About Us
“We believe in minimal tillage, cover-cropping, crop rotation and creating as diverse an ecosystem on our farm as possible in order to work with nature, rather than against her. ”
Our names are Anna and Patrick. Together with our 2 children, Joel and Clara, we moved from Ottawa in 2019 to a 60-acre property in Alexandria, Ontario. Driven by a need to live a healthier lifestyle and by a desire to be a part of the local food movement, we came here dreaming of starting a small-scale, family-run, organic vegetable farm.
In 2020, we put our dream in motion: we started Dream Small Farm and ran a 40-member CSA program and raised 50 pastured heritage turkeys. We met incredibly supportive and inspirational people and achieved so much more than we ever thought that we would!
This year, as we embark upon our second year of farming, we cannot wait to apply what we have learned and, of course, to learn even more! Our goals for 2021 are to expand our CSA program to 100 members and to join the Artisanal Chicken program through the Chicken Farmers of Ontario. Longer term, in addition to further expanding our CSA program, we would like to run our own heritage poultry breeding program and become a source for organic seed garlic.
Why Organic
We value our own health and that of those we feed. We value the health of our community and that of our land. We believe that by following organic practices to produce local food, we can support all of these. As a new farm, we are not yet certified organic; however, we grow according to organic standards and will be applying for organic certification in 2021.
In addition to organic farming practices, we are also passionate about regenerative agriculture. We believe in minimal tillage, cover-cropping, crop rotation and creating as diverse an ecosystem on our farm as possible in order to work with nature, rather than against her. Our goal is to incorporate these practices into our own farming practice and to leave our land better than it was when we found it.
Our Pastured Poultry Program
We deeply value animal welfare. We also believe that animals are part of a natural cycle that ensures the health of the soil and of all those organisms who live in it or grow from it. As such, our goal is to run a poultry program that promotes normal animal behaviors, where they are allowed to live as naturally as possible, and where their presence and behaviors serve to enrich the land that they live on.
To achieve such a goal, we raise all of our poultry on pasture. Our chickens and turkeys are raised in mobile pens, called “chicken tractors”, that are enclosed within a large electrified fence, to provide protection from predators. During the day, the doors to the chicken tractors are left open and the birds are free to roam in the open air, to forage for bugs and tasty grass and to do whatever else birds do. At night, the birds are safely tucked away in their pens to further ensure their safety from predators. The chicken tractors are moved every day to a new patch of grass. The surrounding electric fence is moved to a new patch of land on a regular basis, as well. This ensures that our birds always have access to fresh grass and also ensures that their fertility is spread evenly across our fields.
Our GEO-O Experience!
We learned of the GEO-O program upon moving to Alexandria, as we were making plans to start our farm. Fortuitously, Patrick mentioned our plan while visiting a nearby farm, Kirkview Farms, to purchase their organic grass-fed beef. The farmer there, who is a strong advocate for regenerative agriculture, told Patrick about the GEO-O program and suggested that we contact COG right away, in order to register. The timing could not have been better! We were able to sign up with GEO-O just in time for a farm tour with them, which gave us our first glimpse of local organic farms.
Through GEO-O, we have met other new and current farmers and have made lasting connections with many of them. We have also received invaluable support from an agronomist, who has provided us with advice on how to manage our crops and our soil health, as well as from a business consultant, who helped us to write our business plan and to navigate our accounting software.
Having provided us with all of the resources, tools and encouragement that we needed, joining GEO-O as we were starting out proved to be essential to the success of our first year! We look forward to an ongoing relationship with GEO-O and COG and encourage other new farmers to do the same!
Small Dream Farm (Alexandria, ON )
Meet Our
GEO-O Farmers!
GEO-O stands for Growing Eastern Ontario Organically, a three-year, on-the-ground initiative to support farmers to transition to organic through mentorship, financial incentives, and on-site experiential learning. GEO-O builds on COG’s earlier Organic Success initiative to provide farmers much more in-person, on-site, and farmer-to-farmer training. GEO-O is a first of its kind experiential learning-centred approach in a specific region.
COG will compare the outcomes of GEO-O to similar efforts across the country in order to bring further benefits to the entire Canadian organic sector.