Prior to 2022, Karen Parr and Bert Floyd were living in London, ON, working corporate jobs, and living daily life. Eventually they pictured themselves moving out to the country and living on a farm - a quiet property with tall trees, lots of nature, and space to relax. Then one evening during a sleepless night, Bert stumbled upon a listing for a stunning lavender farm property in Sparta, ON, and an unexpected adventure began. "It's Bert's fault," Karen said with a laugh. "He wanted to move to the country. We wanted some trees and a barn and a tractor - we weren't expecting 10,000 lavender plants!" But after seeing the property, Karen and Bert quickly fell in love with it, and in just days they were the new owners of a lavender farm. "We found it, put an offer in, and owned it within four days," Karen explained. "So that was like, holy moly!" The sale was finalized, and on July 30, 2022 after only owning the property for 12 days, Sparta Lavender Farm officially opened its doors. 

In 1958, Sikko and Aultje Oegema and their seven children made the long journey to immigrate to Elgin County from the Netherlands. They purchased a farm just outside of present day St. Thomas in Talbotville, and together they began their farming venture in Canada. They started off by raising some hogs and growing tomato and sugar beet crops, and in 1959 they began raising turkeys, and over the years their sons Heiko and Tom grew the turkey and cropping aspect of the farm. On December 5, 1992, the Oegema family officially opened The Turkey Shoppe, an on-farm store where they could offer customers fresh turkey products direct from the farm. In 2004, Heiko's sons Mike and Wayne took over the turkey operation. 

As we celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd, we recognize that the day can easily feel overwhelming and daunting. We all love our Earth and we want to protect it, but a starting point can feel difficult to find. Many of us already engage with environmentally conscious habits, like recycling and composting, using power during off-peak hours, planting trees and native gardens, switching to energy-efficient appliances, and more. But how else can we learn about our local environment, support stewards of our lands, and promote sustainability? One way is to support and shop from your local farmers' markets. 

There is a particular kind of patience required of anyone who shops locally through a Canadian spring.

You will not find strawberries in April. The tomatoes are not ready. The corn is not even a thought yet.

​If you show up to a farmers' market in mid-April expecting the full, overflowing abundance of July, you will leave a little disappointed, and that disappointment is worth talking about honestly.

When you shop locally at the Horton Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings, you aren't just buying fresh, quality food from local farmers; you're also playing an important part in supporting agricultural biodiversity. 

Agricultural biodiversity, often called agrobiodiversity, is the foundation of our food system. It is made up of a wide variety of plants, animals, microorganisms, and ecosystems that make food production possible. But protecting and promoting agrobiodiversity isn't only important for food production; it's also important for protecting the health of our environments, the sustainability of our farming practices, and resilience throughout climate change. 

When winter arrives in Ontario it can feel like life slows down - but for local farmers, it's just a different kind of busy. Whether they grow vegetables, raise animals, or make food products, winter is a crucial time filled with repairs, planning, purchasing, and chores - all of which help determine how the rest of the year will go.

Growing up in London, Roots & Shoots owner and operator Bess Hilton was always surrounded by plants, animals, and nature. Her mother always had a large garden filled with native plants and wildlife, and she has memories of playing in the nearby trees or searching for bugs and butterflies while her mom would be tending to her garden. "My mom would always tell me about how beneficial different creatures were to helping naturally control bugs," said Bess. "We would take walks in the woods and she would point out all the different types of native flowers and plants, and I would search for fossils and stones in the creek." As Bess grew older, she found herself wanting to reconnect with her roots through exploring growing her own plants, just as her mother had when she was a child, and in 2020 she officially started Roots & Shoots. 

​At Good Food Farms, farming is more than a livelihood; it's a mission. Tina, farm owner and manager, launched this farm-to-table social enterprise rooted in a deep respect for the land, food, and the belief that how and where our food is grown is one of the biggest contributors to both human health and the health of our planet.
 
Their current focus is on producing high-quality, free-range, pastured chicken, but their vision for the future stretches far beyond poultry. Tina has plans to scale up and get into more niche crops. Excitingly, they plan on opening their new farm store in Lucan toward the end of the year, allowing them to grow and build something sustainable, rooted in community, and sharing good food farmed right.

​In the tiny village of Crampton, a church-turned-home by Arthur and Sharon Murray serves as the headquarters of Herb 4350. Their modest side yard, humble in size but well optimized, is home to most herbs you can think of, including unique offerings in their potager and petal gardens.