Ruckle Farm Salt Sprig Island Short Documentary
Was a pleasure to produce this short film a few years back for the Salt Spring Island Chamber of Commerce on our friends at Ruckle Farm.
Ruckle Heritage Farm was established in 1872 by one of Salt Spring Island’s earliest settlers, Henry Ruckle, and is the oldest operating family farm in the Gulf Islands and is a significant property among British Columbia’s working farm heritage sites. The Province of BC purchased the land from the Ruckle family in 1973 and it was established as a Class A park in 1974. It bears the name of the family as a tribute. A life tenancy agreement was established between the Province and the Ruckle Family that granted six family members the right to continue to occupy and farm the historic farm area.
With the expiry of the life tenancy agreement in 2019, BC Parks is responsible for the management of the 82 hectares of the Active Farm and heritage structures and have secured a contract with Mike and Marjorie Lane to operate the farm into the future.
At one time the farm included an orchard of more than six hundred apple and pear trees and forty nut trees. The family raised sheep, cattle, hogs, turkeys, chickens and pheasants, and produced hay, potatoes, wheat, oats, barley, field peas and root crops. Unfortunately the farm was negatively impacted by the arrival of irrigation to British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley in the 1930s, which took business away from the farm. Despite the decline in Salt Spring Island farming, the Ruckles persevered and supported their farm by selling milk and cream.
In 1974, the Ruckle family bequeathed their farm and the surrounding 1307 acre property to British Columbia’s provincial park service with the stipulation that the 202 acre farmstead remain a working farm. In addition to a large market garden, the farm includes sheep and lambs, cows, chickens, turkeys, highland cattle and goats.
The parkland outside of the farm includes hiking trails, camping and seven kilometers of gorgeous shoreline.
The Ruckle Family’s legacy lives on within the park where Mike and Marjorie Lane continue to farm in keeping with Gordon Ruckle’s wishes while the beautiful forested parkland is maintained for prosperity. As Henry’s grandson Gordon once said, “You can’t own land, you can only preserve it for future generations.”