About
Welcome to Coastal Island Farm, located in Merville BC. We are a specialty cut flower farm, growing heirloom bulbs in the spring, a wide array of cold and warm season annuals throughout the summer, as well as specialty corms and tubers like ranunculus and dahlias. Our flowers are available for weddings and events, sold wholesale to florists with a passion for local flowers, delivered throughout the Comox Valley and Campbell River through our bouquet subscription program (much like a CSA but for flowers) and sold weekly at our farmstand in Merville every Sunday. Our fresh flower season typically runs from mid April to mid October. In addition to fresh flower sales, we also offer winter wreaths for the holidays, and floral workshops throughout the year.
Celebrating the seasonality of local flowers is at the heart of what we do. We love to share the shapes, textures, and colors of the season with our lovely customers. Our passion for flowers runs deep. We were fortunate to own and operate a small cut flower farm in Central Alberta for several years, before relocating to beautiful BC where we launched Coastal Island Farm in the Spring of 2021.
Our Journey into Farming
We did not grow up farming, but felt it was important to have a connection with nature and growing our own food for our five beautiful children! They keep life vibrant and interesting. We started out with a veggie patch and a small flock of chickens, and some flowers of course! Soon we found ourselves buying some sheep, and then 100 little chicks to raise our own meat. Knowing where our food comes from and how it is raised is incredibly important to us. We now offer eggs for sale every week from our farm stand, and even roast our own organic coffee- because it keeps us ticking! You can find that on our farm stand too- or in our online shop. We take good coffee very seriously and roast it fresh every week!
We enjoy spending time restoring and reimagining this special property. Our farm stand is located on Williams Beach Road in Merville BC, and we recently made some simple camp sites available on Hip Camp.
*****
Meet Your Farmer Florist
Since I was a young girl I have held a fascination for all things flowers. I spent hours upon hours playing Secret Garden, and couldn’t deny the wonder of the life and vibrancy that emerges from a single seed. I used to stay home “sick” from school to putter the day away in the garden, growing melons, veggies, and flowers- pretty much anything I was able to get my hands on. I have a deep rooted love for the garden. It is there that I wander, dream and find solace. Over the last 15 years I have found every excuse to expand our garden and landscape. My husband, who owned a landscaping business for many years, lovingly indulged me and we have had fun expanding the garden, planting many varieties of shrubs and perennials, and of course all the flowers. Year by year the veggie patch has shrunk, and the flower patch has grown. I have been asked how many flowers a garden needs…. and my answer is, there are never too many!
After fostering a secret dream of becoming a flower farmer when I "grew up", my dream became a reality after taking the Floret Course. In 2018 I stepped out with a friend and launched Meadow Farm Florals located in Central Alberta. We served the community with beautiful market bouquets and I led our design team for wedding and event work. As difficult as it was to say goodbye to our community in Alberta, I love serving our new community here on Vancouver Island! I have connected with so many fellow flower lovers! Each year it is my joy to grow flowers, arrange them with love and attention, and share them with you. From planting to picking, seed to centrepiece- I love it all…
Ashlea |