2013 Open House Farm Tour

OUR 2013 tour has come and gone – stay tuned  for 2014!

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the farm, farmers, and techniques that grow your food!

The tour is open to the public and suitable for all ages so please feel free to invite friends, family, and neighbours. The tour includes many of our farm projects, including our in ground root cellar, fruit orchard, solar powered farm centre and of course our extensive CSA and market gardens.

If you can’t join us at 2 pm for the guided walking tour feel free to show up anytime, we anticipate the potluck to begin around 4 o’clock and wrap up by 6 pm.  For the potluck bring along any dish you like – we usually get a great mix of munchies, salads, mains and desserts. Bring your own cup, dishes and utensils please.

There will be a  farm themed craft table for the kids.

Address: 81 Stafford 2nd Line, Cobden, ON, K0J 1K0 (enter this into google maps and it should get you here, if you have problems give us a call!). Park on the side of the road (it’s a very low traffic dirt road) and walk up your driveway (abt. 5 mins) all the way down to the big wood barn with the red roof. For those will elderly or young children go ahead and drive in – there is enough parking for about a half dozen vehicles. We’re about 15 mins from Pembroke and about 1 hr and 15 mins from Ottawa.

Don’t forget to bring your rubber boots! Please keep an eye on your little ones at all times.  This is a working farm – there are potentially dangerous work sites, machinery, irrigation ponds and equipment on the farm.  Also please walk around the perimeters of the gardens to prevent soil compaction or damage to our crops.

Farmer’s Markets

Come visit us and take home our Certified Organic seasonal produce at the Carp Farmers Market Saturdays, May-October, 8:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Private Tours / Consultations / Speaking Engagements

Over the past several years we have been pleasantly overwhelmed by the increasing requests from folks to come visit our farm, for consultations and for speaking engagements. These requests now number close to 2/week!!! That’s 100/year! WOW. Unfortunately we don’t have 100 days of free time each year to dedicate to these requests as we already work more than full time on our farm and caring for our two sweet little ones.  We are available for hire if you feel that our knowledge and skill set are a good match with the tour, consultation or speaking engagement you’re looking for. Please see below for details.  All fees include the time it takes us to prepare the farm, materials, presentations and ourselves for the arrangement we make with you.

Please email us at [email protected] with a brief outline of what you are looking for and we can design as general or as specific tour/consultation/speaking engagement as fits your needs.

Tours

Each year we host 1-2 open house free farm tours.  If that date doesn’t work for you and you would still like to visit the farm please make arrangements for a private tour.  We can accommodate groups of 1-50 ppl.

You can choose between a general tour of the entire farm or a tour tailored to the specific interests of your group.

Farm tour topics:

  • Seed Saving (we specialize in heirloom beans, squash & corn but can touch on other crops as well)
  • Permaculture Landscapes
  • Fruit & Nut Trees / Orchards
  • Growing Heirloom Garlic
  • Certified Organic Production Practices
  • Off-Grid Farming/Living
  • Root Cellars & Over Winter Vegetable & Fruit Storage
  • Heirlooms & the Importance of Biodiversity
  • Soil Fertility & Nutrient Management
  • Growing for CSA and/or Markets and/or Restaurants
  • We are open to suggestions… just ask!
Expect to be on the farm for approx. 2 hours including orientation, tour (about 1.25 hours), and question period. Cost is $150 (1-25 ppl. – additional $50 for up to 50 ppl.).
An in-depth private detailed tour of the farm for 1-4 individuals runs from 9-1 pm and includes an organic farm-fresh lunch. Cost is $250. Tour is 3 hours and working lunch is 1 hr.
Please note that you will be charged an additional $35/hr for early arrival or late departure. Thank you for respecting our home and farm.

Consultations

Do you want to start your own farm? Market garden? Live off-grid? Start a Community Supported Agriculture program? Incorporate a permaculture landscape or extensive gardens into your farm and rural or urban property?

First and foremost we recommend that you do 2-3 years of internships on farms with a similar operation to what you would like to do someday. There is absolutely nothing like hands on experience to help you decide what you want to do, and to learn how to do it. If you don’t have the time to dedicate to full internship programs or you have completed an internship program and are ready to get started, starting with a basic consult and then more in-depth consults might be the best choice for you.
We have 20 combined years of experience in all of the above. Hiring folks like us with previous experience can help save 1000′s of dollars!!!
An initial  1 hour in-person or telephone consultation is $65. Thereafter we charge for $45/hr OR you can pre-purchase 5 hours worth of consultation & support $175 ($35/hr).
We can help you with the following:
-  purchasing the right plot of land
- garden placement
- fertility/nutrient management
- pest & disease management
- crop & variety selection
- prioritizing investments in infrastructure, equipement, storage facilities etc.
- value added farm products
- incorporating permaculture principles into your operation (getting 5 uses out of every investment you make!)
- permaculture landscape design
- developing a loyal customer base
- marketing on-line, through farmer’s markets & Community Supported Agriculture
- hiring the right labour base
- storing vegetables for optimal quality & freshness
- developing efficient systems for opening up new land, creating beds, weeding, harvesting, post-harvesting handling, storage etc.
- sourcing the materials and supplies required to set-up a commercial farm operation
- ergonomics of working on a farm to maintain optimal form and efficiency of motion
- budgets! budgets! budgets!
- time management & maintaining quality of life
Creating and developing systems that contribute to an environmentally sustainable and economically viable business can make or break your endeavours. We look forward to assisting you discover how a healthy lifestyle and a healthy business can go hand in hand.
See above for details on coming to do a private tour of our farm tailored to your specific interests.

Speaking Engagements

We can cover any of the topics noted above. Cost is $45/hr – also charged on travel time to and from your location. Included in the fee is prep time required for presentations. Please note that the minimum charge is for 2 hours ($90) – to include travel, prep, set-up, presentation, and questions.

*** PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE PRICES DO NOT INCLUDE HST ***