Megan…

…grew up on the Halstead Farm, and has recently returned to the Farm after going away to complete a BSc in Agroecology at UBC. She runs most of the day-to-day operations.

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Chris…

…is an automotive technician working in Courtenay, and lends his valuable mechanical expertise to the operation. They live at the Halstead  Farm and were married at the Farm in the summer of 2008.

Find Chris on Facebook or at Halstead Farm (view the map below)
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Ann…

…is Megan’s mum, and now retired from teaching, has taken responsibility for marketing, purchasing and sales for the poultry project. She also coordinates taking chickens to the abattoir weekly.

Jim…

…is also a retired teacher and brings considerable construction experience to the team. Ann & Jim are recently married and live in Comox, organizing the majority of custom sales through their home on Queens Ave (or view the map below).

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A Short History of Halstead Farm

Since 1958, Halstead Farm has been family-owned and operated in ‘Gumboot Country’, Merville, BC.

Once upon a time, Don Halstead and his bride Carol discovered paradise in Merville, at the wild northern end of the Comox Valley.  There were trees and beaches and beautiful mountains, and there was a thriving agriculture industry.  They purchased a 160 acre farm and Don raised sheep, cattle and root crops, and worked in town as a CGA. Carol gave birth to Christina and Eric and taught at Tsolum School, and though it was muddy, it was a peaceful escape from then still war-torn England.

Many years passed.  Don and Carol separated, Don retrained and traveled with Chris and Eric to Jamaica to work as an economic development specialist for CIDA.  There he met another schoolteacher Ann, and they returned to the farm and were married in 1976.  “The Twins”, Megan and Shani were born shortly after.

Following Don’s untimely death in 1995, the farm went into a dormant phase. Aside from Ann & Megan trying a brief experiment in pastured poultry between 1999-2000, the farm was in hibernation.  In 2008 Halstead Farm underwent a rebirth, when daughter Megan returned to take over with her husband Chris and a degree in Agroecology from UBC.  A partnership between Ann & Megan, with support from Chris and Ann’s new husband Jim.

Since then, the farm has been undergoing the process to becoming Certified Organic, and began selling organically raised products through the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market.

Currently, we produce top quality organically raised chicken, pork and bedding plants, while we renovate and reorganize the infrastructure to include sheep, possibly cattle, orchard fruits, and herbs in the future.  We also are renovating our old camperised Blue Bird school bus to enable us to house WWOOFers or farm-stay visitors.