NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Deirdre Madill – Dunrea Farming Co.

Posted by Jennifer Sparling on August 20, 2024

Our Manitoba Apprenticeship Coordinator, Jennifer, sat down with Deirdre Madill, an apprentice in the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program to ask her about her experience apprenticing at the Dunrea Farming Co. homestead in Manitoba. Here’s what she had to report!
There has been lots of weeding and harvesting – she has enjoyed going out in the morning to dig potatoes and cut garlic scapes, which are her new favourite! “They are wonderful and now I am hooked,” she beamed.  She thought she would like picking flowers, chamomile specifically, more. But, by the time she’d get to the end of the row, the plants at the beginning would be blooming again! 
Deirdre has also been working at the Boissevain Farmer’s Market with her host farm mentor Kara Burrell, who she describes as generous, kind and understanding. At the market, Deirdre enjoys connecting with regulars, educating folks about how great garlic scapes are and building this new bridge between her retail experience and farming.
Living and working with a variety of animals has also been a big highlight of her time at Dunrea Farming Co. On the farm Deirdre cares for chickens, sheep and goats along with a kitten she rescued from a local animal shelter. The goats are so playful, she said. There’s a little black goat that seems to think she’s a goat too! It’s always being a rascal and biting her pants! She joked that the smaller the animal, the more they get away with! 
Deidre has even had the opportunity to make memories with the Burrell family off the farm. Together, they went to the Cooks Creek Medieval Festival, where they ate a giant feast and watched sword fighting and some hilarious Monty Python reenactments! 
Interested in the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program? You can learn more here or email jennifer@youngagrarians.org. 

RESOURCES

Blog post by Jennifer Sparling, Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Coordinator for Manitoba  
Photos by Deirdre Madill