Adagio Acres is a small, certified organic, family farm located in one of the many forgotten corners of Manitoba (i.e. the interlake), where the land itself has room to stretch out its arms and wild asparagus outnumbers people a hundred to one. We like to think that farming is what allows us to abandon the structure of four walls and schedules for the unpredictable chaos of farming and entrepreneurship. Our children are a big part of everything that we do, and they are along for field inspections, product development, deliveries (they love stocking shelves and putting price stickers on packages), and everything in between.
The main crop that we grow are naked, or hulless, oats. These are an ancient grain variety of oats that do not require heat processing when they are being milled, leaving an oat that can be used for porridge or other oat-y kitchen adventures, but that is less altered from it’s original state. We then mill these oats into rolled, steel cut, or quick cooking form, or leave them whole to be used as a rice-like substitute.
In 2019, we also started up a new project where “leftover” organic grains and pulses from other organic farms around the province are rounded up, cleaned in our oat mill, and made available for consumers here in Manitoba. In the grain farming world, any harvest of less than about 10,000 lbs is considered too small to be able to transport to a processor, so these “small” batches often become on-farm food loss. Our project aims to reduce this food-loss and make the incredible food that was grown here, more available for Manitobans. These lentils, beans, cornmeal, and miscellaneous “other” crops are available through our winter grain CSA.