Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a column by Squamish-based writer Olivia Bevan focusing on the businesses represented at the Squamish Farmers’ Market. It will appear every other week in the Lifestyle section of the Squamish Chief.
“Seven years ago, I was an account manager at RBC,” Tracy Robertson, farmer and owner of Stony Mountain Farm, explains. That year she and her husband moved out of town to a piece of property in Squamish Valley. It was also around that time he suggested they get a few chickens and sell some eggs.
These days Tracy doesn’t just have a few chickens. She has 140 (99 of which are layers). That’s in addition to three goats, two flocks of turkeys, some bees arriving any day now and some heritage pigs coming next month.
“I calculated the other day that I have about 700 animals,” she says. “I always tell people not to take on too much at once, and I’ve gone totally the other way!”
Regulars to Squamish Farmers’ Market will know that Tracy’s free-range eggs are highly sought after, often selling out by 11 a.m. Fortunately, she just received the permit to expand her laying flock, and plans to boost her numbers to just under 400.
Tracy is a farmer with a big heart. “I do really care for my animals. The first time we sent our turkeys away, I couldn’t talk about it for six months. I was so upset,” she says.
She fights for the little guys to survive, and strongly encourages all her animals to enjoy the freedom of the outdoors — even if it means personally picking up her stocky meat chickens and placing them outside.
“I was literally carrying them out of the coop,” she says. “That’s why I have so many scratches on my arms. They’d rather just sit by the feeder and eat!”
Collecting eggs and enjoying evening walks with goats may sound idyllic, but farming is a great deal of hard work, especially in winter with the additional Squamish Valley challenges of snow, power outages and freezing temperatures. “I was cursing in the middle of winter this year,” Tracy says. “We bought a heated hose, but it broke, so I was hauling water from the bathtub to the chickens every morning.”
There’s no doubting Tracy’s dedication to her animals but, when things get tough, what keeps her going? “I have no choice — the animals depend on me. Everything we do is making a difference for them. I couldn’t fathom not doing it.
“When I think about things, it’s hard, though. My turkeys live for 18 weeks and my chickens for eight, but they have a very fulfilled life. We think that if you raise an animal that’s happy… it’s better for you to eat. It’s really heartwarming when people say to me, ‘That was the best Thanksgiving turkey I ever had.’ I put so much effort into everything and it’s so nice to have people notice.”
If you’d like meat from Stony Mountain Farm, you can pre-order a case of chicken or a Thanksgiving turkey (in a range of sizes) from July onwards. Just visit Tracy at the Squamish Farmers’ Market on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Watch this space for her sides of pork and goats’ milk soap!
