The week of October 15th-22nd, 2011 is officially Organic Week in Canada, an initiative led by Canadian Organic Growers and the Canada Organic Trade Association. The annual event was created last year to celebrate the national Organic Products Regulations and the Canada Organic logo that became legal on June 30, [...]]]>

The week of October 15^th-22^nd, 2011 is officially Organic Week in Canada, an initiative led by Canadian Organic Growers and the Canada Organic Trade Association. The annual event was created last year to celebrate the national Organic Products Regulations and the Canada Organic logo that became legal on June 30, 2009. The focus is still on celebration of a growing organic sector and promotion of the benefits of organic food and farming. You can learn more about what is going on nationally at the official Organic Week website.

Regionally, Canadian Organic Growers Perth-Waterloo-Wellington (COG PWW) and partners have coordinated a number of events to educate and engage the community with our local organic food system.

To kick off the week, Waterloo-based retailer Healthy Foods & More will be bringing the farm to the city with their “Meet the Producers” day that will provide opportunities for making connections between farmers (and even their cows) and consumers. Two organic farms - Laepple Organic Farm and Organic Oasis - will be offering such connections right on the farm with free farm tours offered as part of the week’s festivities.

COG PWW has also organized a bus tour of local organic farms themed around the climate-change-mitigating potential of local organic food and farming. The “Take a Bite Out of Climate Change” tour will visit three organic farms in Wellington County via Everpure-Biodiesel-Coop-powered bus with lots of discussion along the way led by Ralph Martin, Loblaw Chair in Sustainable Food Production at the University of Guelph.

Food documentaries, Dirt and Fresh, will be shown at various locations every weekday evening. Each screening will allow for and encourage time for discussion following the film.

For a full schedule of local events for Organic Week in your area, check out http://www.organicweek.ca/events.php

The new documentary To Make A Farm by filmmaker Steve Suderman is premiering at the Vancouver International Film Festival on October 7th and 8th. You can find details and see clips at http://tomakeafarm.ca/.

The documentary follows several new farmers, including Jeff Boesch and Leslie Moskovits from Cedar Down Farm and Tarrah [...]]]>

The new documentary To Make A Farm by filmmaker Steve Suderman is premiering at the Vancouver International Film Festival on October 7th and 8th. You can find details and see clips at http://tomakeafarm.ca/.

The documentary follows several new farmers, including Jeff Boesch and Leslie Moskovits from Cedar Down Farm and Tarrah Young and Nathan Carey from Green Being Farm, whom all farm outside of Neustadt in Grey County. We’re pretty sure that you’ll find these four farmers as inspiring as we do here at FarmStart, so make sure to keep an eye out for this film! (You have likely already met these farmers, leading a workshop or course for FarmStart.)

“Starting a farm from scratch takes more than just imagination, but it’s a good place to start. Often considered a way of life from the past, today there is a movement of young people without farming backgrounds taking up this challenging profession. To Make A Farm follows the lives of five such young people through their first seasons on the land, as the joys and disappointments of bringing life from the earth become a quiet manifesto for social change. Documentary filmmaker Steve Suderman searches his own family history in farming to wonder if the mistakes of the past can be avoided this time through.”

REGISTER NOW at http://bringfoodhome.com/ for the “can’t miss” food conference of the year. Bring Food Home offers great opportunities for learning and networking for those engaged in building a more just and sustainable food system for Ontario.

And the first day of the conference includes a bunch of awesome

Farmer-to-Farmer Training workshops [...]]]>

REGISTER NOW at http://bringfoodhome.com/ for the “can’t miss” food conference of the year. Bring Food Home offers great opportunities for learning and networking for those engaged in building a more just and sustainable food system for Ontario.

And the first day of the conference includes a bunch of awesome

Farmer-to-Farmer Training workshops geared towards new and experienced farmers of all sorts! Workshops are organized into 3 streams:

 Vegetable Production

1. CSA Mini School: Learn how 4 successful but very different CSAs operate!  

 2. Intro to Urban Agriculture

 3. Season Extension with Michael Kilpatrick from Kilpatrick Family Farm will talk about how they grow in greenhouses over winter!

 4. Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers: Back by popular demand, this workshop is lead by Frederic Theriault from Ferme Cooperative Tourne Sol

Livestock Production

5. The Ins and Outs of Successful Grazing

6. Choosing the Right Livestock for Your Mixed Farm with Fran McQuail from Meeting Place Organic Farm

Field Crop Production

Join us for two panel discussions bringing together successful farmers, distributors and retailers from across the province!

 7. Growing Quality Organic Field Crops

 8. Buying and Selling Organic Field Crops

For more information and to learn about all the other exciting workshops being offered visit http://bringfoodhome.com/

The McVean Farm open farm day was held on July 24th from 11 am to 3 pm. There were farm tours, tractor rides and produce on sale. It was attend by approximately 100 people from the Brampton area and beyond. The guests walked around the farm and interacted with our [...]]]>

The McVean Farm open farm day was held on July 24^th from 11 am to 3 pm. There were farm tours, tractor rides and produce on sale. It was attend by approximately 100 people from the Brampton area and beyond. The guests walked around the farm and interacted with our farmers and also purchased produce directly from the fields.  The striking fact at the open house this year when compared to the previous years was the presence of many who were seriously considering taking up farming as a vocation. At the end of the day we had as many as 4 prospective new test farmers for the 2012 season, this is almost 90% of our capacity for 2012. There were many small children at the farm and the face painting crew was working on overdrive and it was sight to see small kids enjoying themselves on the tractor rides and generally running around and throwing many questions at their parents. We at FarmStarts believe that these are the seeds that need to be sown in the fertile minds of our young children to help them reconnect to farming and food.

If you did not get a chance to visit the McVean Farm Open Farm Day, come see us at the

McVean Farm Farmers Market every Saturday 9am to 1pm

or the McVean Harvest Table on Sunday August 28th.

Sunday August 28, 3 – 8pm

McVean Incubator Farm, Brampton

Chef Yasser Qahawish will once again bring together a group of talented chefs to prepare a unique and delicious 4-course family-style feast cooked over charcoal.

The meal will feature the amazing diversity of fresh produce from the [...]]]>  

Sunday August 28, 3 – 8pm

McVean Incubator Farm, Brampton

Chef Yasser Qahawish will once again bring together a group of talented chefs to prepare a unique and delicious 4-course family-style feast cooked over charcoal.

The meal will feature the amazing diversity of fresh produce from the McVean farm and local artisans,paired with local sustainable wines.

Join us at 3pm for a walking or wagon tour of the farm stopping for hors d’oeuvres and to meet our passionate hard-working new farmers.

Then find a seat at our handcrafted tables, beside McVean’s historic double wheat barn at the heart of the farm.

Dessert and music to follow.

$100/person. Kids under 12 free.

(All wines and beer included)

For more information and to reserve your spot at our harvest table:
www.harvesttable.ca
519.836.7046 ext 103

All proceeds will go to supporting the McVean Farm and FarmStart’s other programs and services for new, ecological farmers.

After a whirlwind weekend at the Guelph Organic Conference, a couple of us at FarmStart attended the 20th Annual PASA Farming for the Future Conference that took place in State College Pennsylvania from February 2nd to 5th. PASA stands for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. Similar to our

After a whirlwind weekend at the Guelph Organic Conference, a couple of us at FarmStart attended the 20^th Annual PASA Farming for the Future Conference that took place in State College Pennsylvania from February 2^nd to 5^th. PASA stands for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. Similar to our Ecological Farmers of Ontario (EFO), PASA brings together farmers to learn from each other and work together to create a more sustainable food system.  Their annual conference, one of the largest of its kind in North America, seems to attract a contingent from Ontario each year. This year there were eight of us – several farmers as well as representatives from EFO, Farms at Work and FarmStart.

With over 2000 attendees and some 15 workshops to pick from at any one time, it was definitely an inspiring and busy weekend. In addition to bringing in motivating keynote speakers (Wes Jackson this year) and knowledgeable presenters, PASA also does a great job of fostering a sense of community and fun! Delicious meals were shared around large tables and evenings were filled with live music and dancing.

Highlights? As a budding orchardist, I thoroughly appreciated the workshops given by organic orcharding guru Michael Phillips (author of “The Apple Grower”). Laurie was especially interested in hearing Elizabeth Henderson (author of “Sharing the Harvest”) speak about The Agricultural Justice Project, an initiative to create fairness and equity in the food system through the development of social justice standards and a certification process for ecological farms as well as processors, distributors and retailers. And I think we all agreed that the documentary Gasland, about natural gas drilling in the US, was one of the (if not THE) most impactful documentaries we’ve ever seen.

The conference definitely re-energized all of our commitment to the ecological farming movement in Ontario and reminded us about the larger context and potential for our work. I encourage you to keep an eye on upcoming conferences – there is a Food Justice Conference taking place at the University of Waterloo March 18-20, as well as a second Bring Food Home Conference this fall in Ontario (location TBD) and there always seems to be exciting agricultural conferences taking place in the US. And if you’re interested in carpooling to PASA next winter, give us at shout!

Ali English

FarmStart, Training and Resources Program Manager

But there are moments when I am reminded that there are very serious political, corporate and ecological issues that we need to address and to raise our voices against together. [...]]]> Most of the time, I believe we, at FarmStart, can help to change our food system, one new farmer at a time.

But there are moments when I am reminded that there are very serious political, corporate and ecological issues that we need to address and to raise our voices against together. These powerful interests have far-reaching control and influence and their profit-driven actions will forever compromise our farmers’ rights, and their businesses, our economies as well as the health and well being of our ecosystems and our own bodies.  Now and into the future.

One of these moments occurred this past Friday, January 28^th, 2011, when the US Department of Agriculture approved the unlimited planting of GE Round Up Ready Alfalfa.

Alfalfa is a perennial crop pollinated by bees and other insects.  These and other characteristics means that GE contamination of alfalfa is inevitable.  The contamination will affect all farmers, in particular organic farmers, in the US and likely in Canada.

Please see below for more information and what you can do to raise your voice right now!

I hope you will join me, as one farmer, one eater, one citizen standing up.  Together, we can change our food system.

In Solidarity,

Christie Young

Executive Director, FarmStart

To learn more on GE Alfafa, find out what you can do, and to learn more about Genetic Engineering please click here.

Highlights of the Upcoming Guelph Organic Conference for New Producers and/or Prospective Farmers

Please visit the conference website for the full program and registration details.  Lots of great learning opportunities for beginning farmers!

1) Canadian Organic Growers offers Crop Planning [...]]]> Guelph Organic Conference
January 27-30, 2011

Highlights of the Upcoming Guelph Organic Conference for New Producers and/or Prospective Farmers

Please visit the conference website for the full program and registration details.  Lots of great learning opportunities for beginning farmers!

1) Canadian Organic Growers offers Crop Planning Thursday Jan 27 9 am-3 pm $60  **highly recommended for all new market gardeners/CSA farmers**

2) Making Healthy Compost Thursday Jan 27 6 pm-9 pm $60/$20 for students

3) Equipment for Organics Friday Jan 28 9 am-noon $30

4) PLUS 15 Saturday Workshops to choose from $35/$15 for students (visit us for an Overview of FarmStart’s Programs Saturday 11 am-noon, plus a FarmLINK meet n’ greet over lunch – this may be your opportunity to find the land to launch your farm business or the new organic farmer to breathe new life into your land!)

5) AND 8 Sunday Workshops to choose from $20/$10 for students

Also, the Ecological Farmers of Ontario are offering the following special courses Thursday Jan 27 and Friday Jan 28, at the OMAFRA Building, 1 Stone Rd.  Course fees are $70/day – EFO members receive $20/day discount:

1) Intro to Ecological Agriculture 2 days Jan 27 and 28 9 am-4 pm

2) Composting Jan 27 9 am-4 pm

3) Field Crop Rotation and Weed Management Jan 27 9 am-4 pm

4) Market Garden Crop Rotation Jan 28 9 am-4 pm

5) Interpreting Soil Tests for Organic Farmers Jan 28 9 am-4 pm Please note that workshop registration and parking for these programs is separate from the general Guelph Organic Conference registration process.  Please contact the EFO for details.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference!

Please visit www.FarmStart.ca for more information about our programs.