When Brad McNish and Sheila Didomenicantonio traded the hustle and bustle of city life for a picturesque farm on the edge of Boundary Country, they brought with them a shared passion: A love for green tea.
Not the traditional kind, mind you, but rather a distinctive, Canadian twist on the popular beverage.
Amidst rolling hills and views of the Monashee Mountain Range, Natural Farmworks was born.
While McNish finds roots in farming, Didomenicantonio hails from the health and beauty industry. The unlikely pair found common ground in the fertile soil of their Rock Creek farm.
The heart of their endeavour? Young green leaves of barley, wheat, and oats, grown at an elevation of over 1,200 meters in Boundary Country climate.
“Natural Farmworks is not just your regular farm,” the company states online. “We’re a thriving functional beverage company that grows and manufactures nutritious greens for our unique and health-conscious products.”
Their organic farm embraces the warm days and cool nights of the region, nurturing caffeine-free greens to develop a natural sweetness. It’s a balance between tradition and innovation, coupling age-old tea processing techniques with homegrown crops to create blends that are distinctly Canadian.
The result is Tea’d Greens, whose journey from field to teapot begins each day at dawn.
A key tenet of the operation involves regenerative farming practices. A holistic approach aims to work in sync with nature, eschewing chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. It’s about promoting soil fertility and biodiversity while ensuring food safety and product integrity.
And the artistry and passion that drive Tea’d Greens extend beyond farming.
At each stage of the process—be it withering, oxidation, rolling, fermentation, or drying—the goal remains constant: to enhance and preserve the nutritional value and the rich taste of the greens. To achieve this mastery, teaming up with other experts has proven crucial.
In close collaboration with Chois, a Chinese tea expert, for example, Natural Farmworks sourced tea-making equipment from China—integrating traditional techniques with their own innovative process.
Tea’d Greens also collaborates with the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Natural Health and Food Products Research Group to investigate specific phytonutrients and amino acids in tea. This research on compounds developed through stages of oxidation offers a deeper understanding of the benefits specific teas can provide. Herbal blends are then meticulously crafted by Didomenicantonio.
Every sip of Tea’d Greens you take should be a testament to the philosophy and hard work of the farm, according to McNish.
As of July, the company is actively hiring.
“We are currently seeking a passionate Part-Time Administrative Assistant to join our dynamic team,” the farm states. “If you have a love for sustainable agriculture and a desire to make a positive impact on people’s health and the planet, we want to hear from you.”
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