all connected, community, growing food (especially garlic) and taking care of the land that feeds us-- he is a tremendous asset to Glen Valley and eaters of the lower mainland. If you have pressing garlic questions, get in touch with Farmer Mike!
