Commercial Growing in British Columbia Coastal Area
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: Anna Dodds
Posted on: March 25, 2000

I am new to the British Columbia (Canada) area and would love to know if you could recommend a comprehensive book on growing herbs for the BC coastal area (small scale commercial production). Also do you have any contact details for herb growers co-ops in BC?

You don’t say which type of commercial production you plan to do, but I will assume you mean field production of dried or fresh herbs for culinary, medicinal or aromatic markets.

There is no book or production manual particular to the west coast region. There are, of course, significant climatic differences in the regions along the west coast of North America compared to the rest of the continent, so a specialized manual would be useful to growers.

Coastal BC growers have to adapt information from existing production resources, of which Richters carries probably the best selection available. You can also get good information from the BC government which offers specialized information on a variety of crops including ginseng and echinacea; contact you local BC agricultural office.

There is no growers’ co-op presently in BC but the BC Herb Growers Association has considered forming a co-op in the past. The BCHGA is a very active group that supports its members with a newsletter and with various initiatives to share resources and information among its membership. The website is at http://bcherbgrowers.com .

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