Always popular locally grown Soda Creek Sweet Corn is now available in local grocery stores.
The corn is grown at the historic Dunlevy Ranch about a half hour drive north of Williams Lake where many locals and travellrs also enjoy the u-pick opportunities at the farm for corn and a myriad of other vegetables.
The Soda Creek Sweet Corn brand is part of the Kaufman family’s ranching operation and first began growing corn for the u-pick market in 1982, says Linda Kaufman.
Since then the farm has grown substantially to include a u-pick market garden filled with all kinds of vegetables. For the past 10 years the Kaufmans have also grown their sweet corn for the retail market which is sold in grocery stores and fruit stands from 100 Mile House to Prince George.
In Williams Lake Soda Creek Sweet Corn is available at Save-On-Foods, Safeway, Margetts Meat Market and Beaver Valley Feeds.
Their special brand of corn was chosen because it is sweet and provides more yield per cob than other brands of sweet corn, says Linda, noting their seed choice is confidential. They also grow peaches and cream corn for their u-pick customers.
People visiting the farm will find very good bargains on the corn and vegetables they pick themselves. Corn is just $4 a dozen and people are encouraged to try eating the corn right off the cob which is just as sweet raw as it is cooked.
Many u-pick customers shuck the corn they pick right on the wide pathways to the corn fields where they can park while they venture into the fields to pick. All of the corn leavings will be tilled back into the soil or composted to help fertilize the next year’s crop.
When people first come to the u-pick farm they are shown how to look for corn cobs that are ripe for the picking so the other cobs will continue growing to their full ripeness. There are two cobs on every stalk and the top cob ripens first.
“We have very few rules because we want people to experience what it is like to pick fresh produce,” Linda said. “It’s fantastic to get families out picking their own food. I love it. We’ve had some children come here who didn’t know that potatoes grow underground.”
The u-pick garden is filled with some 500 tomato plants, plus rows and rows of other vegetables including bell peppers, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, pickling and eating cucumbers, eggplant, green onions, kale, kohlrabi, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, Swiss Chard, zucchini and all types of squash, acorn, buttercup, butternut, spaghetti, stripetti and patty-pan.
She notes people can cut celery a stalk at a time and it will keep growing through the season.
There is a huge herb garden featuring basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, savoury, cilantro and dill.
“We plant tons so we can offer choice,” Linda said. “It can all go back into the earth after as compost if it doesn’t sell.”
It’s not on the u-pick list but at the checkout counter people can also buy watermelon and cantaloupe which they grow in another field. These more delicate items are picked by their gardeners. They also sell garlic at the check-out counter that is grown at the McLeese Lake Garlic Farm and at Snowshoe Garden in Soda Creek.
Soda Creek Sweet Corn is an extension of Dunlevy Ranch Ltd. which has been operated by the Kaufman family for 55 years.
Today five Kaufman families including Margie and Woody Kaufman who took over the ranch in 1962 continue to be involved in the ranch operations along with three generations of their family.
“We are primarily a cattle ranch,” Linda said. “We grow steaks and roasts is what we do.”
They grow 80 acres of corn, alfalfa, barley and grass for the cattle and have 15 acres set aside for their u-pick and retail market sweet corn.
The sweet corn u-pick farm was added to the ranch operations in 1982, followed more recently in 2014 with their u-pick vegetable garden.
Opening day for the u-pick farm is different every year depending on the weather.
“Mother Nature is in charge of everything we do around here,” Linda explains. “One year we didn’t open until Labour Day. Another year it was August 4.”
This year, with smoke from the wild fires hanging over the region much of the summer, the corn was a little slower than usual to ripen but opening day on August 23 was still only a week later than last year.
Dunlevy Ranch Ltd. also has an environmental farm plan which includes a third-party assessment that recognizes the ranch as a good steward of the land, Linda explains.
They don’t use any pesticides or herbicides. Some rows of vegetables are covered with white Reemay cloth sheeting that acts as both a bug deterrent and provides a greenhouse effect for some of the vegetables that take longer to ripen.
They use compost and Miracle Grow to fertilize the gardens and a drip irrigation system to conserve water.
“Vegetables don’t like too much water on their leaves,” Linda explains.
The u-pick garden will be open until the end of September and longer if the fall frosts hold off into October.