Charting the Course for a Successful
Farming Career

Location

Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada

Farm Type

Diversified, organic

Farm Size

2 acres

Tend User Since

2018

THE CHALLENGE

Shane and Emma Rozeveld transitioned from avid gardeners to professional farmers with ambitious goals for their market garden, Aslan Organics.

While their passion for growing was unwavering, scaling their operation introduced challenges in managing production, staying on schedule, and meeting organic certification requirements.

WHY TEND?

For Shane and Emma, Tend provided the structure and clarity they needed to turn their goals into reality. By organizing their production plans and automating key management tasks, Tend helped Aslan Organics create a thriving, sustainable system.

“Tend was a game changer for us,” Shane explained. “It incorporated a lot of organization into our farm that I’m deeply grateful for.”

Nestled in the heart of Tasmania, Australia, The Agrarian Kitchen is a beacon of culinary excellence and sustainable farming. Founded by Rodney Dunn and Severine Demanet, their team is motivated by a profound respect for high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients. Their journey began with a simple idea: to reconnect people with their food.

This vision has grown to include a celebrated cooking school, an award-winning restaurant, and an outdoor kiosk, all centered around a vibrant farm designed by Head Gardener Mitch Thiessen. The farm includes a market garden, berry patch, greenhouse, shade house, nursery, orchard, citrus grove, composting station, and ornamental areas.

Charting the Course for a Thriving Farm

Aslan Organics began with a simple dream: to grow nutritious food while building a sustainable family business. Shane and Emma’s journey from gardening hobbyists to professional market farmers was marked by determination and a commitment to continuous improvement.

After Shane spent a season working on an organic farm to learn the industry, he and Emma launched Aslan Organics with the goal of producing high-quality crops for farmers markets and restaurants. Their two-acre market garden specializes in greens mixes and has quickly become known for its precision and productivity.

“We took the transition to professional farming seriously,” Shane said. “In two short seasons, we doubled in both acreage and revenues, but we needed tools to help us stay organized and keep growing sustainably.”

Setting and Achieving Ambitious Goals

In their early days, Shane struggled to turn broad goals into detailed, actionable plans. With Tend, that changed. The first step was mapping their fields in Tend, which allowed them to establish permanent beds and measure field capacity with precision.

“Tend set in stone the bed structure that would become our fields for the growing season,” Shane said.”

With accurate field maps in place, Shane and Emma used Tend’s Crop Planner to create clear production goals for their 40-crop operation. The system calculated sowing, transplanting, and harvest schedules automatically, removing the guesswork from their planning process.

“The thing I love about Tend is that it calculates all these things for you. I determine what I want, and Tend already has the greenhouse sowing dates, field transplanting dates, and harvest dates built in. It created the structure of planting and kept us on schedule.”

- Shane Rozeveld, Owner

Staying Focused in the Field

For Shane, Tend’s task management features have been essential for keeping fieldwork organized and productive. Each morning, Shane generates auto-populated task lists in Tend and hands them to his team, ensuring everyone knows exactly what needs to be done.

“In the morning, before I go to the field to work with the crew, I just hit print,” Shane explained. “Then I hand them a task list that says start these trays. I can just give it to them, and embedded in those lists are specifics. That focused our staff a ton. It really streamlined everything.”

Tend’s mobile app has also reduced the administrative burden of organic certification, allowing Shane to make notes and record inputs in real-time.

“Record keeping is a huge aspect of being certified organic,” Shane said. “It’s really nice to be able to add an input and attach it to a specific location, knowing that data always exists. You can come back to see that in this exact field and bed, this exact amendment was made on this exact date. That type of information is invaluable.”

Results and Impact

Tend has streamlined Aslan Organics’ operations, enabling growth and precision across every aspect of the farm.

Operational Efficiency:

Tend has significantly streamlined fieldwork and administrative tasks for Aslan Organics.
Auto-generated task lists keep the team focused and productive.
Real-time input tracking simplifies organic certification compliance.

Data-Driven Decisions:

With Tend, Shane and Emma can make more informed decisions about their farm’s operations.
Detailed crop planning tools ensure accurate sowing and transplanting schedules.
Permanent bed maps provide a clear view of field capacity and availability.

Growth and Sustainability:

Using Tend has allowed Aslan Organics to grow while maintaining a commitment to sustainability.
In just two seasons, the farm doubled its acreage and revenue.
Accurate records make organic certification more manageable.

Future Outlook: Growing for Success

With the enhanced efficiency and data Tend provides, Aslan Organics plans to expand its markets and strengthen its systems while staying true to its sustainable farming principles.

Expand Markets: Aslan Organics aims to grow its presence in farmers markets and restaurant accounts. Shane and Emma are exploring partnerships to reach more local customers.
Strengthening Team Efficiency: Shane plans to train crew members to use Tend for record-keeping, empowering the team to log activitiesto keep everyone aligned and informed.
Continuous Improvement: Shane sees Tend as a tool for constant growth and adaptation. Reviewing historical data helps refine practices for future success, and Tend’s tools allow Aslan Organics to scale without compromising their values.