The sweet life

Jen and Joel Comer returned to the Kootenays and now love living on the family farm where they keep honeybees

1 of 4Joel and Jen Comer are happy to be in Creston. — Brendan Mitchell photo

2 of 4Joel Comer inspects a frame full of busy bees. — Brendan Mitchell photo

3 of 4Jim Comer (centre) is happy to have his son and daughter-in-law at King Creek Farm. — Brendan Mitchell photo

4 of 4Joel Comer opens a hive to check the honeybee activity. — Brendan Mitchell photo

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Like so many Kootenay kids, Jen and Joel Comer moved on to bigger, busier places as soon as they graduated from high school. They certainly don’t regret the time they spent on Vancouver Island—but Creston ended up meaning more to them than they anticipated.

“We both moved away and spent seven years or so in Victoria,” said Jen. “We went through university and were working in offices, in cubicles, and looked at each other and wondered, ‘This isn’t the be-all and end-all, is it?’ I wanted to be back in the Kootenay lifestyle where things are slowed down a little bit. I wasn’t expecting it to be such a big piece of my heart that I couldn’t leave behind.”

That was three years ago and the Comers have returned to King Creek Farm—a family farm that Joel’s parents, Jim and Valerie, had purchased from their own parents. Although he still grows hay, Jim had begun a foray into honeybees, leaving behind the beef industry. Joel and Jen were happy to jump in and learn the ropes.

There are several other King Creek Farm endeavours in the works, but with over 60 hives, honey is now the farm’s primary product. Joel and Jim oversee the beekeeping while Jen is largely responsible for the marketing side of things. Most sales, so far, have been through Creston’s farmers market. This year, however, Jen looks forward to having enough product to expand and sell elsewhere in the Kootenays.

“The more you learn about food, the more empowering it is,” said Jen. “You find that every little step makes such a big difference in getting closer to where that comes from and it’s easy and manageable."

After moving to Creston, Jen started work as the community’s farm market manager. She is now on maternity leave, with daughter Aspen being the fourth generation of Comers to live at King Creek Farm. Jen believes the intergenerational aspect is crucial to the farm. When she returns to work, Jen will be executive director with the Creston Food Action Coalition.

“My passion is in community development and sustainable food systems—it’s what I mostly studied in school,” said Jen. “(I’m excited for) the opportunity to be able to develop new initiatives that really hit at food security and the question of addressing this in the valley. It’s nice because I can take it from the farm, on our very own family level, and understand those challenges. How do we come up with the capital? How do we come up with the personnel to do this? Then (I can) look at things on a bigger scale. How does this affect the valley and the whole region for food security? The position gives me the opportunity to work on those bigger pieces.”

Living on a family farm in the Creston Valley has been an important lifestyle choice for the Comers—and it’s one that they don’t regret. Farming has changed with the times, meaning a younger generation is interested in accomplishing different things for different reasons. You can’t be in it for the money, they advised. For the Comers, it’s been an advantage to have land in a great part of the province that they can play on in addition to very supportive family near by.

What advice would they give to others wanting to make positive changes?

“Come to the Food Action Coalition meetings,” said Jen with a laugh. “Network, right? Network with anybody who is doing something that you’re interested in. People are happy to talk and share their experiences . . . And the Internet—research everything! The Internet will teach you everything you need to know—and sometimes how to do it wrong. But just figure out a way to do it. Get creative. Start small.”

“Just get your hands dirty,” added Joel, “and see what you like.”