Glenraven Farm & Nursery is a 30+ acre working farm and plant nursery on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.
The land here is used. Some areas are cultivated carefully, others more loosely. Some look ordered, others appear closer to their natural state. We pay attention to what thrives, what struggles, and what improves over time. That attention shapes both the farm and the nursery.
Nothing here exists purely for display.
Beauty here is rarely separate from function. Gardens and plantings are grown not only for structure and longevity, but for the roles they play in supporting pollinators, feeding birds, and contributing to the wider ecology of the farm. Seeds are left to set. Insects are welcomed. Loss is part of the system.
The result is not always tidy, but it is alive.
The Farm
Glenraven grows a wide mix of food, fibre, and plants, chosen for their usefulness and their suitability to this place. The farm sits in the Burgoyne Valley, within the Agricultural Land Reserve, where deep, fertile soils shape what can be grown and how the land is worked.
Babydoll Southdown sheep graze the pastures and help manage the land. Heritage laying hens produce eggs in a range of colours, sizes, and rhythms. There are asparagus beds, vegetable plots, cut flowers, and a small orchard of apples, pears, cherries, quince, plums, and crabapples. Walnuts and hazelnuts grow alongside stands of basket willow, cultivated for multiple uses.
Honey bees are an important part of the farm. The hives here produce nucs, honey, and wax, which are supplied locally by Island Bees. Their work supports pollination across the farm and reinforces the role bees play well beyond our boundaries.
Some seasons are abundant. Others are more restrained. Both are expected.
The Nursery
The nursery is shaped by the same conditions as the farm.
We grow hardy, prairie-style perennials suited to large-scale plantings, naturalistic gardens, and long-lived landscapes. These are plants commonly used by designers and trades working in the prairie and naturalistic traditions, selected for structure, seasonal interest, and resilience rather than short-lived display.
Our plants are grown for a range of uses. They are suitable for larger installations, as well as for home gardeners looking to build gardens that mature well over time. The aim is the same in both cases: plants that establish, persist, and contribute meaningfully to the landscape.
All nursery stock is grown outdoors and produced here on the farm, from seed, cuttings, or division. Plants are exposed to the conditions they will face once planted, resulting in stock that is well adapted and resilient over time.
A central part of the nursery is our Plant Library. It is planted as a living reference collection, with many species grown in one-square-metre groupings. This allows us to observe how individual plants behave over time. How they spread, how they hold their structure, how they interact with neighbouring plants, and how they respond to weather and seasonal change.
The stock garden and plant library are working gardens. They are used for observation, but also for propagation and division, informing both what we grow and how we grow it.
Observation matters. It shapes the nursery just as much as production does.
Learn more about how plants are grown → How We Grow
Local Partnerships
Much of what is grown at Glenraven finds its way into the wider island community.
Fruit from the orchard has been sold directly from the farmstand and used by Salt Spring Wild Cider, where island-grown apples and pears become small-batch cider rooted in place. Produce including pears, quince, rhubarb, plums, vegetables, and asparagus has also been supplied to local kitchens such as The Woodshed, Feast and the Hen & Hound.
Walnuts harvested here have been sold to Sweetwater Distillery for the production of black walnut nocino, continuing a tradition of small-scale, craft-based food and drink made on the island.
We are also part of the Salt Spring Food Share. When crops exceed what we can sell or use, they are harvested and shared with local services and neighbours. That exchange is an important part of farming here.
How We Work
There is always more work than time.
Not all time here is spent working. The stock garden and plant library are also places to slow down and observe. They are planted in the prairie style, with intention, and allowed to move and change over time. Spending time there is part of how we understand the plants, and part of why we grow them in the first place.
Most days are about deciding what matters most right now. Other tasks wait, sometimes longer than planned. We don’t try to operate like a large business. Glenraven is a small farm, with many moving parts, and a limited number of hours in a day.
That scale is intentional.
Visiting and Ordering
Orders are placed online and prepared at the nursery.
Pickup is from the farmstand once orders are ready, by arrangement. Local delivery is available to select areas and coordinated after confirmation. Because we work with living material, timing and communication matter, and we aim to be clear and realistic about what’s possible.
For current availability and seasonal timing, see Availability & Seasonality.