By Kelsey Rideout, FarmStart Outreach and Resource Development Intern

Pastured Pigs and Poultry workshop participants walking through the meadow at Green Being Farm.

On Saturday July 10th, FarmStart held a workshop called “Pastured Pigs and Poultry” at Green Being Farm in Neustadt, Ontario. This full day of learning was facilitated by the farm’s manager, Tarrah Young, who raises healthily fed and happily roaming pigs, chickens, turkeys and lamb. Many of the participants had some history of farming, although had little background in raising animals on pasture. It didn’t take long however for the enthusiastic and open-minded group to begin discovering the medley of benefits that come from enabling livestock to embrace their instinctively nomadic way of life.

Farmer Tarrah Young teaching participants about raising chickens on pasture.

The workshop began with understanding the life cycle of a pastured chicken. Participants first gathered inside the Green Being Farm chicken coop, where newly born chicks freely grow within an open, spacious room and benefit from being fed certified organic grain. Tarrah emphasized the meticulous care that is needed to ensure the birds’ survival and healthy development. By closely observing the well being of the chicks every morning, Tarrah constantly watches for any sign of disease or illness that a youngster may appear to be suffering from. Participants then ventured out further on the farm to view laying hens and fully-grown broilers that are raised on rotated parcels of pasture. Each visit outdoors was complimented with some essential classroom-style learning that drew upon important lessons in starting a viable business and surpassing the major barriers that often prevent farmers from entering the small-scale poultry industry. To end the morning, Tarrah encouraged participants to know their farm animals inside out, and performed an autopsy on one of her birds that had fallen ill. Participants attentively watched as Tarrah demonstrated how organs unique to chickens both look and function.

Berkshire pigs enjoying a snack under the sun!

While the morning had been full of intensive learning, the excitement only grew when Tarrah moved onto the next topic – pigs! To the delight of the participants, Tarrah provided a thorough overview of pigs – from their history in agriculture to their amazing ability to restore the soil’s fertility. The group then headed back outside to look at Tarrah’s Berkshire pigs, a heritage breed of pigs known for their succulent flavor. The pigs seemed hardly disturbed by the group’s presence, as they continued to bask in the sun and sprawl out in their mud-filled playground amidst the crowd of strangers. In a few weeks time, they will be old enough to freely run around in the grass and enjoy exploring the land. Upon living healthy, balanced lives full of exercise and leisure, Tarrah explained what key steps come after in humanely processing the meat and successfully selling her pork. By marketing directly to her customers, Tarrah is able to capture the entire sale price of her meats, and can also set her own prices so that they reflect the full cost of production.

At the end of the day, participants went home from Green Being Farm with a great amount of new knowledge and inspiration to begin farming in a more caring, sustainable and viable way. But before they left, many wandered around a little while longer, finding solace in the sounds and sights of the farm’s majestic environment, and sharing in the simple, undeniable joy that comes from feeling free.

To learn more about Green Being Farm, visit the farm’s website at www.greenbeingfarm.ca.

The root of all life, including human life, is in the soil.  In this half-day workshop, join Tarrah Young from Green Being Farm(www.greenbeingfarm.ca/), to learn the basics of soil science in an accessible and hands-on way.  Rather than relying on inputs for fertility, get ready for ideas on how to optimize your soil’s health, and ultimately the health of your crops, by using the biological community to unleash the tremendous potential in your soil!

Workshop Level: Introductory

When: May 29, 2010, 10am – 1pm

Where: FarmStart McVean Incubator Farm Facility, Brampton. View map.

Cost: $55 or $95 for full day including the afternoon workshop Introduction to Cover Cropping

To Register and arrange for payment: Click on Course Registration.

Introduction to Cover Cropping

Tilling the soil is the beginning point of many agricultural problems. So what is a solution?  Cover cropping!  This workshop, led by McVean farm manager Saulis Tribinevicius, will discuss why cover crops are important, what the different types of cover crops are, how to choose and when to plant a cover crop, and how to manage them effectively.

Workshop Level: Introductory

When: May 29, 2010, 2pm – 5pm

Where: FarmStart McVean Incubator Farm Facility, Brampton. View map.

Cost: $55 or $95 for full day including the morning workshop The Dirt on Soil

To Register and arrange for payment: Click on Course Registration.

To learn about other upcoming FarmStart workshops visit www.farmstart.ca/workshops

Thursday April 22nd 7:30pm ET on ichannel http://www.ichannel.ca/global_footprints

“Find out the impacts city life has on the natural world. Learn what innovative things people are doing to help cities be more sustainable. We’ll feature green roofs and their importance in saving water and adding to the cities biodiversity; let the sun shine in with passive solar; get a tour of the eco home archetypes and finally growing food in a box, will have you thinking inside the box.”

Innovation Prize for Farmers !

Carrot Cache is offering a $500.00 Innovation Prize to farmers for best, innovative, low cost solution to planting, managing, harvesting, post harvest handling, or processing of food grown on your small Canadian organic urban or rural farm!

Click on image for full details.

New Farmer Training Day, March 4^th – Come hear from Joel Salatin, grass farming guru from Polyface Farm as well as other experienced farmers on topics such as Pastured Pigs, Pastured Poultry, Intro to Sheep, Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers, Salad Bar Beef, Healthy Soils and Marketing. Or attend a full day CSA Mini-School!

March 5^th and 6^th – Pick from a variety of workshops on emerging issues in farming, including Urban Agriculture, the Local Abattoir Crisis, Accessing Land & Capital, and more!

When: March 4^th – 6^th, 2010

Where: Kitchener, Delta Hotel (105 King Street East)

Cost: $95 per day

For more information and to register visit http://www.bringfoodhome.com

When/Where: this Thursday the 26^th in Guelph from 6:30 – 8:30 pm

What: Full time farmers are being paid to share their thoughts and provide feedback on several current government programs including Agri-Stability and Agri-Invest. You are invited to attend even if you have not enrolled in these programs.

How much: $100 cash.

Interested? Call to register with Ron Ross at 1-800-798-5060 and he’ll provide the remaining details.

The campaign coordinators are inviting individuals or organizations who are working on all types of new farmer training, educational or mentorship programs to participate by displaying relevant information outside the Centennial Ballroom throughout the duration of the convention.  For more information please contact Kalissa Regier at kjregier@gmail.com or Cammie Harbottle at cammieh@gmail.com.

In addition, the official launch will take place in the Centennial Ballroom on Saturday, November 28th from 10:30-11:30AM.

We are excited to tell you about a great upcoming opportunity for new farmers (of all ages) in east central Ontario. Mark your calendars for SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7 and come to Lindsay for a day-long discussion around training and education needs. Click here for all the details. The day is free (except for a $5 contribution to lunch), so please come and bring all the new farmers you know!!

Here are the steps:
1. Contact Anna at (705) 740-9383 or apetry@kawarthaheritage.org to pre-register ASAP. Registration is LIMITED.
2. Log on to http://tinyurl.com/FarmerTrainingSurvey and complete this survey as soon as you can. It only takes 10 minutes.

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Bring Food Home

FarmStart and the FarmON Alliance have partnered with Sustain Ontario, FoodNet Ontario and other partners to organize BRING FOOD HOME – Connecting Ontario Farm and Food Networks, a provincial conference that will be held at the Kitchener Delta from March 4-6, 2010.

The conference will bring together participants from diverse regions and sectors, including farmers, food enterprises, health promoters, community groups and government organizations. The purpose is to facilitate our learning and working together to create food systems that are healthy, just, accessible, culturally appropriate, financially viable and sustainable.

To date we have confirmed Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm and of Food, Inc. fame as one of several keynote speakers, as well as Martin Gooch from the George Morris Centre who will lead a workshop in Value Chain Management. The FarmON Alliance is planning a whole day of events related to farmer training. It is shaping up to be an exciting conference.

For more information please contact the Program Committee Co-Chair at bringfoodhome@sustainontario.com or 647-348-0235 or visit Bring-food-home-2010-conference for updates.

Please join us in Brampton at FarmStart’s McVean Farm Grand Opening this coming Sunday!

For directions and more information, please check out our Flyer or our website at www.farmstart.ca/McVeanGrandOpening.

We are also still looking for a few more volunteers for the event on Sunday for general help, face-painting, etc. If you would be interested in helping facilitate this event, please email info@farmstart.ca or call Keturah at 519-836-7046 x103.

We are really excited about this opportunity to show you our beautiful urban farm, let you get to know the farmers on our land and share some of the wonderful produce the farmers have been growing this season! Don’t miss this chance to come out to the ground-breaking at McVean farm.

Come rain or shine (preferably shine), we hope to see you there!

Join as CBC Host Karen Gordon speaks with 2 of our McVean Farmers regarding their thoughts and experiences in urban agriculture. 

1. Hanna Jacobs of Matchbox Garden and Seed Co.
2. Margaret Zondo

To see the lighlighted pictures of McVean and our farmers, you can click on

We hope you are able to tune in tomorrow to hear updates about FarmStart’s McVean farm from the farmers themselves.