It was an event that Anne Prichard of the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) called “over-subscribed” at Trinity United Church in Verona.

Representatives from all three levels of government outlined in broad terms a number of granting programs that are open to businesses, not-for-profits and municipalities this year to well over 100 people who squeezed into the hall.

Anne Marie Young from Frontenac County and Louise Fragnoto from South Frontenac Township each made short presentations about community grants that are available to community groups. Up to $5,000 is available from Frontenac County for community based projects thst foster sustainablity and economic development. The township of South Frontenac has set aside $10,000 in total for small project grants (up to $2,000) for projects “which provide a new or improved community service or potential economic benefit” that are sponsored by a community group.

Katie Nolan from the Ministry of Farming and the Ministry of Rural Affairs, based in Kemptville, talked about several larger funding initiatives. These include Local Food Grants, the Growing Forward program which is targeted at larger farm operations, as well as Rural Economic Development (RED) grants which have been traditionally accessed by tourism related enterprises in the past. Most of the grants that Katie Nolan talked about are so-called 50-50 grants, the province will provide 50% of the funding necessary and the business or not-for-profit needs to come up with the other 50%. Other grant money can be used to cover some of the other 50% but it can't be from a provincially funded program and there is a minimum cash commitment required in all cases.

Anne Prichard then talked about the Eastern Ontario Development Program, which has been administered by the CFDC for a number of years. The program, which is set to get underway for the coming year on April 1st, has not yet been completely rolled out.

“I wanted to get out and discuss the program today, but there are details that I don't know about yet,” Prichard said.

One thing that she does know is that the EODP will no longer fund 100% of project costs for not-for-profit corporations. From now on, just like the business sector, they will have to cover at least 50% of costs, and in kind donations will not count.

Another change is that website development, for which the CFDC used ot be able to draw on EODP funds, is not longer eligible, although site upgrades of certain kinds, such as developing direct sales capacity, will still be eligible.

Growers like nothing more than exploring new gardening options for the (hopefully!) upcoming spring. That was the case at Oso Hall on March 22 where organizers of the Sharbot Lake Farmers Market included a number of heritage seed vendors in their usual line-up of regular market vendors. Guest vendors included Darcy Lloyd of Heritage Seed and Produce, Dawn Morden of Mountain Grove Seeds, Cheri McConnell of Seeds of Creation, Cerridwyn Cox-Henderson of Good Golly Gardens, and Johvi Leeck of Heritage Seeds and Preserves.

The event was the first spring seed/swap event hosted by the SLFM and market chair Mary de Bassecourt stated why it was undertaken this year. “Diversity in the number of available seeds is diminishing at a rapid rate and many growers do not want to grow plants from genetically modified seeds. More and more growers these days want to have control over what they grow and also want seeds that are seeded to the local climate and the local area.”

De Bassecourt said that despite the weather, close to 60 buyers attended the event, which included a seed-saving workshop by Cate Henderson, who since 2008 has worked as the gardener/seed saver with the Heirloom Seed Sanctuary in Kingston.

The sanctuary was started in 1998 by the Sisters of the Providence of St. Vincent de Paul and organic farmers Carol and Robert Mouk and it is one of only two such sanctuaries in all of Canada. To date the sanctuary has amassed over 300 different heritage seed varieties that include onions, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes peppers and just about anything you can possibly grow in a vegetable garden. Henderson defined heirloom seeds as those that either that have been passed on through the generations or those worthy of being passed on. In her workshop Henderson gave an overview of the Kingston Heirloom Seed Sanctuary and the importance of collecting heritage seeds. She answered questions about how to isolate certain plants that are cross pollinators; the proper population sizes when trying to maintain genetic diversity; and how to adapt seeds to your own local conditions.

It is no surprise that Henderson believes in the importance of collecting and maintaining a diverse heirloom seed collection. “Many of the seeds that are available in the larger market place are being adapted for mechanical harvesting and for shipping long distances and various other things. We as a community need to take back our seeds and get them adapting to our own local conditions so that their plants can better feed us. We similarly need to broaden our ideas about community to include the plants and the animals that feed us.” Henderson said that the trend of growing, saving and collecting heirloom seeds has grown in popularity over recent years. “There is a lot more awareness these days thanks to the local food movement”.

In her workshop Henderson offered up numerous resources to the participants, one of which is an in-depth 12 hour workshop on seed saving that she will be giving at the Kingston Seed Sanctuary. For more information visit www.providence.ca and go to the Heritage Seed Sanctuary link.

Lanark County, the Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario, has even more sweetness to celebrate: a maple-related Guinness World Record holder can be found here!

One of the largest maple farms in the county, Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp, has also gained worldwide recognition for achieving the Guinness World Record for “largest collection of maple syrup production artefacts.”

“Wheelers already achieved recognition from the Government of Canada in 2009 with a National Historic Plaque for paying homage to our nation’s maple history through its museum and display,” said Marie White, Lanark County Tourism manager. “Now we extend our congratulations to the Wheelers again on this new achievement, which is another way the family continues to spread word of this culturally significant industry to everyone.”

The farm is owned and operated by Vernon and his wife Judy Wheeler and their family. They collect sap from more than 20,000 trees. Vernon learned about sugar making at his family’s farm when he was six. In 1978 he and Judy started their own venture on 730 acres near McDonalds Corners. Now more than 30,000 people visit each year to enjoy fresh maple syrup at their pancake house and to explore all that the site has to offer.

“Maple is in my blood,” Vernon Wheeler says. “I respect and admire the innovators of maple syrup making, so I began collecting items related to maple syrup production from the First Peoples to the present.”

In 2000, Vernon Wheeler’s vast collection opened for public display at Wheelers Maple Heritage Museum, and on Jan. 17, 2014 the collection of 5,228 items earned the Guinness World Record. Among the artefacts are 1,325 maple sap spouts, 507 maple sugar moulds, 694 maple syrup serving jugs, 100 Native sugaring artefacts, 37 maple syrup dippers and 263 sap buckets.

Visitors can experience Canada’s rich maple sugaring history seven days a week, 9a.m. to 3p.m. year-round at Wheelers. In addition to the museum and pancake house, there are marked trails through an active maple forest where sap is collected and, in the spring, it flows to the sugar camp where visitors can watch it being boiled into delicious syrup.

For more information about Wheelers, visit www.wheelersmaple.com. - submitted by Lanark County

The National Farmer’s Union “New Farm Project” (NFP) held its 2nd Annual Fall Gathering at the Golden Links Hall in Harrowsmith on November 18. Over 100 farmers (and wannabee farmers) from far and wide gathered to share their experience and knowledge, and to celebrate the successes of the NFP's first year.

Though farming is an industry fraught with challenges and a very real and ongoing income crisis, it is simultaneously experiencing a rebirth in these parts, thanks in large part to an increased desire for local produce and to the help that the NFP is now offering to newbie farmers and revisionists.

Facilitated by Wendy Luella Perkins who works as a consultant for the NFP, the Fall Gathering began with an introduction from Diane Dowling, Vice President of NFU local 316 of FL&A. Dowling explained how the NFP came about as a result of the NFU local 316’s growing success in educating consumers on the benefits of buying local food. That success created a need for more local growers and producers. For that reason members of the NFU local 316, Colleen Ross and Kathy Rothermel put together a grant application to Heifer International, a not-for-profit donor organization that promotes self sustenance and reliability in communities and in 2008 the NFU local 316 was granted $250,000 for a new four-year project called the New Farm Project, whose motto is “building farm capacity, building farm community”.

The new project was designed to build and promote a more sustainable local food system in Kingston and its countryside and to enable more people to get involved in farming through education, training and support.

At the gathering, NFP project coordinator Ian Stutt, himself a market gardener for four years summed up the achievements of the NFP in its first year, which included identifying and supporting eight new and four revisionary farmers, establishing a new chapter of the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT), an internship program that provides practical experience to new farmers. This year the NFP through their CRAFT program hosted a total of 18 interns on 10 different farms, providing the new farmers with practical hands-on training.

Also this year a total of 12 workshops on various topics offered over 80 hours of training to farmers and 21 NFP conference bursaries were given out. An NFP equipment sharing program was also set up whereby farmers can borrow and use farm machinery and tools that they require but do not own themselves such as poultry processing equipment, rototillers, bush hogs and more.

Of the 100 families that the project has set out to assist over four years, 27 have been assisted and of the 100 families expected to receive a “pass on gift “, 18 have received theirs.

The morning began with the stories of 14 individuals who received NFP “gifts”. Each NFP gift recipient described what they received, how they benefited and how they have or intend to “pass on the gift”.

Scott Irving, Gregg Williams, Louise Cooper and Thor Hansgen all worked as craft interns at different farms. Scott received funding to attend a two-day organic agriculture Conference in Guelph. His gift back? He is in the process of putting together an educational presentation for school-aged children on the importance of earthworms.

Thor attended a potato workshop and more recently a seed saving workshop and he intends to share his knowledge on seed saving by offering a future workshop on the subject.

Tibrata Gillies of Milk River Farm in Sunbury received funding to purchase milking equipment and she intends to hold a cheese-making workshop as her gift back.

Dave Perry of Perry Maine-Anjou Farms received funding for a solar fence to expand his pasture and herd. He plans to donate 12 turkeys to local families in need as his gift back. And the stories continued on.

A delicious lunch was sandwiched between two informative panel discussions. The first was titled “Making a Farm Business Succeed Today: Balancing Economics, Ecology and Quality of Life”. Moderated by Brian Burt of Burt’s Greenhouses, the panel of farmers, which included Emily Dowling, John Wise, Oliver Haan and Titia Posthuma, each gave moving and informative accounts of why, how, and what they farm. They summed up its rewards and challenges and provided moving and often comic accounts of their struggles, triumphs as they strive to be sustainable, remain economically viable while not burning themselves out physically. Strong points were made by panelists about the importance of farmers putting the business model before lifestyle, asking consumers to pay the price of production, educating the public, accounting for externalities as well as the importance of direct marketing, and trying to mimic nature to achieve ecological balance.

After lunch, Stacey Corcoran-McLaren moderated a panel discussion concerning Local Food Trends and Marketing Innovations. Panelists included Wendy Banks, whose business distributes locally grown food; Clark Day, a Kingston restaurateur who buys local produce; Pat Dawson of Desert Lake Gardens; and Dave and Kim Perry who own Perry-Maine-Anjou Farm and Local Family Farms in Verona. Each spoke about how they go about running their business and gave advice based on their own experiences.

The day proved to be an informative and fun one with a lot of networking, on other discussions taking place during breaks.

The NFP’s objectives for the upcoming year includes supporting the plans for 10 combined new and revisionary farmers, continuing to offer and implement the CRAFT program to new interns, continuing to offer bursary grants and providing workshops on a number of topics: farm business planning, farm production, marketing and distribution, fence building, seed saving, scything and canning and preserving to name just a few.

Earlier Stutt pointed out the fact that the wording “New Farm” in NFP does not just relate to new farmers but also describes the new type of farm that farmers are building these days. Stutt described this new farm as, “stable and resilient with the capacity to adjust itself to the physical, social, economic environments that present themselves.” Anyone thinking of making the move into farming or making a change in their farming practice is well advised to get connected with the NFP.

For more information on what the NFP has to offer, visit www.nfu.newfarmproject.ca or contact Ian Stutt at 613-767-6037; e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..