Riverbank Acres

Home and Vineyard next to river
sausage and eggs

Peaches, Plums and Nectarines

We have a beautiful orchard where we grow RedHaven freestone peaches, Black Amber plums, Earliblaze nectarines and several gardens where we grow organic medicinal plants, herbs, fruits and vegetables. Not to mention the ever growing flocks of ducks and chickens. Our orchards are still establishing but we hope to have fruit ready to sell in 2028.

seasonal fruit in British Columbia

Living with the Seasons

A love letter to the landscape and its people.

I write about life in our rugged part of British Columbia, seasonal food and medicine that grows here and how I prepare and preserve it with particular attention to the old ways.

In a world that sometimes feels like it’s moving too fast, slow living and slow food are good therapy.

Seasonal writing
violets and grass

Spring

As seeds, plants and animals cheerfully awaken from their winter slumber they are ravenous with rapture. Here’s how you can celebrate spring alongside them.

spring foods

Summer

Drowning in light and swelling with life. Summer celebrates PLENTY. Here’s how you can savour and preserve summer’s fleeting bounty.

haws apples and rosehips

Autumn

Golden days and cooler evenings. The frenzy of summer has passed and a slow ripening unfolds. Here’s how you can make the most of autumn’s harvest.

frozen Similkameen River

Winter

Darkness takes its rightful place and it’s time to cozy up, light those candles and stoke the home fires. Here’s how you can indulge in winter’s slumber.

Jessica Johnson and family Riverbank Vineyard

Hi, I’m Jess.

I left a good job in a big city in 2021 and set off for the country. I established a traditional Bed and Breakfast while my husband managed the vineyard but life had other plans for both of us!

In 2025 we pulled up our vineyard and planted an organic orchard instead. Then, in 2026 we closed the B&B so I could focus on my new role as General Manager of our local Historic Site, the Grist Mill and Gardens. Our hands are certainly full with our chickens, ducks, dog, cats, snake, medicinal gardens and ever expanding food gardens. Things have certainly escalated quickly for us in this rugged and rustic Similkameen Valley.

I’ve learned a lot since the safety wheels of my life came off and am enjoying every minute of it… even the punishing, wild, uncomfortable ones.

About Me