MAJOR REPURPOSING PLANNED – The Rivendell Farm, north of Whitehorse, is seen in September 2009.

Territory’s Rivendell Farm sold to company After being up for sale for more than four years, Rivendell Farm was officially sold last month. By Palak Mangat on April 3, 2019

After being up for sale for more than four years, Rivendell Farm was officially sold last month.

The buyer is a company that will be conducting non-conventional farming, one of its owner and operators confirmed to the Star this week.

The company is not willing to elaborate on its plans at this time, the representative said.

Sitting off the Takhini Hot Springs Road north of Whitehorse, the property has been home to Rolland Girouard since 1983. It hosted him, his son and one-time partner, Mary.

“I farmed for 35 years, it was a wonderful farm and the greatest way to raise my kid and family – but everything has to come to an end,” Girouard told the Star Tuesday afternoon.

The site had been on the market for at least 4 1/2 years.

“We did list it with some realtors and that didn’t work out,” he said. Eventually, through word-of-mouth, they were able to secure a buyer in late March.

Girouard’s history with the farm dates back to 1983. A couple of years later, he married his partner and they ran the farm together.

“We operated the farm almost continuously except for a small period when I had allergies,” he said. The closure of the organic farm for about two to three years came during the mid-1990s.

“I literally couldn’t breathe anymore; I had these episodes where I had to go to the hospital.”

He eventually had to ship his elk down south and make slight changes in his diet. When they reopened the farm, the business grew to becoming a staple in the territory that eventually saw them get into bedding plants, market vegetables and livestock.

One of the longest-running food producers in the Yukon, the couple has likened the site over the years to a business, not merely a hobby farm.

The organic certification also came with a re-brand of their operations into one with an agritourism and education focus.

And in 2014, the couple earned themselves bragging rights when they were named Farmers of the Year by the territorial agriculture branch.

It’s an award that saw their peers give them the nod for their commitment and passion for local farming – so you’ll forgive Girouard for being proud of the farm’s accomplishments.

“People were coming out to the farm and were leaving money under rocks for us,” he laughed. “So it became where we had quite experienced clientele.”

Particular interest from buyers began to pick up the last year and a half.

“I’m not sad about leaving; I think back to all the memories,” he said, adding the hope is that the new owners will maintain the organic certification.

Girouard recalled the stories and people who had come to pick their own berries and such at the more than 100-acre property (which he guessed began as about 130 acres in 1983 but has since become about 115 acres).

“I called the farm Rivendell Farm because it’s exactly as per the description in The Hobbit,” he said, adding there was often a time where many had heard about the offered picking times.

“I had a man walk up to me, his son was holding his hand and he said to me, ‘thank you so much for doing this; I’m now bringing my son and my mother used to bring me when I was his age.’

“That’s quite something.”

While the new buyers purchased the site late last month, Girouard suspected it may take some time for them to move onto the land and occupy the houses.

The site comes equipped with a shop, accommodation for workers who arrive every year from down south, and a cabin.

The pair also helped in a school program, From the Ground Up, which saw kids visit farms across the territory to learn about where food comes from.

While he may be handing off the keys to the farm, Girouard laughed, he’ll likely still be seen around town; while he retired last year, he still works in the construction field from time to time.

“You can’t hold onto everything forever; you have to let go sometime or another,” he said.

“I’m going to be here all my life – I was born here in the Yukon, my mother is still here, my sisters are here.”

Still, he was happy see the now-abundant Takhini River Valley area grow into an agricultural hub – even though it took patience to sell the site.

“Anything this size is going to take a lot of time to sell – unless somebody just walks in off the street,” he said.

“Usually there’s quite a bit of money, there’s quite a bit of infrastructure there, an irrigation line.

“Over the years, the farm sort of grew up from when we first started.”

Now closing in on his mid-60s and retired, Girouard estimateds he’s poured more than $1 million into the site over the last three decades through work like building a road.

But it was well worth it, given “the farm produced tons and tons and tons of food,” including 12 to 15 tons of vegetables every year.

After opening the site around March each year, Girouard recalled, the entire farm was put to bed by about November.

“That gave me enough time to do the taxes, get the seed catalogues and have it all arrive.

“I only got three months of rest – we had to look at fixing equipment, etc.”

As for what he’s up to now, Girouard will be taking a short break on vacation before coming back home.

“We hadn’t been able to vacation a lot, being farmers.

“I’ve nowhere else to live; this is my home,” he laughed.