This farm tour is one you most certainly won’t want to miss! We’ll be visiting three farms that highlight the incredible diversity of producers in Central Alberta, including a haskap orchard, a rotational-grazing ranch and a hydroponics lettuce grower. During a walk around of each farm, the farmers will talk about about how they started up, how their operation is unique, their future plans for the operation, and share advice to people wanting to enter the industry. We’ll wrap up the day with a social potluck. All food-lovers and agrarians – new, experienced and everything in between – are welcome to join!
Date: Friday, August 9th, 2019
Location: Meet at Rosy Farms (~1h NW of Edmonton). We’ll have a bus to transport everyone from farm to farm.
Cost: $20 (pay by cash or cheque at the event)
What to Bring: Please bring a dish to share, tools to eat with, and a chair or a blanket.
Share: Planning on joining us? Please invite your friends and share our Facebook event!
Questions? Contact Alex at centralalberta@youngagrarians.org
Schedule
1:00 – 2:15 – Rosy Farms
2:30 – 3:45 – Greener Pastures Ranching
4:00 – 5:15 – Swiss Leaf Farms
6:30 – 8:00 – Social Potluck at Rosy Farms
Rosy Farms
Rosy Farms is a haskap farm; permaculture run, monoculture focused. Andrew Rosychuk is a city slicker turned haskap fruit farmer and has built his dream orchard while developing a new fruit industry in Alberta. He’ll talk about his experiences starting a farm, building a tribe of mentors, scaling his operation, and developing potential markets.
Greener Pastures Ranching
Greener Pastures Ranching is a regenerative ranching operation that does not own cattle and does not own the land that they run the cattle on. Through rotational grazing they protect riparian areas, regenerate pastures and preserve wildlife habitat, all while increasing soil biodiversity. Steve and Amber Kenyon run approximately 1200 head of cattle each summer on approximately 3000 acres of leased land. They also direct market pastured pork into nearby Edmonton and promote regenerative agricultural practices throughout North America through magazine articles and public speaking events.
Swiss Leaf Farms
Swiss Leaf Farms grows leafy greens year round, shipping 12,000 heads of lettuce to over 100 retail locations every week. Their patented growing system, which was developed in Canada, uses 90% less water and zero pesticides. David and Alyssa Pfaeffli will talk about each stage of growth – from seed to harvest ready plants – focusing on how they prepare irrigation nutrients, how they harvest the leafy greens and how their unique packaging increases the shelf life of their produce.
Bonus: Do you want to continue connecting with young agrarians in Alberta?
Join us at the 1st Generation Farmer Conference on Saturday, August 10th, 2019! The day after the farm tour, Rosy Farms is hosting a one-day conference dedicated to connecting and supporting new farmers. Topics include:
- Success stories – hear about the experiences of other 1st generation farmers in Alberta
- Product development – ideas about how to turn what you grow into what you sell
- Farm financing – how to find and apply for grants, talking to banks
- Telling customers your story – how to develop your brand and market it effectively
- Support networks – working with your county and other relevant organizations in Alberta
Check out more details and the full conference schedule here. We can’t wait!