Eastern Ontario Homesteaders Conference at Ag Hall in McDonalds Corners

Jeff Green | May 03, 2023

Spring is the season of hope for growers everywhere, and for planning projects to help make rural properties comfortable and sustainable.

Marcie and Jason Tompkins moved to a 4-acre lot, that they call Learning Curve Acres, near McDonalds Corners 8 years ago. They are putting on the second annual day-long Homesteading Conference this Saturday.

“There is so much to learn about homesteading in a rural property, and there are people who know a lot about many different topics, and we wanted to help share information,” said Marcie Tompkins.

They planned their initial conference in the winter of 2020, but by the time the spring rolled around that year, public gatherings were not on.

“We waited through 2020 and 2021 because of COVID, and last spring it started to look more promising so we held our first event. We learned a lot from that experience and we are raring to go this year.”

They held the conference on the first Saturday in May last year, and it was a good time, after Seedy Saturday Events but before the start of Farmers Markets, so they chose the same weekend. There are two major components to the conference.

A vendor’s fair, which will take place on the grounds of the Agricultural Hall in downtown McDonalds Corners, will have 20 vendors this year.

The vendors will have lots available: honey, preserves, veggie and flower seedlings, beeswax skin care, baked goods, jewelry, art, paper products, Pampered Chef, fabric creations, fudge and brittle, clay and linen and more.

The second part of the conference will feature a series of speakers in the Ag Hall, who will cover topics ranging from intensive gardening to Do it Yourself Solar.

Admission is free to the vendor fair, and by donation to the speakers in the hall.

The McDonalds Corners Agricultural Society, partners in producing the event, will operate the canteen in the hall.

The vendor fair starts at 9:30 and the first speaker is up at 10am.

Jenny Ploughman and Rob Hilby from Denbigh View Ranch will start things off at 10. They will talk about how they have regenerated the land on a 200 acre farm in the Denbigh Highlands.

At 11am, Tom Marcantonio, who has run community gardening and school gardening programs in Ottawa for many years, is an advocate for what he calls the “10 metre-garden”, and has also been developing what he calls a Rock Farm near Sharbot Lake for ten years, will talk for 90 minutes about intensive gardening practices and a host of other subjects.

At 1pm, Tracy Hand from DIY Solar in New York State, will talk about how to go solar without spending a bundle of money on it.

At 2pm, Summer McDonald from Wild Thyme Homestead in Middleville, will talk about fermenting, from Sauerkraut to Kombucha and everything in between.

And the final talk, at 3pm, is by another Denbigh based Homesteader, Galen Horst of Providence Farm, will talk about sustainable homesteading and how not to burn out.

“There are so many benefits that come from taking control of our homes and our food supply, that we wanted to share among the wider community. That’s why we started the conference last year, and with the numbers who came, that’s why we are doing it again this year. We hope people come out, shop at our vendor village, and learn and enjoy the seminars. The speakers are all very lively and promise to be entertaining. I’m looking forward to Saturday,” said Marcie Tompkins.

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