Elam Wills, Elam's Organics - Cawston, British Columbia

Catching up with Elam Wills for this interview has proven to be a bit of a challenge. Fall is just around the corner at Elam's Organics in Cawston, BC, and the team is busy getting ready, preparing the apple bins and confirming orders. During a short break, Elam reveals the reason for the rush: the first of his gala apples are ready for harvest this weekend.

Elam became interested in farming at a very young age, picking fruit in an orchard at 10 years old. Over the years he’s tried his hand at a variety of farming jobs, eventually purchasing his first organic orchard in 1978. Part of this was for his family; Elam wanted to ensure that the food he fed his children wouldn’t poison them. He describes embracing organic growing as part of a personal journey to grow food that is safe. “I don’t have great confidence in the status quo”, he reveals.

His current pet project is transitioning a recently-purchased orchard from commercial growing practices to become 100% organic. Over the next three years the orchard will go through a natural detoxification process. During this time the trees will likely bear less fruit and go through more erratic pest cycles. It’s all worth it in the end, though; as the resulting fruit will have noticeable increases in flavour. Elam explains it simply: “Conventional agriculture loads up fruit trees with excess nitrogen to produce big fruit at the expense of taste. Organic fruit is smaller, but you’re much more aware of the flavour.”

Looking forward, Elam plans to eventually transition all of his office work to other employees and retire to the farm. “I’m a businessman to support my farming addiction” he quips. “Farming is what I’ve been doing all my life, and I couldn’t imagine ever doing anything else.’”