his webinar series is a partnership between EFAO and Ignatius Farm. You can register for a single webinar by visiting efao.ca/events, or sign up for the whole series to benefit from a discounted registration rate!
If you live in northern Ontario, you are welcome to attend this webinar series free of charge – please use the coupon codes listed on the events you would like to attend when filling out the registration form to receive free admission.
All Indigenous growers, land stewards and community members are welcome to attend this webinar series free of charge – please use the coupon code INDIG2025 when filling out the registration form to receive free admission.
Join us for this 10 part webinar series to explore what it takes to add a new enterprise to your farm. Featuring experienced farmers in northern Ontario, this webinar series is designed for new and beginning farmers in the north, but all are welcome to join!
- Tues Sept 16, 6:30-8:30pm: Starting a Seed Production Enterprise
- Thurs Sept 18, 6:30-8:30pm: Pasture-raised Pork
- Tues Sept 23, 6:30-8:30pm: Pastured Poultry Production
- Thurs Sept 25, Time TBA: Growing Medicinal Herbs
- Thurs Oct 2, 3:00-5:00pm: Starting a Flower Farm
- Tues Oct 7, 3:00-5:00pm: Growing Indoor Mushrooms
- Thurs Oct 9, 3:00-5:00pm: Starting a Winter CSA
- Thurs Oct 16, 6:30-8:30pm: Beekeeping 101
- Tues Oct 21, 3:00-5:00pm: Panel Discussion: Starting a value-added enterprise
- Thurs Oct 23, 6:30-8:30pm: Keeping Sheep
Webinar Descriptions:
Sept 16, 6:30-8:30pm: Starting a seed production enterprise
Are you considering saving and selling seeds? Hear how Peggy from Three Forks Farm got started and her advice on how to start a seed production business. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Peggy Baillie, Three Forks Farm, Gore Bay
Peggy Baillie and Eric Blondin are the co-owners of Three Forks Farms, a certified organic farm on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Since 2015, they have focused on growing organic vegetables, raising pasture-fed poultry, and developing regionally adapted seeds suited to Northern Ontario’s climate. Their farm operates with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, community food security, and financial viability.With over a decade of experience in local food systems, Eric and Peggy have built a farm that extends the growing season using polytunnels and innovative crop planning. They sell their produce through on-farm sales, farmers’ markets, a CSA program, and wholesale partnerships with retailers and restaurants. Passionate about seed saving and regenerative agriculture, they continue to support local growers by providing high-quality seeds and knowledge to strengthen food resilience in the North.
Sept 18, 6:30-8:30pm: Pasture-raised Pork
Many consumers are drawn to the health benefits and premium quality of pasture raised meats – both excellent reasons to raise animals on grass. Join Josh for this discussion about how he got started and what it takes to successfully raise pasture pork. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Joshua Noiseux, Evermeadow Farm, Cobourg
Joshua Noiseux is a philosopher ecologist with “boots on the ground”. After years in academia, studying the philosophy and political theory of ecology and agency, Josh put his PhD thesis on on hold to start Evermeadow Farm in 2020. He holds an MA in political and cultural theory and has worked in diverse trades, including gold exploration and arboriculture. Now a respected voice in the regenerative agriculture space, Josh has guest lectured at Ivey Business School, Trent and Queen’s Universities, and presented at numerous conferences and panels, including with the Ecologicial Farmer’s of Ontario (EFAO) and the National Farmers Union (NFU). Entering his 5th year at the helm of Evermeadow, Josh is looking forward to further actualizing his vision of landscape scale ecological restoration, and deepening community resilience through the marriage of environmental conservation and agricultural production.
Sept 23, 6:30-8:30pm: Pastured Poultry Production
Are you thinking of starting pasture raised poultry? Join Eric as he takes us through both the set up and day to day activities of pasture raised chickens as well as the business side of marketing and distribution. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Eric Blondin, Three Forks Farm, Gore Bay
Eric Blondin and Peggy Baillie are the co-owners of Three Forks Farms, a certified organic farm on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Since 2015, they have focused on growing organic vegetables, raising pasture-fed poultry, and developing regionally adapted seeds suited to Northern Ontario’s climate. Their farm operates with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, community food security, and financial viability.With over a decade of experience in local food systems, Eric and Peggy have built a farm that extends the growing season using polytunnels and innovative crop planning. They sell their produce through on-farm sales, farmers’ markets, a CSA program, and wholesale partnerships with retailers and restaurants. Passionate about seed saving and regenerative agriculture, they continue to support local growers by providing high-quality seeds and knowledge to strengthen food resilience in the North.
Sept 25, time TBA: Growing Medicinal Herbs
Join Shabina as she shares her experience with growing herbs for medicine and tea. How is growing herbs different from vegetables, harvest and drying techniques, as well as tips and tricks she has found useful. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Shabina Lafleur-Gangji, co-director of Seed, Soil and Spirit School, Guelph
Shabina is a mixed Indian, Persian, and French herbalist who has been involved in healing justice work last decade. She works to support people in reclaiming their traditional knowledge through their connection with ancestral plants and has used herbal medicine as a way to fundraise for movements for freedom and liberation. She holds an advanced diplomat from Humber College’s Traditional Chinese Practition and Acupuncture Program and is a graduate of the the School of Ayurveda and Panchakarma in Kerala and the Living Earth School of Herbalism. She has studied alongside herbalists such as Dr. Nadine Ijaz, Janette Cormier, Scott Reid and Janice Canning.
Register
Oct 2, 3:00-5:00pm: Starting a Flower Farm
Local and ecological flowers are a high valuable crop to grow and are more and more popular over the conscious consumers. Join us for this webinar where we discuss how to efficiently and successfully begin growing or add floral crops to your current production system, using ecological growing practices. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Theresa Schumilas, Garden Party Flower Farm, St. Agatha
Theresa owns Garden Party Flower Farm, a 4 acre specialty cut flower farm outside of Kitchener-Waterloo, where she has farmed organically for over 30 years. She completed her PhD in economic geography at the University of Waterloo in 2014, followed by postdoctoral studies in the digitization of food and farming systems, at the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems.
Oct 7, 3:00pm-5:00pm: Growing Indoor Mushrooms
Are you curious about growing mushrooms indoors on a commercial scale? Ugly Barn Farms grows several kinds of mushrooms in their indoor facility, which is heated by renewable materials. Hear about how they got started and what it takes to grow mushrooms indoors. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Ivan Vincent, Ugly Barn Farm, Markstay
Ugly Barn Farm is a small family farm based in northern Ontario and one of the first, year-round mushroom facilities in the north. At the Ugly Barn Farm, Ivan and Brittany specialize in gourmet mushrooms, cultivated in their mushroom growing facility, heated by renewable materials. They produce their mushrooms without the use of pesticides and source as much material locally as possible. They are also passionate in wildcrafted foods like blueberries, fiddleheads, spruce buds, and of course mushrooms!
Oct 9, 3:00-5:00pm: Starting a Winter CSA
Are you thinking about shifting to a winter CSA model? Hear from Marcelle and Brendan on how they started their winter CSA and how it was a game changer for their farm profitability. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speakers: Brendan Grant & Marcelle Paulin, Sleepy G Farm, Pass Lake
Since 2010, Brendan and Marcelle have been operating Sleepy G Farm in Pass Lake, ON, 45km east of Thunder Bay. They grow 8 acres of Certified Organic vegetables and distribute through a 200-member CSA program in addition to wholesaling to grocery stores. Sleepy G Farm also produces eggs and beef as a complement to nearly year-round vegetables sales that are made possible by an on-farm winter vegetable storage facility. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how they have turned a 171 acre abandoned dairy farm in northwestern Ontario into a thriving, diversified farm business and the infrastructure they’ve put in place to support their operations.
Oct 16, 6:30-8:30pm: Beekeeping 101
Interested in beekeeping? Join Ron to learn about the basics of keeping bees, what you need to get started and some common challenges for beginners. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Ron St Louis, Capital Bees, Ottawa
Ron is a member of Dokis First Nation in northern Ontario, currently living in Ottawa and operating his business, Capital Bees, at the Just Food Farm. He has been keeping bees since 2011 and teaching a hands-on, natural beekeeping program since 2015. He is a registered beekeeper and breeds bees to be resistant to pests and diseases and has been a member of the Ontario Resistant Honey Bee Selection program (ORHBS) since 2017.
Oct 21, 3:00pm-5:00pm: Panel Discussion: Starting a Value-added Enterprise
Are you considering adding value added products to your inventory? Want to hear from farmers that have taken the leap? Join us for this panel discussion where we will hear from 3 farmers who produce value added products; what do they produce, how did they start out, and what advice would they give to those in the planning stages. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Panelists: Steve D’Alimonte, Picollo Farm Organics, Guelph; TBA
Piccolo Farm Organics (PFO) is owned and operated by Steve D’Alimonte & Lisa Lopez in the backyard of their property in Guelph. On a quarter of an acre, PFO aims to demonstrate that by using non-mechanized and regenerative farming methods, food can be flavourful and healthy to both people and planet. PFO is also a celebration of heritage by showing that culturally specific vegetable varieties from around the world can and should be grown locally. PFO primarily grows Italian varieties of vegetables or vegetables commonly used in Italian cuisine. They also offer focaccia, pasta and sauces made with ingredients grown on the farm.
Oct 23, 6:30-8:30pm Keeping Sheep
Have you been wanting to keep livestock? How about sheep! Join Brenda Hsueh as she talks us through starting a sheep farm, the challenges and benefits. Brenda and her family run Black Sheep Farm; an organic farm, raising sheep on pasture for lamb meat, fibre, and tanned lambskins. A recording of this webinar will be available.
Speaker: Brenda Hsueh, Black Sheep Farm, Chesley
Black Sheep Farm is an organic farm, raising sheep on pasture for lamb meat, fibre, and tanned lambskins. The farm was started by Brenda Hsueh in 2009, a Canadian-born Chinese woman, who left a financial career in downtown Toronto to start farming. Eventually, she met Skyler, from the farm around the corner, who took an interest in the sheep side of the farm and has been growing it ever since. Black Sheep Farm is an agroecological farm, prioritizing soil health, biodiversity, and social justice. The sheep are grazed on pasture using intensive managed grazing, to maximize the positive soil carbon capture benefits of ruminants, while producing food and fibre from something humans can’t eat, grass.
This webinar series is supported by funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario.