June 15, 2026
Grow Citrus and Avocados in Canada? Why not!
– with Jane Squier
Can you grow citrus and avocados in Canada? Jane says, “Why not!” — and she has the greenhouse to prove it. In 2012, Jane established a sub-tropical orchard in her 6,000 square foot greenhouse featuring 35 varieties of citrus and 4 varieties of avocados, to produce fresh fruit year-round as sustainably as possible. She will show the greenhouse systems she uses to create a low-input environment for sub-tropical fruit production, explain how she integrates regenerative principles to build healthy soil and plants without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and discuss specific varieties that excel in flavour and production.
Jane brings over 40 years of hands-on experience running successful greenhouse businesses and market gardens — in climates ranging from tropical Papua New Guinea to the cold reaches of Zone 3. She has operated both organic and hydroponic systems and is passionate about growing nutrient-dense food sustainably. Jane studied horticulture and agro-ecology at Olds College and UBC, and in recent years has been studying biological and regenerative farming principles with the Soil Food Web Foundation, the Soil Health Academy, and Integrity Soils. She is certified as a Soil Food Web lab-tech, and in 2020 received funding from Innovations Agriculture Canada to study leaf sap analysis for cold-hardy citrus and avocado production. Her citrus is now in high demand, sold to West Coast chefs dedicated to featuring unique local produce.
Beyond her farm, The Garden on Salt Spring Island, Jane’s community contributions are wide-ranging — from founding the Salt Spring Film Festival in 1999 to serving as the technical partner in the award-winning GISS Farm-to-Cafeteria Program. She shares her knowledge through on-farm workshops, her website, and her YouTube channel.
Want to attend? If you’re joining us in person, we’ll be at the conference hall in the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay. Doors open at 6.30 pm and the meeting will begin at 7.15 pm. If you want to join us via Zoom, see below for registration details.
This will be a ‘hybrid’ in-person and Zoom meeting:
- All ZOOM meetings will begin at 7:00 pm.
- All IN-PERSON meetings: doors will open at 6:30 pm, and meetings start at 7:15 pm.
- In-person meetings (presentation-only) may also be accessible by Zoom from your home.
HOW TO ATTEND:
All current CVHS members will receive a Zoom invitation before this meeting.
NOT A MEMBER?
If you are not a CVHS member and would like to join us, please CLICK HERE to purchase a guest pass by Friday, June 12, no later than 5:00 pm, for $5.50. Processing takes 2 days.
Please join us!
