Subsistence farming in James Bay

By Jack Krayenhoff

Turn right off Douglas Street onto Battery, one block before Dallas Road, past Olympia on your left and approach Paddon. There, you suddenly get the feeling you're in the country. That feeling is produced by the chickens that are clucking contentedly on a strip to the side of the house of Chris Adams. On the other side of the house is a small flock of ducks. Like the chickens, they are there to lay eggs, and, when beyond egg-laying age, to serve as food themselves. Until that time, they have yet another valuable contribution to make for their manure makes excellent fertilizer.

In front of the house, where the sun shines practically all day, is a vegetable garden, fairly bursting with crops, right up to the property line with not a square inch wasted. Even the paths between the beds are green - with clover. Clover adds nitrogen to the soil and also the bees love it. Adams produces honey as well.

So what is the story behind this professionally-run, self-sufficient and very productive little vegetable farm in the middle of James Bay? Adams grew up in James Bay - in fact, in a house directly across from where he lives now. His father and mother still live there and his little children, Oak and Camas, see their grandparents practically daily. His father also had a small vegetable plot, and Adams has a strong memory of that. "I remember how delicious it was to bring that produce in and eat it," he says. "It gave me a direct connection between James Bay, that fertile neighbourhood we live in, and food."

However, it took Chris a long time to connect that awareness with his career. At UVIC he thought of going into law, but eventually he decided that path was not for him. Instead he took professional training as a cook. In this capacity he went to London, England, where he met his wife, Susannah. He discovered that in the high-end restaurants the food was lacking something you would expect in home-cooked meals. "Now I became interested where the food came from," he recalls. "I volunteered on organic farms where I learned about food production. Then in an allotment garden, I saw children involved. I saw their awe and delight when a potato plant was pulled up and they saw those potatoes dangling from the roots! That awakened in me memories from my own childhood in my father's garden. So when we decided to move to Victoria and this place became available, we right away saw the possibilities."

And here we are doing the interview in the middle of these possibilities realized. We are sitting in the midst of abundantly productive pole beans, strawberry bushes and what not, and at our feet is a sand box where one-year old Camas is operating a blue toy dump truck and Oak, three, pursues other interests. On the whole they are content with their daddy sitting there, though from time to time they claim his attention.

"Do they like it here?" I ask.

"They can go outside when they like. When they are hungry, they can find something wholesome to eat. The other day we had a kindergarten class visit us. Oak was delighted to show them his duck-herding skills and give them a lesson in botany and agriculture, all in a few minutes," Adams replies.

How is it working out as a business?

"I am not trying to sell," Adams says. "If I were to make a living out of selling vegetables in this setting, I would have to focus on high-value crops like salad greens or herbs.

My interest is in subsistence farming, in self-sufficiency. Between this garden and two other backyards I work in, we hardly ever have to buy any vegetables."

Is there time for some leisure and entertainment?

"We can't spend as much money on those things as other people, but then we live a simple life style. For instance, we don't run a car, and of course we spend much less money on food. But also we don't have to buy so much 'leisure' because I enjoy gardening so to me this is leisure. However, we are very lucky to have great downstairs neighbours with whom we share the livestock chores - alternating weekly. We do get nights off and time away.

And the neighbours?

"We have lived here for a while now, so communications are open, and we can resolve problems pretty quickly. Sometimes passers-by question us about the legality of the chickens: 'How do you get away with it?' Visitors to the city often don't realize that Victoria actually has policies that promote urban agriculture. We have a little feeding station where people can feed the chickens. Some people from the nearby nursing home have it as part of their daily routine. The animals have formed an attachment to some of these folk; and when they see or hear them approaching, the chickens come racing toward them.

Talk about organic farming: Adams has become an organic part of the neighbourhood.