Ron and Maureen Oven are right in season these days at Ovens Berry Farm near Osgoode. Producing strawberries, raspberries and Saskatoon berries (and sweet corn, later on), they are gearing up for their busiest time. Ovens Farm is not the biggest berry farm, but they’ve stood the test of time, going into their 31st year. When they started out, there were only three berry farms in the area, but within a few years, that number grew to about 35. That was when the “pick-your-own” concept was just catching on, and that’s what drew Maureen and Ron to the idea of the farm.
|
|
By Allyson Bycraft
 downonthe_farm_spring__fmt
The two knew from the beginning that they weren’t looking to get into farming commercially. They wanted to keep things small and manageable. They chose breeds of animals
|
By Allyson Bycraft
A Natural Choice for the Holidays
 iansuzanne_opt
Ian Walker grew up on a hobby farm and always knew that farming was what he wanted to do. In 1980 he and his wife, Suzanne Lavoie, started Mariposa Farm, specializing in Barbarie ducks and Embden geese. Since then, they’ve branched out into pigs, cows, horses and vegetables, but they still remain known for their birds.
Their birds are grain-fed, watered with well-water and free-range. No hormones or chemicals are used in their
|
By Allyson Bycraft
 danobrien_fmt
Dan O’ Brien is the fourth generation of his family to farm beef in the Greely area. His 100-acre farm is located on Deermeadow Road, and is home to about 250 head of the popular Simmental breed of cattle. Historically, the family raised the cows to be sold “on the rail”—after weaning, the calves would be sold live to be fattened up and slaughtered elsewhere—and that was Dan’s business too. Then, in 2001, the price of cattle dropped, and Dan and his wife, Tammy Oakes, looked around for other ideas. They decided to finish the cows (keep them an extra 200 days), and have them slaughtered themselves. At first, they sold their beef just to friends and acquaintances. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive, and now they sell to restaurants, hotels and directly to the public.
|
 tractor_fmt.gif
Ashton Glen Farm,near Carleton Place, is a 90-acre property upon which sits a clapboard family farmhouse built in 1885 and which was updated in 1905 to include a frame addition and woodshed! This beautiful homestead that features 20 acres of forest and fields fenced in with cedar logs is an organically managed farm operated by the Smith family. Chemical-free and with no pharmaceuticals administered to livestock, cattle are raised on pasture during the growth season and fed hay harvested on-farm during winter. Taste is especially important to Ashton Glen Farm, while its practice operates on a health and environmental mandate. Beef is dry-aged for 21 days and is lean and well-trimmed,  cow_fmt.gif
Ashton Glen Farms’ beef contains no hormones, antibiotics, larvicides, parasiticides, pesticides or herbicides. Rotational grazing ensures fresh grass for the cattle while encouraging the natural biodiversity of the farmland. Its grass-fed cattle production relies on solar power, while its pasture and hayfields rely on sun, rain and recycled nutrients. Compared with factory farming, the result is of much higher quality, more nutritious and environmentally friendly. As a contrast, corn fed beef may use up to 4 litres of crude to produce one kilogram of beef.
 hos_fmt.gif
Contact Dave Smith @ www.ashtonglenfarm.ca |
|
|
|
|
|
