We’re Percy and Clary Ager (aka the Zucchini Wives) and in October 2022 we moved 7,000 kms to pursue our dream of opening a farm and event space! Now after purchasing a 12 acre property in rural Cape Breton Nova Scotia we’re asking for your support to help us get growing. 

We are creating Ager Lane – a place where you can come for flowers, food, and good times. With your help, Ager Lane will have a wildflower meadow for outdoor events, a retrofitted barn for indoor events, and a no-till high production growing area producing organic flowers for sale and food for the community. 

We are two Queer women, one of whom is Black and lives with chronic pain and the other who comes from humble beginnings and between us we know what it takes to create a space that celebrates diversity and supports community. 

In Phase 1 we will accomplish 3 things: 

1. The planting of a 4 acre wildflower meadow that will nourish pollinators and serve as the backdrop for our outdoor event space. 

2. Establish the outdoor and indoor event spaces (the creation of a ceremony pad in the wildflowers and retrofitting the existing barn) 

3. Build our first off-grid cottage for guests to stay at the farm! 

We worked with local artist Jayme Burns to bring idea into these visuals: 

How to Give, Get, & Win!

To bring to life Phase 1 of Ager Lane we need $100,000. We know that is a big goal, but we also know that successful business owners are realistic and pragmatic. We are committed to this dream and have already purchased the farm with our own funds. 

Ager Lane is a multi-faceted agro-tourism business, and as such our $100,000 goal contains many smaller goals and projects that we will weave together to create the incredible place we know this long-unloved farm can be. Some of these goals are: 

• Seed starting and saving equipment 
• Fencing for the growing space 
• Soil and compost 
• Property remediation and garbage removal from previous owners
• Gravel and Excavating work for the creation of the ceremony space in the wildflower meadow, wheelchair accessible pathways throughout the farm, and parking 
• Farm Equipment such as a small tractor 
• Building an off-grid cottage for on-farm stays 
• Retrofitting the existing barn for indoor events (new floor, new barn doors, installation of windows to capture the view, large mural)

We are committed to bringing Ager Lane to life, and any amount raised by this crowdfunder will help us get started! 

To say thank you to our backers we have partnered with four small businesses to create a series of thank you gifts! Please check them out in the perks section!

We have also partnered with 12 small businesses to offer 3 prizes each week on social media! Once you’ve donated to the campaign message us on Instagram or Facebook @Zucchini.Wives or email us at agerlane1033@gmail.com and tell us if you’d like to be in the West Coast Prize (where we moved from), the East Coast Prize (where we are now), or the Anywhere Prize category and you’ll be entered into the weekly prize draw for all remaining weeks of the campaign. Since the campaign runs 4 weeks donating within the first week gives you the most chances to win! 

The Impact for us, our community, + the planet

Your contribution will help bring Ager Lane to life which will bring a multitude of benefits to our communities and our planet: 

– As an accessible event space owned by diverse people Ager Lane will offer a space for celebration, community, and connection that currently doesn’t exist in Cape Breton and is rare in Nova Scotia. 

– As a regenerative organic farm that employs no-till practices Ager Lane will contribute to ecosystem remediation and produce needed goods without the high environmental cost of traditional farming. We are committed to being part of climate change solutions. 

– As a producer of local seasonal flowers Ager Lane will offer Cape Breton an alternative to flown-in flowers which have a carbon footprint 10x higher than locally grown flowers. 

– As a cost-of-living employer in a rural and economically depressed area Ager Lane will contribute to economic prosperity in our community. 

In our first season we grew a 5 acre sunflower field to buy us time to work on the house and get organized for more intensive farming. When they bloomed, we hosted over 1,000 people who picked over 10,000 flowers in just 2 weeks. That experience taught us that there is an appetite for local flowers and nourishing events in Cape Breton – and that we’re the people to do it. Additionally, over the winter we have had 4 wedding booking inquiries despite not yet being open. Cape Breton is the place for our dream to come true. 

 

Other Ways You Can Help

We know not everyone can contribute financially, we have been in that place before ourselves, but may still believe in what we are trying to do. You can help us by sharing our campaign with anyone who you believe might be willing to contribute or share our social media accounts (@zucchini.wives) with folks who may patronize our business in the future! 

Shares via the sharing tools within Indiegogo also generates momentum for the campaign within the Indiegogo platform!