Thompson – Okanagan

Thompson – Okanagan

Natural landscape is an abundance of fruits and cherries

On one side of the Thompson Okanagan region lays the Canadian Rockies and to the other, an actual desert. Smack in the middle is a heavenly valley ripe for summer and winter playgrounds. This region is home to a mild climate, low precipitation, countless sunlit valleys, and a large number of lakes making it the ideal place for high-quality grapes and tree fruits*.

With over 4,700 farms and orchards, the laundry list of delicious crops features a cornucopia of cherries (DYK that 95% of Canada’s cherry crop is grown in BC?!**), apples, peaches, pears, plums, apricots, and of course grapes. Thompson Okanagan is home to 84% of the provinces vineyard acreage and award winning wine makers are making internationally acclaimed wines***.

One of the regional districts, the Okanagan-Similkameen, is home to both the Organic farming capital of Canada and the Fruit Stand capital of Canada. It is also where the Ambrosia apple was discovered as a chance seedling, in a Cawston orchard. Ambrosia’s are now grown throughout the Okanagan, BC and Canada****.

*Source: Agriculture in the Classroom, Canada. “A Guide to BC Agriculture Resources”. Pg. 18.
**Source: https://www.bccherry.com/faq/
***Source: https://winebc.com/discover-bc-wine-country/okanagan-valley/
****Source: https://similkameenvalley.com/food/fruit/