Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario - EFAO

📸 Photo recap from the EFAO Field Day "From the Field to the Policy Table with Brilliant Meadows Farm and SARN Farms"! Thank you to everyone who joined us 🌱

The day began with Shiying giving us a tour of her lovely regenerative mixed farm at Brilliant Meadows, highlights include a vegetable garden that includes Chinese diaspora vegetables, a field of cover crop with chicken grazing, and a fermented feeding system for the piglets!

We then headed to SARN Farms, visiting Arnest's latest growing site at Whole Village Eco Farm in Caledon. There he grows a wide diversity of vegetables including a Ugandan maize called Kasooli, Callaloo, African eggplants, and more. Participants were hard at work at SARN, between weeding and harvesting green beans.

The day concluded with a policy discussion. Drawing on the different pathways of Brilliant Meadows and SARN Farms, we explored what practical supports help farmers get established, grow carefully, stay on the land, and build stronger local food economies.

📸 Photo recap from the EFAO Field Day "Research Trials at the Trent University Research Farm"

Last week we got the inside-scoop on the progress of various field trials and projects at Trent Farm Research Centre, including four trials that are a part of EFAO’s Farmer-Led Research Program!

There was lively discussion about the wool being tested as a mulch, plant available nitrogen testing, and the SeedChange / Sème l’avenir CANOVI heat tolerant bok choy variety trials.Trent students shared their research work and a tour of the market garden. It was a busy morning full of conversation, curiosity and chickens chasing grasshoppers – just how we like it!

Thank you to the whole team at Trent Farm Research Centre and Trent University for the warm welcome!

September is our biggest & most exciting month yet, with 6 Field Days - Register at efao.ca/events

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TUE SEP 1 @ 10 AM - 12 PM | Strathroy
CSAs & Diversified Revenue at Mulberry Moon Farm

Join Alex & Kim at Mulberry Moon Farm for a tour of their farm & discussion of their diversified revenue streams & how this has been an essential tool in their farm’s resilience

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SAT SEP 9 @ 10 AM - 3:00 PM | Nepean
Field Day with Urban Fresh Produce

Join the 3rd field day in our farmer-led policy jam series at Urban Fresh Produce near Ottawa with Chadwick Lewis! Urban Fresh Produce is a family-run urban farm growing organic vegetables on land rented from the National Capital Commission

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SAT SEP 12 @ 1 - 5:30 PM | Cobden
Rotational Grazing in Ottawa Valley with Dobson’s Grassfed Beef and Opeongo Springs Homestead

Visit 2 farms, Dobson's Grassfed Beef and Opeongo Springs to learn how their rotational grazing & environmental stewardship practices intersect in the holistic management of their farms

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THU SEP 17 @ 10 AM - 4 PM | Markdale
A Flower-filled Field Day in Grey County

Join Amy of Sideroad Farm & Annabel of Twig & Brindille Flower Farm in Grey-Bruce county for a flower focused day on these 2 outstanding farms, hosted in collaboration with Grey Bruce Flower Growers & the Local Flower Collective

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TUE SEP 22 @ 10 AM - 3 PM | Pickering
Veggie Talk at County Left Farm & It’s Giving Farm

At County Left Farm where Kyle & Angelina will share how they build soil fertility to make the most of every square foot. At It’s Giving Farm, Ekow, Fianna & their team have been exploring regional plant breeding & variety evaluation, through the Farmer-Led Research Program

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THU SEP 24 @ 10 AM - 12 PM | Harriston, County of Wellington
Regenerative Grazing at Timberline Farm

Join a tour of Timberline Farm & a conversation about Jared’s pasture management, breed selection, & his Experimental Acres trial, part of a microgrant programme aimed to improve soil health & resilience to climate change

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SAT SEP 26 @ 10 AM - 4 PM | Allenford
Seed Farming & Farmer-Led Research at Persephone Market Garden and Luna Mia Farm

Join Kristine Hammel of Persephone Market Garden & Rony Lec of Luna Mia Farm in Grey-Bruce to hear more about their seed and vegetable production & farmer-led research

TUE SEP 1 @ 10 AM - 12 PM
CSAs & Diversified Revenue at Mulberry Moon Farm

Started in 2010 and run by Alex and Kim, with support from their staff and families, Mulberry Moon Farm is a small-scale organic vegetable farm in Strathroy dedicated to growing fresh, local produce and organic seedlings for their local community. They sell their vegetables through their weekly farm share (CSA) and wholesale to local restaurants and retail stores. In addition, they have a year-round self serve farm store and an annual seedling sale. Most recently, they set-up a farm stay experience where guests can book a glass greenhouse retrofitted into a cabin and tucked into the hawthorn woods of the farm for overnight stays.

Join Alex, Kim and EFAO on this field day for a tour of their farm and a discussion of their diversified revenue streams and how this has been an essential tool in their farm's resilience.

Register at efao.ca/event/mulberry-moon-farm-2026/

EFAO members Tara Ramkhelawan of Flemo Farm, Claire Perttula of Malvern Farm at Malvern Family Resource Centre, and Orlando Martín López Gómez of FoodShare Toronto were recently featured in The Green Line’s story. The article explores how urban farms are helping build more resilient, accessible, and culturally relevant local food systems in Toronto.

Read more here!

How to grow produce in Toronto In Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park, urban farmers provide a blueprint for growing produce locally to support food insecure communities.

Sometimes hungry ducks and chickens eat your research trial. But Cole Etherington did not let this stop his work observing his cucumber polyculture trial during the hot, dry summer of 2025. Despite the challenges of the season, he ended up with results that demonstrated to him how resilience shows up in ecological systems.

This project is funded in part by the Governments of Canada and Ontario under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

To read his research story, visit the Research Library here:
efao.ca/wp-content/uploads/ColeEtherington_Polycultures_Protocol_2025_FORWEB.pdf

EFAO members Tara Ramkhelawan of Flemo Farm, Claire Perttula of Malvern Farm at Malvern Family Resource Centre, and Orlando Martín López Gómez of FoodShare Toronto, were recently featured in The Green Line’s story. The article explores how urban farms are helping build more resilient, accessible, and culturally relevant local food systems in Toronto.

Read more here:

How to grow produce in Toronto In Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park, urban farmers provide a blueprint for growing produce locally to support food insecure communities.

Norm Lamothe of Woodleigh Farms dba Cavan Fresh is one of several farmers out collecting soil and biomass samples from their spring cover crops as a part of the Plant Available Nitrogen Network. Their goal: a tool to help farmers better calibrate how much additional nitrogen is needed for a cash crop based on cover crop nitrogen availability.

Their work with EFAO is a part of Living Lab – Ontario, a five-year innovation project that brings together farmers, organizations, researchers, and other experts to co-develop, test, and evaluate beneficial management practices (BMPs) that address climate change challenges in livestock and cropping systems.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association

MON AUG 24 @ 12 - 1 PM
Seed Growers Meet-Up

The Seed Growers Meetup is an informal lunchtime gathering for farmers, seed growers, plant breeders, and anyone curious about saving seed. It’s a space to connect with others working with seed, share what’s happening on your farm or in your garden, and talk through the questions and ideas that come up throughout the season.

Each meetup is shaped by the people who join. Conversations often range from practical seed production topics—like crop planning, isolation distances, population sizes, and seed cleaning—to broader discussions about seed systems, breeding projects, and the challenges and opportunities growers are navigating.

Register at efao.ca/event/august-seed-growers-meet-up-2026/