Having both grown up in the Winnipeg area, Leanne and Philip moved to their farm 20 years ago to raise their three children in a rural setting while maintaining connections with family in the city. Leanne continued to work full-time while Philip was a stay-at-home dad before their children were old enough for school, encouraging them later in 4-H projects they tested out right on the farm!
The family started by growing food for themselves, finding diet alternatives such as goat milk products interesting, and became the most popular parents in their children’s friend circles after somehow hosting three birthday parties in a row in which animals on their farm were birthing that same day. As the couple’s collection of hilarious, strange and trying experiences with their animals began to grow, they named their farm in honor of their approach, Fenez Follies Farm, which they noted was to also reflect the fact that they entered the endeavour without much experience in farming.
After offering a summer CSA along with multiple meats and eggs, Leanne and Philip are taking a break to concentrate on family and other pursuits so have cut back on production.
Bee-keeping comes so naturally to Phil Veldhuis, it’s like he entered the world with the skills to do so. Having been born into a bee-keeping family, his talent in handling bees was nurtured at a young age and at 16 years old was already working alongside his uncle kept bees near Treesbank, which is where Phil spent most of his childhood. “I’ve been doing this basically for as long as I can walk – nieces and nephews usually get suckered into it- some stick around and others don’t.” Phil continued to shadow his uncle until he started his own venture in Starbuck, where he has been living and running his business now for over 25 years.
He sells his “ordinary delicious” honey through Bee Maid, a Canadian co-op of prairie bee-keepers, and saves his “super delicious” honey (about the top 5%) for retail sales and for selling at the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market every Saturday, where his son also often busks with his violin.
This year, Phil is maintaining 750 hives in 17 locations in the Starbuck area, although last year had been managing 30 sites. Phil manages an average of 1200 hives every year, and still plans to aim for that amount each summer, but he lost a substantial amount of colonies this past winter, the factors of which he measures by symptoms the colony exhibits. For example, if it looks like there are only drones left in a hive, Phil will take that as a sign that the queen has reduced her fertility; the largest number of cases pertain to hives where Phil said it looks like the bees have “just dwindled away” or are “scattered throughout the hive” which is abnormal for a colony. Anyone who meets Phil understands in a moment that he cares deeply about what he does, yet for him bee-keeping has never been political. “Bee-keeping is for a detailed-oriented person, and so talking about it politically is like a forest for the trees.”
Breezy Way Farm, unsurprisingly, sits on a hill in one of the windiest spots in the Pembina Valley, overlooking wheat and canola fields and surrounded by the deepest snow drifts in the area during the winter months. The 5 and a half acres is the perfect spot for the prairie-loving Penner family to run a small mixed farm.
The Penners have been gardening and raising animals since 2003. They are passionate about gardening without the use of chemicals relying on compost and hand weeding alone. As time goes on they have been continually adding more and more to their farm. They currently have chickens, pigs, turkey and even rabbits! They have also have started an orchard with plans for opening it to U-pickers. Be sure to follow them on Facebook for more updates.
Fresh Roots Farm was established in 2011 by Michelle Schram and Troy Stozek, on land that was owned and farmed by Michelle’s grandparents and parents near Cartwright, in southwest Manitoba. Although Michelle grew up on her family’s nearby cattle ranch (Troy is originally a “town kid” from Dauphin, MB) they both put down “fresh roots” with equally fresh ideas and optimism for growing good food from the land. They steward this land using holistic and regenerative agriculture practices with their young son, Sydney. Their main philosophy is that by facilitating healthy, balanced, diverse, biological systems through holistic management, abundance will follow, including healthy plants, animals and people. The long term goal is to build a resilient farm ecosystem, local food community and economy, so that farming can be a livelihood for future generations.
Fresh Roots Farm produces grassfed beef and lamb, as well as raw pasture-based honey (from alfalfa, clover & wildflower sources). They deliver to two Winnipeg locations per month, alternating monthly between their four pickup locations; details of this schedule can be found on their website, and orders can be placed through their online farm store. Eggs from pastured hens are seasonally available. Their raw honey jars are also available for sale at over 40 retailers across Manitoba. In addition to a-la-carte pick-up orders, they offer a ‘Meat Share’ and ‘Egg Share’ subscription program, that provide monthly packages of these products year-round.
At Luna Field Farm we offer:
eggs from pasture-raised hens (free range in winter)
grassfed beef
pasture-raised pork
pasture raised chicken
Via our email newsletter we offer order forms for bi weekly delivery to Winnipeg and Brandon.
Through the use of holistic grazing practices we committed to producing the highest quality pasture raised and grassfed meats in Manitoba. We strive to sustain a viable family farm operation with respect for the animals and the land we steward. We aim to work with nature to produce and deliver food that is nourishing and wholesome for you and your loved ones.
Luna Field Farm is a pasture (grass)-based livestock farm operated by first generation farmers Wian Prinsloo and Lydia Carpenter. The farm is run on several hundred acres of grazing pasture land in southwestern Manitoba. Through an ecological lens we focus on the health of our livestock, pastures [plants], and soils, recognizing that we are what we eat, from the ground up! We employ management intensive grazing techniques in a multi-species grazing system with the objective of better land, great food and a healthier community. We feel that growing food, and/or procuring local foods is one way to foster responsible land stewardship and nurture resilient communities. We want to provide you with the highest quality pasture-raised and grass-fed meats and encourage others to consider farming and food production as a viable livelihood.
One of the first certified organic farms in Manitoba, Blue Lagoon specializes in regenerative farming using pastured poultry and alfalfa to bring fertility and nutrients to the land. Rotating their garden plot on a yearly basis provides the rich soil to grow a vast variety of fruits and vegetables. Stefan and Lauren Regnier have a CSA program offering home delivery and farm pick up, allowing families to experience the seasonal bounty of what Manitoba farmers can produce in such a short growing time. You can also catch them at the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market year round on Saturdays.
Roger and Cathy Desilets have been learning about the secret life of bees for almost thirty years. They started with 25 hives and now operate about 60 colonies along the Riding Mountain National Park, producing honey mostly from organic crops, raising queens from their best breeding stock and continually learning how best to prevent losses in the winter. Their steadfast dedication and energy for small-scale bee-keeping has given way to opportunities involving the sweet stuff, creating a multi-product business for them and their family.
Cathy and Roger moved to the area of Oakburn in 1983 and started a market garden and greenhouse in addition to their bees. After one growing season they decided to focus on the latter two of the three, putting the majority of their energy into bee-keeping. In the early 1990s, while attending craft shows, they met a bee-keeper and candlemaker from England who also made skin care products utilizing honey, beeswax, royal jelly and a by-product called propolis, a sticky substance collected by the bees mostly from the buds of balsam poplar. Propolis is known to contain healing properties and has been found to be very effective in the treatment of eczema, psoriasis, rosacea as well sunburned skin.
When their friend decided to retire, he invited Roger and Kathy to learn first-hand how to manufacture the skin care products. He eventually gifted them with his business. The couple has continued to attend craft shows, bringing with them their honey, candles and the skin care line. They have built up a customer base that stretches far across Canada. Their products are also carried in select retail outlets.
FortWhyte Farms engages under-served youth in Winnipeg using sustainable agriculture to acquire employment training and build leadership skills while instilling values of individual and community self-reliance.
We raise organic vegetables, culinary herbs and bedding plants on 1.5 acres and in a passive solar, cold-climate greenhouse.
Our heritage breed livestock are raised humanely on pasture and available farm gate and at our on-site Farmer’s Market.
FortWhyte Farms is a social enterprise, a business whose purpose goes beyond a purely financial “bottom line” to see profit in the far reaching social and economic benefits that extend into the lives of individuals, families and communities.
Poco-Razz Farm has been in business since 1982. We are primarily a horse boarding facility but we have a large U-Pick operation during the growing season. We are located on the south side of Winnipeg, just past the Floodway Bridge on St. Mary’s Road, where it intersects with Greenview Road. We are 15 minutes south of the St. Vital Mall. We are not a certified organic farm but follow the practices that would allow us to be certified if we applied for that certification.
