Meet a Mentee: Trent and Katie Romanow

We are Trent (he/him) and Katie (she/her) Romanow of Cluck and Clove Farm located in Lac Ste Anne County, Alberta. Treaty 6 territory

Who is your Mentor? 

Jonah Langelotz, Correction Line Farm

What were your goals for this season and what did you do to try to achieve them? 

Generate $5000 of revenue. Create a new revenue stream by raising and selling broiler chickens through direct marketing. Improve our knowledge and management of soil and soil health. We committed to attending our local farmers market in Onoway to sell our market garden products, garlic, and garlic value-added products. Improve our knowledge through resources such as books.

Prepare and plant 10000 Garlic seed for 2025 harvest. Create a business plan that is achievable and reflects the direction we want our farm to take.

Did you meet your goals / did it work out? What went well this season relating to your goals? What didn’t go as you expected and what did you do instead?  

We are very close to meeting our revenue goal of $5000, there is still time to achieve this goal.  We are currently successfully planting 10,000 garlic plants to be harvested in 2025. While we didn’t meet our commitment of 10 farmers markets, we did gain some new customers and meet some potential leads for future sales. Like most farmers, the weather played a big factor as we had to adjust our planning due to a colder spring and hail that set us back several weeks. The broiler chicken enterprise didn’t go as planned; we had set out to do 2 rounds of 75 birds but due to missing pre-order dates and not following up, we could not secure chicks for the second round. While we didn’t lose any money, we didn’t make any either, just breaking even with only 61 total birds processed.  We are planning our meat bird project differently for next year. 

What resources did you find most valuable to support your business during the season?  

Our mentor Jonah has been invaluable to us. As new farmers having somebody like Jonah to meet with to discuss ideas of what could work and what won’t. Asking many questions about what has worked for him and his farm. 

What were your best sales channels/avenues? 

The farmers market which also hosted a show and shine in Onoway was our greatest sales channel, this single market accounted for 20% of our goal revenue. We also meet many new customers and potential future customers.

Why do your customers buy from you (what is your unique value proposition in your market)? What was the best feedback or praise you got from a customer?  

Garlic! Garlic! Garlic!  Our customers love our garlic and value-added products made from our garlic.  We have several repeat customers for our garlic powder, granulated garlic that we have sold out.  Black garlic also is highly sought after that we make quite regularly.

What was the most important thing you gained from the  experience?

The list of important things that we have gained from the YA Business Mentorship Network Program is long, 2 things that stand out are; That all farmers struggle, with weather, time management, and mental wellness but with the right community working with you, you will succeed.  Having a tangible plan written out gave us a better chance of achieving our goals.

What specific business skills did the mentorship help you develop?   

Creating a business plan that is personal for us to reflect on during the year(s) to ensure we will be on track and where we want to be by a specific season.  Networking in our community and selling directly to the market.

How has participating in the BMN program equipped you to adapt to environmental or economic challenges on your farm?

Participating in the BMN program has equipped us to adapt to environmental or economic challenges on my farm by providing us with valuable resources, knowledge, and a supportive network. I have learned strategies for risk management, financial planning, and sustainable practices, which will help me navigate unforeseen challenges and make informed decisions for the future of my farm.

What part of the mentorship experience made you feel most empowered as a new farmer?  

The consistent guidance and support from my mentor throughout the season made us feel most empowered as new farmers.  Having someone to share ideas with, ask questions, and receive constructive feedback boosted our confidence and helped us believe in our abilities to grow great garlic.

In what ways did the BMN program help you refine or reshape the long-term direction of your farm? What will you do differently next year?    

The BMN helped us steer back into our crop of garlic. Garlic was always the plan to be the economic backbone of the farm but we lost a lot of planning to the market garden as the other crops needed attention, planning, and individual care.  Recognizing this, we have decided to reduce the quantity of other vegetables and direct more of our energy into the production of quality garlic.

What’s the most valuable advice your mentor gave you that you’ll carry forward?

Every week our mentor always had something new to add to our conversations.  When in doubt, just try it and see if it works. Experimentation.

How has the mentorship program helped you create a stronger connection with your local community?

Our farm vision has always been to connect and support our community with great food, thus creating a new supply chain that is local, ethical and healthy.  The BMN has given us more confidence with valuable experience to reach out to others that we typically won’t reach out to.

What were one or two big, hard lessons this season you would want to share with other farmers? 

Streamlining projects to ensure that you have enough time to accomplish what you need to be successful. Weather is a variable that you can’t control, have patience while recovering from such adverse effects.

What were one or two victories, small or large, that you had this season? 

The purchase of a used tractor that included planting and harvesting implements for garlic is a game changer for us, this has to be our biggest victory, and of course working the program with our mentor. 

Share a story of something interesting/ funny/weird that happened on your farm this season.  

Like a lot of farmers, we faced many challenges this season. We had a cold start , slow germination, then extreme heat waves and  hail damaging our crops. Several weeks later most of it recovered and we are still enjoying a bountiful harvest.

What are you most looking forward to this winter?

We are looking forward to planning a new market stand that will encourage customers to visit the farm and see how we do produce great garlic, eggs and many of our value added products 

Where can we find you online?

www.cluckandclove.com