Our Story
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BHF Supports Ag4Autism 21
BHF First (ever) Plant 2017
Prepping BHF Pearls
Making BHF Garlic Gold Bars & Pods
Bradner Hills Farm (BHF) specializes in superb quality, pesticide & spray-free jumbo-sized (3-6+ ounce bulbs) gourmet Red Russian Garlic!
We are family owned and operated in the Fraser Valley, Southwestern British Columbia, Canada.
In 1932, our family settled in Bradner ~ a small, rural community in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Grandpa and Grandma Kilian (Vincent and Helen) started our farm by growing hay, raspberries and pasture to feed the dairy cows that produced milk for Dairyland. Later, our Dad and Mom, Jim and Faye Kilian, raised and sold Limousine Beef cattle (also enabling us to enjoy 4H through our childhood). Now, in our latest farming adventure, "The Kilian kids" are growing Garlic!
We welcome you to browse our website, read our story and enjoy our traditionally-grown, high-quality, flavor-filled Red Russian garlic!
Bradner Hills Farm (Garlic) began as a passing 2015 dinner conversation on
"how neat it would be to...".
By 2016, we had reconditioned our 2 old and faithful tractors, bought a 2-tine plough, and greased our new (old) rototiller. After attending a "How to grow (spray and pesticide free) Garlic" workshop, we sent our soil to the lab for analysis. We verified the soil pH and fertility then added some organic chicken compost.
In 2017 we planted 2800 plants. We learned (the hard way) about weed management: pulling January weeds in sub-zero temperatures in our fishing waders with frozen fingers!
In 2018, our crop grew to 15,000. Our organic weed management included laying some 60 lb recycled kraft paper sprinkled with some hardwood chips (for weight) and organic chopped silage. Those hearty little Red Russians poked through!
By June 2019, we had 10,000 garlic scapes for sale. As this product is still fairly unknown in Canada (it's well known in Asian Cuisine), we offered our scapes to our faithful retailers ~ pro-bono ~ to help consumers familiarize with this amazing, unsung garlic hero!
Check out these garlic scape recipes!
With the scapes removed, 10,000 large bulbs (averaging 4-7 oz each) were ready for sale in August 2019, For the 2020 and 2021 crops, 18,000 seeds were planted.
Annually, in early July, we sell custom-ordered "green" (aka: "fresh") Red Russian Russian bulbs. After that, we harvest and hang our bulbs for 3 weeks ~ to ensure they are dry and well-cured. Our intention is to offer properly-processed bulbs to enable consumers to have the best chance at storing their bulbs (in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area with low humidity) into the winter months.
In 2020, we trialed our newest, ready-to-use frozen "BHF Garlic Gold Bars" and unpeeled cloves. They sold out by October!
In 2021, the dry-weather and an unfamiliar "heat-dome" covered BC. Although awful for wildfires and multi-community evacuations, it proved positive for drying the healthy, robust 2021 Red Russian Garlic harvest of 18,000 bulbs! Feeling more secure in our garlic wisdom, we hosted 3 days of "Garlic U-Pick Events". Beyond harvesting garlic, these events built community spirit and blossomed new relationships. To-be garlic gardeners enjoyed live chat times learning from our successes, mistakes & evolving knowledge base.
In 2022, after the excessive heat-dome & fires last summer, BC experienced its first "atmospheric river". Abbotsford was under-water; Sumas Prairie reverted to its previous "Sumas Lake" in this 14 day unprecedented event. Sadly, beyond excessive losses of homes, land, roads, farm-businesses and animals, the growth of all field crops was delayed by 30-90 days.... impacting sales, schedules, harvests and planting of al vegetables.
BHF survived the flood but did not escape the delay in harvest and the squeeze it put on next year's planting schedule (only one month between picking and re-planting poses challenges for drying bulbs, cracking into cloves and re-fortifying the soil before the rains of the Fall resume in October).
The 2nd Annual BHF U-Pick occurred on July 29-31, 2022. Attendance tripled! Bradner farming neighbors joined with their produce. This was an additional attraction and 1-stop-shop for Sunday drivers seeking local, fresh produce from all over the lower mainland (some from as far away as Alberta!). During the U-Pick event, we shared our pickled Garlic Scapes; inspiring many to pickle their own after they collect theirs at the 2023 U-Pick Garlic Scape-by-Donation Event (Save-the Date: June 17-18, 2023 - tba)!
Once again, BHF Sold Out all 21,000 bulbs by mid Sept, disappointing some would-be seed planters when they called for seed in October, 2022.
For 2023, we encourage folks to use our pre-order form asap as we anticipate filling the orders even earlier. We are planning a week of pick-up times August 9-16, 2023 (tba) and we anticipate an even earlier "sold out". So, please pre-order for 2023 to ensure you are not disappointed!