Shane and Emma Rozeveld/Image: Aslan Organics
Shane and Emma Rozeveld, a Canadian couple who started growing food on two 8-by-12-foot plots, now own a 50-acre farm in Ontario. The couple started Aslan Organics in 2017 at the Yarrow Ecovillage in Chilliwack, British Columbia. They started growing for fun, but as yields grew, so did the business potential. The turning point came when Shane decided to leave his desk job and pursue farming full time. “I really had no idea what I was doing,” Shane said during an episode of the Carrot Cashflow podcast, hosted by Diego Footer. An opportunity soon pushed the couple beyond hobby gardening. Another family at the ecovillage was leaving and offered to sell its market-garden equipment to them, including a greenhouse, cooler, bins, and other infrastructure. Their first commercial operation covered about a third of an acre. They started with basic tools, even cutting greens with scissors, before investing in a greens harvester. Shane said the couple followed a strategy of putting their earnings back into the business to expand the operation.
A fresh start in Ontario
The couple moved to Ontario in 2020 and restarted the business in Sarnia in 2021 after taking a year off during the COVID period. Their experience in British Columbia had been rewarding but financially limited. Shane described the farm there as largely cash-neutral, while the market near Vancouver was crowded with established organic growers. Sarnia offered a different opportunity. Shane said the city had about 75,000 people and a farmers' market that operated indoors and outdoors year-round, giving the couple a market that was less constrained by weather. When Shane first approached the Sarnia Farmers' Market, he said he was told, “we just don't do organics at this market”. The couple then had to establish themselves through their produce and regular appearances. Their first market brought in just $247. By August or September, Shane said that figure had grown to about $1,500 per market. Customers were returning for their salad mix, lettuce, arugula, radishes and turnips. “People were like, trying our salad mix. And they're like, I've never had salad mix like this in my life,” Shane said. The business continued to grow year after year. Shane said revenue increased by at least 30% in most years, with one year recording about 40% growth and another doubling. Revenue rose from about $173,000 in 2024 to more than $200,000 in 2025, marking the first time the business crossed the $200,000 threshold, according to Shane.
From $247 market days to $10,000 weeks
Aslan Organics generates revenue through several channels, including farmers' markets, online sales, farm shares and wholesale customers. The scale of the change is evident in the weekly numbers. Shane said a recent early-April weekend brought in more than $2,000 at the market and more than $1,000 through online sales. During the previous summer, there were weeks when the farm generated more than $10,000 in sales through its different channels. “We've gone from $1,000 a week to 10,000 a week in about five years,” Shane said. The farm-share programme has grown alongside the business. Shane said it started with 24 customers, then expanded to 32, more than 40, 60 and 80. The couple were targeting more than 100 customers for the current year. Unlike a traditional fixed vegetable box, customers can choose what they want from the produce available that week. The couple also allow customers to skip some weeks during the summer.
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