What We have been Working on for You: OFVGA Activities Update January 2020

Jan 22, 2020

Marie-Claude Bibeau was reappointed as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his new cabinet last month and the ministers received their mandate letters before the holidays. OFVGA will be participating in the federal lobbying event being hosted by Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC) and Canadian Produce Marketing Association in February to ensure the interests of Ontario growers are represented. OFVGA will also be in Ottawa in mid-March to attend the Canadian Horticultural Council annual general meeting.

Latest status: OFVGA has written to the Minister and her parliamentary secretary Neil Ellis, as well as the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the opposition critics of federal ministries relevant to edible horticulture. Next steps include making contact with Ontario Members of Parliament to make them aware of our sector’s key priorities: financial protection for growers, crop protection and labour.

Source : OFVGA

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.