Sunday tours - Kamloops and Salmon Arm

On the road again...


Bus time

Arrival at the Ranch


On May 3rd, our tour group travelled to the Old Harper Ranch. It is now owned and operated by the Kamloops Indian Band as of 1995. Their main goal is to provide the public with healthy, hormone free, grass fed beef. Grass feeding naturally creates higher Omega 3 fat counts in the meat. Our group saw an extraordinary amount of acreage and many of the operations taking place.


The ranch is looking to bring in the Galloway breed from Alberta to add to their 22 head of cattle. Many of our participants were impressed with the effort of the ranch towards providing a stress-free environment in which the cattle flourish. On that note, one final piece of information would be that while the new name of the ranch, Spiyu7ullucw, is too difficult to pronounce, the literal meaning is “bird land”.

Time with the horses


Lots of photo ops

Checking out the cattle

Good times

The next stop was in Salmon Arm at DeMille’s Farm Market. We learned that the produce they grow is sold in their store on their own property. We also learned that almost any of the foods that they sell at their store not produced on their own farm is bough from local producers. Starting in 1981 with 15 acres, Roger DeMille, his wife and their son, Brad, have grown their farm to 240 acres. It now has an animal viewing area, produce store and greenhouses. We were able to view all aspects of the DeMille’s Farmers Market and learned that the store sells 150,000 lbs tomatoes, 350,000 lbs apples and 100,000 lbs pumpkins. The farm is environmentally conscious by recycling and reusing packaging as well as using as little chemicals as possible. Through buying so much local produce they are supporting the Salmon Arm community and supplying them with healthy and sustainable local foods.

DeMille's Farm Market

Low rider

Roger talking to the group

Having fun

Sightseeing - cute kids

Animal Viewing Area

Brad DeMille talking to the group

In the farm store

Our last, but certainly not least, stop of the day at Happy Days Goat Dairy in Salmon Arm.

Happy Days has been operated for 16 years by Don and his herd of adorable kids, who were all outside the door to greet us as we tramped down the driveway. After introducing himself, Don explained that instead of watching goats being milked we were going to see the cheese making process. It turns out Happy Days has another operation in Chilliwack where the goats are milked, and then the unpasteurized milk is sent to Don.

After the milk is pasteurized, Don shows us how he adds rennin to heated milk. Rennin was originally harvested from a calf’s stomach, but now most rennin is produced with bacteria. The rennin and milk are then left to sit so the milk can become stiff. Once stiffened, Don “cuts” the milk for about three minutes. This basically is agitating the milk until it separates into curds and whey.

The curds become the cheese and the whey product has many uses: cosmetics, baby powder, and fertilizer to name a few. At this point in the cheese making process, herbs, fruits and other foods can be added. This cutting stage is also where you would decide how hard your cheese is going to be. The higher the temperature, the harder the cheese. Brie is a good example of a cheese cut at a lower temperature. After the cutting is done, Don pours the curds and why into a mold (usually a cylindrical container with a bunch of very small drain holes.

He then pushes the curds until they are compacted and all the whey has been drained. And since we were short on time, Don didn’t let the cheese sit overnight at a high temperature. And as a result, we had a soft warm goat cheese that had been made right before our eyes!

Cheese making

The finished product!

Example of Happy Days products

After Happy Days Goat Dairy, we travelled to Vernon for some career sessions and supper at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Office. Then it was off to the Cadet Camp for some much needed downtime.

Hanging out in the lobby


Interview Feud