 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.” Since the cities in the UK do not usually have any backyards or land, they have allotment gardens, which are similar to community gardens. During the World Wars, the UK encouraged people to grow their own food in a campaign titled Dig for Victory. Through the campaign, the British government encouraged people living in cities to grow their own food, so that there would be enough food for their soldiers, even with rations, and even if food imports were blockaded. “Churches would give up land to grow food, and municipalities would sometimes have vacant land that wasn’t being used, giving birth to allotments,” Romina explained. “If you live in a town you might have allotments in your area, and then you can sign up to ask for one, and you may be put on a waitlist because they are very popular.” By 2016, Roger had successfully signed up for and received an allotment, and they were growing organic vegetables for themselves, while also having an outlet for the stress of teaching. Two weeks after Romina had her baby, her in-laws came for a visit, and that was when Rogers' dad told him that he needed help with the 200 acre family farm. Roger and Romina had to wait until the end of the school year to finish up their jobs teaching, before moving back to Canada in January of 2017. “We didn’t know what we were going to do, we had quit our jobs and we had a baby,” said Romina. “We came back here to help, but we didn’t have a place to live. So we bought a house [in town] on a visit in August.” While trying to help his dad, and trying to sort out life again, Roger again started an organic garden on his father's farm for their family. It was a learning curve for Roger’s dad, who had always owned and operated a conventional 200 acre farm. “Things weren’t in straight lines and there were weeds,” Romina explained as she walked one of the fields. “It’s hard to summarize [the beginning of Our Fields] because there wasn’t a plan.” Starting off with one acre of organic produce, Roger and Romina found themselves with more produce than they could handle. “We literally had too many vegetables,” Romina laughed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with 35 eggplants today.” Despite preserving everything they could and giving away free produce, Roger and Romina were still overwhelmed with veggies. So they decided to create Our Fields, and to bring their produce to the Horton Farmers’ Market. “We went to Horton because at first we lived here but hadn’t met anyone,” Romina said. “I left my whole life and didn’t have a job off farm, so we were like, we’ll go to the market, make some friends, and get rid of some eggplants.” Thankfully, they not only got rid of some eggplants, but they were pleasantly surprised at how the community embraced them. “The people have kept me here, they are so nice,” Romina shared with a smile. “[The Horton Farmers’ Market] isn’t like other markets around here, and it isn’t that far [from Aylmer].” Roger and Romina both learned organic farming practices on the fly, through trial and error and through the help of different organic farming organizations; including the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) and the London Organic Growers. But the Horton Farmers’ Market also introduced them to other organic farmers, and through their relationships they received lots of advice, tips and tricks to continue bettering their produce. It also doesn’t hurt that both Roger and Romina have masters degrees from the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research, so they are no strangers to lots of reading and research. The farm evolved to three acres of organically and ecologically grown food, with a rotation of two acres in production and one always as a cover crop. Continuing their philosophy from their time in the UK, Roger and Romina chose to use organic garden practices out of the desire to feed themselves and their families. Most people don’t bother spraying their home gardens, and neither does Our Fields. “Basically we grow food people want to eat,” Romina said with a smile. “That is our whole thing; if we want to eat it, we grow it.” As we walked through the fields, Romina shared she always loves to hear her customers say they are growing vegetables. “I think people don’t realize until they try to grow something themselves how difficult it is,” said Romina. “I love when my customers say they’re growing something. Oh I love it!" Romina said with a smile and a laugh. "I'm like yes, please try to grow it because nothing will make you appreciate [farming] until you try to grow it." As we toured the fields, the love, care, and passion Roger and Romina put in to their work is evident with each row of seeds and plants.  In addition to growing vegetables, Roger also keeps honey bees. Our Fields honey is sold at the Covent Garden Market in London, and Roger is the only honey producer there. Our Fields also makes preserves like canned beets and peaches, salsa, onion and chili jam, and different salts, which can be found seasonally at Horton. “[We do it] because we want to eat it and we are carrying on family tradition,” Romina said. “Roger’s mom would can peaches with her whole family, or other canned foods, with [his] grandma’s recipes.” They also do preserves to cut down on their food waste, and prevent having to throw out extra produce. The peaches are the only canned products they make that they don’t grow themselves. Romina smiled as she told us about the baby gold peaches they get in to can from Niagara. “Two older men had just found us at the market, and they said these peaches taste like my grandmother's. Can we have 10 dozen? So all of a sudden we were making more.” Romina is always happy to meet new customers, as well as her loyal returning customers, but she also has a soft spot for her fellow farmers. Sitting at a picnic table watching the farm dogs run around the property while Roger got back to work in the fields, it is evident to see the love, care, and hard work that goes into farming. Romina and Roger know how difficult and relentless it can be, and they are always thrilled to see returning farmers each market season, because it means they were profitable enough to continue. “I want all of us to succeed, if they fail we all fail,” Romina said. “If we all succeed, that’s the only way, because if I’m standing here by myself no one’s coming to this market.” The Horton Farmers’ Market is a unique place; one where the community supports their local farmers and vendors, and where the farmers and vendors also support one another. Variety and community are paramount, and we are so thankful for all of the incredibly smart, hardworking, and friendly farmers and vendors that come out each season to make the market incredible. When you can, make sure to come by the market, chat with the farmers and vendors, and if possible buy some produce and food. When our farmers succeed, so does our local economy and community.
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