Hornby Island is well reputed for agriculture. Commercial farmers of the 1940's were known to export warm weather crops like tomatoes, peppers and corn from Hornby to Vancouver Island. Organic farmers today supply the Co-op store with a bounty of harvest throughout the year. Seasonally, the bi-weekly farmers market is a bustling place where growers sell out of their produce by mid-day.

Lot D, Section 15, Hornby Island, now Carbrea Vineyard, was farmed for years and evidence of underground cedar drainage is still found. It is said that the forest fire that swept throughout Hornby Island in the late 1930s benefited our growing area. The mountain above us sloughed off in the heavy winter rains bringing rich topsoil to settle on the low lying land.

We face some challenges from the high volumes of rain throughout the winter. The rain-forest-like conditions cause rapid and prolific growth which requires extra vine maintenance. Drainage was set into place before planting to clear the groundwater from the fields.