Growing Under Cover on Manitoulin Island

Three Forks Farms is a certified organic farm on Manitoulin Island, producing vegetables, pasture-raised chicken and garden seeds that are adapted to northern Ontario.  Operating Three Forks Farms since 2015, owners Peggy Baillie and Eric Blondin are passionate about the food they grow, the animals they work with and the impact they have on the environment.      “The farm operates …

Horticulture Innovation in Northwestern Ontario

Farming in northern Ontario is not without its challenges.  Horticulture farmers and market gardeners in the north face many obstacles from extreme weather to blackflies.  The Sustainable New Agri-Food Products and Productivity (SNAPP) Program assists farmers with purchasing innovative equipment to increase efficiency and create new products for a growing market.  Sleepy G Farm is a small-scale, certified organic farm …

Increasing Food Security in Northeastern Ontario

Grey Wolf Gardens (Cochrane, ON) is owned and operated by first generation farmers and husband-and-wife team, Luke Dinan and Eva Bonjour.   Grey Wolf Gardens focuses on starting plants that are edible (annuals, perennials, veggies, fruit, etc), medicinal and culinary herbs, as well as plants that serve a function for eco-landscaping.  The farm works to provide their local region with fresh, …

Canning 101 with Master Chef Emerie Brine

Come join Master Chef Emerie Brine as he demonstrates the ins and outs of safe home canning practices. Three workshops are being offered in collaboration with the Rural Agri-Innovation Network and the Lake Superior Living Labs Network. Events are being hosted with Johnson Township, the North Channel Food Co-op, St. Joseph Island Community Garden, and St. Joseph Island Horticultural Society. …

Hot Pepper Variety Trail 2022

2022 is the second year for the hot pepper variety trial, with purpose to diversify the local horticulture market. The peppers are being grown in the same location as last year, due to the continuation of collaboration with the growers as well as two new locations in Sault Ste. Marie. The six varieties, with Scoville heat units (SHU) are as …

Interseeding early cover crops into corn demonstration

Due to the short growing season and colder temperatures in northern Ontario, cover crops are not always an option. Cover crop is defined as ‘a crop grown for the protection and enrichment of the soil’. Normally, the underseeded/interseeded crop gets started, is established with good roots, then goes dormant, while the cash crop (corn) shades them. Once the cash crop …

Indigenous Mycorrhizal Inoculum production on farm

Biostimulants are a large part of agricultural inputs and there is a growing number of commercial microbial inoculants. These aim to restore soil health and enhance crop yields after resource intensive crops or soil disturbance. While farmers may be compelled to apply commercial inoculants, whether they are effective is unknown, which perpetuates a sentiment of skepticism toward these products among …

Identifying Challenges and Opportunities for local food in the Post-Pandemic era

Restrictions, lockdowns, delays, shortages – these words have largely characterized peoples’ lives on a global scale since COVID-19 became widespread and the pandemic took hold.  We’ve become very familiar with the ways our own daily lives have been changed due to coronavirus, but the impacts certainly haven’t stopped there.  Our food systems have also been dealing with these effects both …

Innovation In Dairy In the Northwest

The Slate River Valley is a historical agricultural hub in northwestern Ontario.  Breukside Dairy Farm, Breukelman Dairy Farm and Jasper’s Dairy Farm are three of the many dairy farms that operate within this community in the Thunder Bay district.  To improve their operational efficiencies and profitability, the three farms were collectively looking to increase the yield of feed crops, extend …

Building a Circular Economy of Northern Fibre

Wave Fibre Mill (Parry Sound, ON) is excited to launch their new fibre processing mill, the first of its kind in northern Ontario, through the support of the Sustainable New Agri-Food Products & Productivity (SNAPP) Program funding for collaborations. The program supported their vision for a circular economy for fibre products in northern Ontario.  The new venture formed because of the excessive lead …