The Bowden Sunmaze is located in central Alberta in the Certified Organic fields of Eagle Creek Farms and is one of Canada’s few Sunflower Mazes. For those looking for a traditional or maze we have an 8 acre one of those along with our newly established Willow tree maze.
At the farm alongside the mazes we also grow 3 acres of upick flowers and vegetables. No time for upick? Check out our farm store full of organic veggies and preserves from many local farms.
It is now hard to find a map listing the name Ealge Creek running through out property (it is more commonly now referred to as Bowden Creek) Regardless this is where our farm got it’s name. Along side the mazes we grow 20 acres of seed potatoes & another field of market garden produce. We enjoy being able to share what we do with those who make the trip to visit the farm.
The Mills, although not the first to own the land, was the first to farm the land and has been farming our land for 4 generations. Prior to the Mills family, a man by the name of Simon Mcgilvery was the first owner, who had hoped to find minerals in a small hill. No minerals were ever found and it is now known the hill was a pile of sediment left by the glaciers. Agriculture has changed drastically since the family started farming in 1921, initially there were only horses to work the land with no inputs aside from seeds and hard work. The late 40’s saw the first tractors, chemicals, fertilizers and a beginning of agricultural industrialization.
By the 1980 the farm increased in size from 160 acres to over 2000 acres of owned and rented land with a mix of grain, hay & cattle.
Again in the 80’s a new wave of technology, inputs and machinery were pushing farmers to further increase in size that the Mills family started to look for something different.The first two new crops to the farm included seed potatoes & carrots.
Today at the farm you will find a collection of traditional grain crops along side vegetables, fruit, flowers, animals & activities for families who want to get out of the city and re-connect with where food comes from. The family is once again farming the land without any synthetic inputs and is transitioning the farm to Certified Organic Production
I know it is not important to everyone that our Sunflower & Corn Mazes are Organic, however it is important to us. No we do not harvest our mazes for feed, instead the corn stalks are used to mulch paths around the farm and the Sunflowers are left in the fields to feed the birds. Really the reason we farm the mazes organically is because we farm the rest of our farm organically.
Fun Fact – There are hundreds of Corn Mazes (some of which are organic) and at least a dozen Sunflower Mazes, but as far as we are aware we have the Worlds only Certified Organic Sunflower Maze.
