Being a farmer grows on you after a while.
Elisabeth and Noah Bond didn’t exactly grow up farming, and yet, they’ve been running Jollity Farm on Thetis Island for 10 years and have since added Jollity Farm Shop & Cafe – the former Nic’s Cafe in Chemainus – to their growing business enterprise.
“Neither of us had any farming experience at all,” conceded Elisabeth.
Her dad, however, was a founding member of the Saanich-Peninsula Country Market, with a desire to protect farmland and offer farmers more ways to get their products to consumers.
“I guess it inspired me at a young age,” Elisabeth indicated.
“We were always into food and sustainability, but we hadn’t really grown food before.”
The Bonds were both from the Victoria area and made the move to Thetis 14 years ago with the idea of wanting to be more self-sufficient.
They purchased the former Thetis Island Vineyards property. “We thought that was cool having a vineyard,” laughed Elisabeth.
They spent the first few years tending vines. They eventually realized the previous owner had planted far too many grapes for the size of the property and what they needed to be doing was growing food.
And so they did, turning the 10-acre property into a family-run community farm.
The name of the farm stemmed from a partner in the property, who was originally from England.
“It is like a state of being jolly,” explained Elisabeth. “I thought, ‘that’s a nice state to be in.’”
The partner eventually went back to Winnipeg and “we had to buy him out,” she added.
The Bonds forged ahead and got a boost from son Finn moving back to the farm in 2021.
“He was never interested in farming,” said Elisabeth. “He came back and thought ‘maybe I’ll do a farming course’ and he is an amazing farmer. Having him there makes this all possible.”
That being the purchase of Nic’s Cafe to expand their horizons.
“Every year we expand our growing area little by little,” Elisabeth pointed out.
“We found we needed another outlet to share the food we were growing. This felt like a good fit to us.”
The Bonds knew Nic’s Cafe owner Nic Chiasson and partner Sjoe van Kleef, who were also from Thetis Island, that started the quick process to purchase going.
“I think the idea to completion was only about three weeks or so,” said Elisabeth. “Noah and I have always been entrepreneurs, but we fly by the seat of our pants. If it feels right, let’s go for it. The proximity to the ferry is so perfect.”
Jollity Farm is also only two minutes away from the Thetis Island ferry terminal and the new location on Oak Street being steps away from the terminal on the Chemainus side makes it ideal.
Jollity Farm Shop & Cafe will also be utilizing space next door that was previously occupied by several different businesses in recent years. It’s still very much a work in progress to determine the balance between a coffee shop with lunches and baked goods with space allocated for produce sales.
“We haven’t quite figured it out yet,” said Elisabeth. “One side will provide more seating and the other side the farm shop. We’re working out those details.
“It’s important we respect and honour the customer base Nic had here. For many people, this is their regular gathering place. We want to maintain that feeling of comfort and welcoming.”
Related story: Nic’s Cafe owner grateful for support as she moves on
Back on Thetis, Jollity Farm has become something like the Amazon of the island, making deliveries and providing services for people that are all-encompassing.
“When COVID happened, we realized there was a lot of people on Thetis who would need support and not have to leave the island,” said Elisabeth.
They started making trips and bringing back products for everyone who needed them – whether it was from the Cowichan Milk Company, Victoria bagels or other locations. People could then collect their items at the farm.
“That’s a whole other part of the puzzle every week to fit in who’s doing the delivery orders,” Elisabeth indicated.
The farm works in partnership with Thetis Island Farm Co-op to raise and sell ethically grown produce, protein, prepared foods and garden plants. The Jollity kitchen makes preserves and ready-to-eat meals from farm-fresh produce.
That’s started to be implemented at the farm shop and cafe as well, with seasonal vegetables at harvest time being used to make soups so the menu is ever-changing.
The Farm Shop & Cafe is open from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.”People are definitely starting to see a couple of times a week there’s fresh produce coming in,” noted Elisabeth.
The farm on Thetis is open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays for people to acquire produce straight from the source and is also available daily at Telegraph Harbour Marina.
Through the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms program, the Bonds receive an additional boost to their operations that also benefits the participants.
“You provide accommodation and education,” said Elisabeth. “They provide additional labour support. We get all these young people from all over the world staying with us.”
They take those opportunities to learn about farming, growing and cooking before branching out.
“It takes a community to operate a farm,” reasons Elisabeth.