We came to Kam Lake with land on our minds.
We wanted to grow things. That was always part of the plan — a proper market garden, a real connection to the land we worked on, food you could trace from soil to shelf. And we still do. But building a business in the north takes time, and growing food commercially in a short season takes more than passion. So we made a practical call: focus on the bakery, build the retail, get the business to a place where it can sustain itself — and then bring the land back into the picture the way we always intended.
We’re getting there. And in the meantime, the property has been quietly becoming something we think is even better.
The Food Forest
We’ve stopped trying to make the garden perform like a commercial operation, and started treating it like a long-term investment.
Over the last few years we’ve been planting perennials — Saskatoon berries, apple trees, cherry, plum. The idea is to build a food forest: a productive piece of land that takes care of itself more and more each year, and yields food for decades rather than seasons. It’s a different kind of farming, slower and less predictable, but we think it suits this place and this climate.
Each year looks a bit different out here. Some trees are getting established, some are starting to produce, and there’s always something new going in the ground. Our commitment to growing food isn’t going anywhere — it just looks different than it used to.
The Chickens
We have about twenty chickens on the property, and we collect eggs every morning.
We sell them at the Farm Store when we have them in stock — fresh eggs from chickens that actually go outside, here on the property. They tend to sell quickly, so if you’re after eggs specifically, it’s worth coming in early on a Thursday or giving us a call ahead of time.
The Apiary
For a few years we kept bees on the property. There’s something very Kam Lake about the idea of an apiary at the edge of a market garden on the edge of the boreal forest, and we loved it.
The hives are on pause right now — beekeeping is one of those things that takes the right season and the right conditions to restart properly — but the apiary is part of this property’s story, and we plan to bring it back.
What’s Coming
The longer-term vision for The Farm is something we’re genuinely excited about: we want to open it up to people in a more intentional way.
Farm experiences, seasonal events, maybe a u-pick when the Saskatoons come in. Nothing is formal yet — we’re realistic about where we are in building the business — but it’s where we’re headed. The land is here. We’re building the capacity to use it well.
We’ll let you know when there’s something to come see.
Come Find Us
The Farm is where we bake, grow, and raise our chickens. The Farm Store is where we sell what we make. Both are at 180 Enterprise Drive in Kam Lake — come through the driveway on Thursday to Saturday and see what’s on.
Also find us downtown: The Pantry at Yellowknife Books →
