Greetings from a neighbour to the north

[Val]

Hello folks:

I was so pleased to discover this forum a couple weeks ago, and after surreptitiously reading lots of inspiring and helpful stuff from all of you, I’m finally taking the big step and “coming out into the open”.

We have a family of 3 boys (5, 7 and 11 yrs), and moved to a 40 acre “rural property” about 1 hour northwest of Toronto 3 1/2 years ago. After a decade and a half of being urban, I’ve rediscovered my childhood passion for farm life, and have been working slowly (but with more resolve than I’ve ever had in my life) to learn and work with this land to create a sustainable, grass-based, mixed organic farm. We’ve had pastured pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, horses, a heifer, a modest maple syrup operation, and we’re welcoming a young farmer this year to start a CSA garden here. Thankfully, we’ve got a great little community of small-scale progressive farmers to collaborate with and learn from in our neck of the woods. There’s lots of exciting stuff going on around creating a just and sustainable local food system too.

Powering the farm with draft horses felt very appealing from day-one, but it took me a couple years to realize that there was no reason not to start making it happening sooner rather than later… so, I’ve been reading, took an amazing 3-day, hands-on draft horse workshop at Orchard Hill Farm near London, Ontario, and am getting acquainted with the network of teamsters in southern Ontario. I kinda wish I was at the stage of life where I could apprentice for a season or two at one of the wonderful farms that teach “teamster farmers”, but instead, with great excitement and hopefully adequate caution, I plan to buy my first team of well-experienced farm horses as soon as I can find them.

Thanks to all of you who are making this forum happen. So many of the themes seem to scratch where it itches for me too, and it’s wonderful to know that us newbies can have access to such a wealth of generously shared, lived wisdom! My only fear is that I’ll never get anything else done after the kids are in bed for the night:)

Val Steinmann
Heartwood Farm

[Carl Russell]

Welcome Val, we are so pleased to have you in our midst. This forum really shows how large and widespread our community is. “They” call us “fringe”, but the fringe surrounds them. Carl

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