Photo supplied by Jodie Aldred
It’s a dream years in the making and now Jodie Aldred’s sunflower patch is a reality.
Her 30-acre Bee Kind sunflower field, designed for a joyful walking experience for all ages, is now open on the family farm located north of West Lorne.
The sunflower patch grew out of Aldred’s love of agritourism. However, she stresses, it’s about sharing rural life with others and taking time to step away from the hectic pace of everyday life.
Aldred, an agricultural photographer describes what visitors will encounter at her Bee Kind patch.
Creating the prescription map to plant the sunflower seeds was undertaken by the local John Deere dealer, Podolinsky Equipment.
“They used precision planting so that when the planter was in the field, it has automatic row shut off, which shut off exactly where we have the path and design. So that was a really cool connection.”
Aldred estimates there are about 600,000 sunflower plants in the maze.
She credits Kadylack Farm near Atwood in North Perth for some of the creative ideas on their Sunflower Walk.
Aldred decided it was time to take the plunge this past spring.
She circles back to her passion for agritourism by noting, ” I think it’s great that farmers are doing it because it is a lot of work. So to have a space that is welcoming, where people can come and ask questions, where your mindset is ready to be in that space, that all takes work. So credit to the people who are doing it because it is a whole other added thing on a farm to be able to serve that.
“On my website,” adds Aldred, “there is a learning center where I’m going to try and build out the steps to what went into making this happen so that people can read how did the tractor plant that or what went into bringing that little seed all the way full life cycle to the end of its life.
The patch is located at 15677 Dunborough Rd. in West Lorned and is closed Monday and Tuesday.It can be booked for private events such as yoga sessions and date nights. For more information and hours of operation, visit beekindblooms.ca
Written by Ian McCallum
