Monika and Andreas Zinn waste no time in getting down to business, and the one they run together is strong like the bond between them as mother and son. While their venture together officially began in 2008 with the inauguration of Zinn Farms, it naturally started long before then, while Andreas was growing up.
When Andreas was just four years old, Monika showed him how to catch chickens using a catching hook, which is simply a long rod with a hook at the end. When Andreas was thirteen years old, he received his first goat and throughout high school it was his responsibility to care for the small herd of the Boer breed that he and Monika then started putting together. The two promoted their goat meat through word of mouth and newspaper ads and soon began a series of regular orders throughout the year for non-family customers. By the time Andreas had was finishing high school in 2008, his mind was set on farming as a livelihood and he chose to enter the Agricultural program at the University of Manitoba that upcoming fall as the farm also went through many changes. Zinn Farms closed the doors of its pullet barn and gave the farm a new direction.
Since then, Andreas and Monika have purchased Berkshire pig breeding stock, improved their free-range chicken facilities, added rabbits to the farm family and purchased a feed mill to start mixing their own feed for their livestock. The mother-son team still only use non-GMO feed for all of their animals, which consists of a combination of wheat, oats, barley and peas they purchase from local farmers.
Jonathan’s Farm is located 10 minutes north of Winnipeg and grows vegetables for CSA members and the Wolseley Farmers Market. We are committed to ecological farming practices and all our vegetables are grown naturally: no pesticides or herbicides prohibited by organic standards are used.
Jonathan’s Farm is located on Mcphillips road in St. Andrews, employs four people during the growing season and provides fresh vegetables for 400 CSA members and the Wolseley and Selkirk Farmers Markets.
Visit the Wolseley Farmer’s Market, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-7pm at the R.A Steen Community Centre. Find the market on Facebook for updates.
Sustainable Aquaculture , Innovative Agriculture
“It’s just crazy enough to work!”
In 2008, in a former implement shed, Manitoba’s Interlake saw the first indoor recirculating aquaculture system built to raise 100 metric tonnes of Steelhead Trout here at Watersong Farms, located 11kms west of Stonewall Manitoba. Using 250,000 gals of water from the aquifer and recycling 98-99%, enough to feed 10 acres of greenhouse, we grow and sell Steelhead Trout products right from our farm gate, through boutique grocery stores, farmers markets, and wholesalers that supply restaurants and major grocery stores in Manitoba. Our Steelhead Trout production is Green Certified, Sea Choice and Ocean Wise Certified.
On farm we have a butcher shop, smokehouse, licensed banquet kitchen, host Chef and Farmer supper events, seating for 40 indoors and up to 125 outdoors, Chef’s Table evenings, Harvest Host Camping Site, and Manitoba’s only licensed fingerling supplier.
We also raise farm gate fresh whole roasting chicken, processing and packaging right on the farm.
Check out our website www.watersongfarms.com for more info as products, prices, farm events, market attendance can change like the weather!
“Slip out to the farm, it’s good for you”
Thanks for visiting, take care!
Ploughshares Community Farm is a joint and diversely mixed farming effort on the banks of the Brokenhead River just southeast of Beausejour.
Contact us about purchasing garlic and other vegetables at the farm gate.
Alongside the vegetable gardens, folks at Ploughshares also keep cattle, milk goats, chickens and honey bees.
In 2018, they began producing certified organic cold-pressed sunflower oil.
Jim and Carolyn Lintott were among the first producers in Manitoba to begin direct-marketing 100% grass-fed and -finished beef back in 2004 following the BSE crisis. The couple’s business has been founded on honest relationships that they have worked to develop with their customers over the years. “It has taken us a long time to get the cuts up to the quality that we want,” says Jim. He adds that their Angus beef is dry-aged for 21 days before it is cut, a longer period than the average steak. “This process dramatically improves the flavour and texture. We are going for a higher degree of tenderness in the meat and are able to achieve that by waiting a bit longer.” Jim notes that one of the key reasons for moving to raise 100% grass-fed beef is the health benefits that the product has for the consumer. “According to the research,” Jim starts. “Grass-fed beef is two to four times richer in heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids, higher in “good” unsaturated fats and lower in “bad” saturated fats, three to five times higher in Linoleic Acid content and loaded with over 400% more of vitamin A and E. When the consumer chooses to eat 100% grass-fed and finished beef, they know they are supporting a humane, health-promoting and environmentally responsible system of agriculture. That’s what makes it so good to be in this business!”
The Lintott’s commitment to producing beef of such caliber reflects in the positive feedback they receive from their customers, who also gain facts about grass-fed beef and cooking tips from Jim. “Customers who are experienced cooks have come up to me at the market and have said ‘I did exactly what you told me to do… and that was the best roast I have made in years!’” Jim smiles. He has been attending the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market for almost 10 years and offers his customers free delivery to Winnipeg and the surrounding area each year from November to April. Aside from fostering individual relationships, the Lintotts also work with chefs of restaurants, weddings and hotels who are looking for speciality items that they can feature in the fall months. Jim’s partnership business, Springfield Cattle Company, keeps him busy with the daily management of over 130 head of cattle to water, rotate and move on a regular basis. The company, which started in 2001 is shared with 5 of the Lintott’s neighbours and has provided the foundation for their endeavours in direct-marketing. In addition to farming full-time, Jim has devoted countless hours as the chair of the Manitoba Forage Council and a founding member of the Manitoba Grass-Fed Beef Association. You can learn more about the Association and its values through its website as well as follow the projects and events organized by the Council, which are on its website. Visit Jim at the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market on any given Saturday during the summer to learn even more.
Wild Earth Farms is run by Jeffrey and Janna Veenstra, located north east of Winnipeg between Oakbank and Bird’s Hill park. All the produce is grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides.
Their CSA season is 20 weeks long from June until the end of October with 5 CSA pick up locations (North Kildonan, St. Boniface, the farm, Springfield, and Wolseley), with a separate winter CSA in November and December. You can also find their vegetables at the Pineridge Hollow Farmer’s Market every Saturday in the summer, Thursdays at the Downtown Farmers Market, and at the Alleyways Market on the First Friday of the month.
Wild Earth Farms also supplies many restaurants in the area.
It’s hard to keep up with Hermann and Sheryl Grauer of Nature’s Farm, who seem to have endless energy for producing amazing food using the best local ingredients available in the province. After starting a pasta company, an omega-3 egg production and distribution facility and now a line of hearty, whole-grain granola, this couple still plans to do more innovative food projects in the future.
The Grauers began farming as egg producers in 1987 and soon began developing pasta recipes using their own eggs, which was a rare thing to do in Canada since the majority of grocery store pastas contain only wheat and a few other ingredients (usually preservatives). The pasta is made using hand-cracked eggs – 400 per batch, to be exact! – local flour and all-natural flavours using dried herbs and vegetables. The result, especially when using farm-fresh eggs like the Grauers do, is rich-tasting pasta with almost butter-like texture that comes in a long line of flavours, shapes and sizes.
Nature’s Pasta was officially launched in 1993 and soon became well-known as a top-quality product by many local chefs and food critics who also got to know the Grauers along the way. The pasta has since been featured at cooking shows and distributed to upscale restaurants across North America, but has also been made available to customers across Manitoba in stores like My Farmers Market (.com), Vic’s Fruit Market, Crampton’s Market and Vita Health stores.
After walking around the grounds of Redpoll Farms, it is easy to envision this venture as the next outdoor destination, which is exactly what the owners Dorothy and Cliff hope it will one day become. It’s very fitting that the couple named their farm in honor of the most common bird that sticks around in winter on their property, the Redpoll bird. Forty acres of pine trees, twenty of marshland and the rest as bush make up this quaint forest-area property. A slight walk down from the garden-filled homestead gives way to a large grassy area surrounding a serene marsh. The marsh is considered an official water retention area by the Seine Rat River District, which won the couple an award for their dedication to protecting it. The picnic-perfect spot is enclosed by a long line of mixed trees that enclose the property, which extends a quarter-section out and can be explored by several winding paths leading every which way. Tucked away amidst trees are some gardens growing vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers, a beautifully-balanced mix of production and preservation.
The Freunds host a market on their farm every Friday that offers a wide variety of preserves and vegetables, all grown and processed there. The market begins mid-July and runs until mid-September. For more information, visit their website.
Located just outside of the south perimeter, Almost Urban Vegetables is now a 70-member CSA that has grown to feed over four times the number of people Marilyn and Bruce sold to when they started selling shares back in 2009. From the beginning, the couple has welcomed helpers and interns, sharing their own knowledge and farming lessons with those who want to learn more. They also raise laying hens and pastured poultry, the latter of which are fertilizing their back fields to prep them for future plantings a long-term plan already in action!
In the spring of 2006, Marilyn, Bruce, and their three sons sold their home in Kitchener, Ontario, put their favourite possessions in storage, and started a five month adventure in learning. The goal was to give the family a chance to see and learn about their own country, while developing skills and knowledge related to organic growing. The trip started with a two-week permaculture course for Marilyn, followed by an extended WWOOFing experience. This was the beginning of the next chapter of their life a fresh start with the ultimate goal of finding a home where they could grow food for their family, feel connected to a community, and turn it all into a livelihood. The family worked with and visited nearly 30 farms across Western Canada throughout a six-month period, before choosing to settle in Manitoba.
