 Julie and Greg of Gully Ridge Farms moved onto their homestead family farm, just outside of Port Stanley, in 2016. Greg decided that he wanted to use some acreage to try and dabble with some farming, and he ended up settling on garlic, since there aren’t any garlic farms in the area that grow on a large scale. They officially named their farm Gully Ridge in 2017, after the tall hills and winding gully the farm oversees.
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 Great Lakes Goat Dairy officially launched their branded cheeses in 2011, by founding farmers Anthony and Marj, and partnered farmers Dave and Michele. They each own goat dairy farms, and have been farming for over 20 years. Before Great Lakes Goat Dairy, their milk would be picked up and shipped to be made into cheeses and other goat dairy products elsewhere. Anthony and Marj knew they wanted to eventually be able to make their own cheese from their dairy, so they founded Great Lakes Goat Dairy in 2008. “That was always the goal,” Marj said. “We just took baby steps to get there.”
 Janis and Mark Harris of Harris Flower Farm purchased their farm in 2011, but Janis actually started growing flowers in 2008 on her parents farm. Janis, along with her sisters, grew up on McSmith’s Organic Farm with their parents Cathy and Gary McSmith. Janis’s paternal grandparents were also farmers, running a successful dairy cow operation, dating their family farming back to the 1950s. Janis was working as an optician when she met country boy Mark, and she wanted to show him that even though she was no longer working on the farm, she still had her farming roots. “I wanted to prove that I was still a country girl, I wanted to grow something to sell,” Janis said. “My parents were main season vendors at the Horton Farmers’ Market, so my mom suggested I grow gladiolus and sell them at the table beside them.” Not long after that, Janis and Mark bought their farm, and Harris Flower Farm and Pastured Pork has been a staple of the St. Thomas and Elgin County community ever since.
 Over 50 years ago, Mathew Rawson’s mother would make home-made meat pies in their kitchen, which he would then load into his little red wagon to sell door-to-door for 25 cents each. “They got so popular that people would be waiting on their porches for me and my wagon,” Mathew reminisced with a smile. “We would put them in wax paper sleeves, and they would still be steaming hot when I delivered them.” The meat pies popularity spread through word of mouth, and the Rawson’s clientele gradually expanded. Mathew continued to make the meat pies with his mother’s recipe; expanding their product line to include home-made pizzas, and officially opening Uncle Dad’s Meat Pies and Pizza Plus flagship store at The Market at Western Fair District over 20 years ago with his wife Sharon.
 In 2016, Roger and Romina were living in the UK, working as teachers, and had just welcomed a baby into their family. Roger needed an outlet from the stress of teaching, so he ended up signing up for an allotment garden in town. “That was his peace of mind, because teaching was driving him crazy,” Romina said with a laugh as we toured their three acre organic farm. “So that’s what he did, he always had a garden.”
 In 2017 Steph started to explore feeding their dogs and cats a raw food diet to meet their dietary needs. It allowed her to feed them real, natural foods, with daily variety while also giving her control over the contents. “When we adopted our second dog, he was very overweight and it was a lot easier for me to control what was going into his food,” explained Steph. “But I could bulk up his food with things like vegetables so he wasn’t just starving and getting into things all day long.” Steph spent lots of time researching raw food diets, their benefits, and what was needed to make sure the food would be nutritionally balanced. Two of her dogs have kidney disease and liver disease, and Steph likes how she can adjust their meals to help support their needs.
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