'Sharing the risks and rewards of farming'

Monday, April 2, 2012

By dedicating part of their produce to specific Toronto restaurants and receiving seed money in exchange, these Meaford-area 'truck farmers' can guarantee top-quality produce while still building their business

by DANA SNELL

In mid-winter, Meaford-area "truck farmers" Grant MacPherson and Lainie Knox headed to downtown Toronto to plan their plantings, in co-ordination with chefs from a trendy Queen Street West restaurant.

They planned a patch of land that would be devoted to produce going exclusively to that restaurant, known as Ursa. By providing "seed money" to the co-owners of Prairie Boy Farms in advance, Ursa will be somewhat on the hook if the crop fails, which is a part of what MacPherson calls "sharing the risks and rewards of farming."

For MacPherson, the motivation to become a farmer came from a desire to create what he couldn't find: excellent raw ingredients to make truly great food.

MacPherson was a chef in Winnipeg, "constantly battling this really mediocre" produce. And this was in "the breadbasket of the country. It just kind of came to me that the problem here is that nobody's growing this stuff. Well, then, maybe I should be growing it. Maybe that's the next step for me."

In 2011, MacPherson and partner Lainie Knox secured a lease on a five-acre patch in Meaford, on what had formerly been a 200-acre commercial farm.

Currently, Knox and MacPherson supply vegetables to several Toronto restaurants, including Marben, Cowbell, Enoteca Sociale and The Bellevue, and operate a vegetable stand at The Depanneur. They bring their produce into the city by truck, a sort of revival of the lost system of "truck farming," where, as MacPherson describes, "you'd grow your vegetables, you'd load them into the back of a truck and you'd drive to town. It's reinventing this model, but in competition with the modern super infrastructure of grocery stores, which make it not impossible but difficult. We're kind of having to reinvent the wheel."

But MacPherson's background as a chef, and the quality of their produce, helps give them an edge. The chefs at these restaurants "go gaga for things that you cannot 'fake' or cook to a point where you can't tell the difference." In 2011, they grew more than 50 crops including garlic, lettuces, fiddleheads and wild leeks, peppers, carrots, zucchini blossoms, melons, and things that keep well like heirloom pumpkins, apples, Jerusalem artichokes and carrots. Their signature crop is heirloom tomatoes.

"The chefs like the best product possible. Things they are going to serve raw will never taste good if they are coming from thousands of kilometres away. It's very exciting to see chefs run out to our truck to see what we have each week."

MacPherson and Knox had no farming experience per se, but they read a great deal and leaned on friends and family. Neighbour Mark Grahlman, who operates Sunrise Organics, was a big help in the early days, lending a tractor and seeder, and providing lots of advice. Grahlman is obsessed with soil health. Says Knox: "They come for dinner and he brings the microscope."

She and MacPherson are operating without chemical weed controls or irrigation. The first spring "was horrifying – pig weed higher than my head," MacPherson says. They attacked the weeds with a Bush Hog and began planting. The farm is 100 per cent chemical-free and has no irrigation system. MacPherson says "we let nature do its thing. If nature won't let something grow in that area, then you shouldn't be growing it there."

As a result, seedlings are left alone to develop strong roots as they search for water underground. MacPherson believes this creates plants more resistant to dry spells than those that are constantly watered. They mow weeds and allow their roots to decompose, which MacPherson calls "composting seven feet down into the ground."

As for pests, MacPherson learned a valuable lesson last season when battling an attack of Colorado potato beetles. While picking them off the plants by hand, he unwittingly created a buffet of beetles on the ground, attracting a population of rove beetles. Within a week, the rove beetles had reduced the potato beetles to tolerable levels.

Says MacPherson: "If I had sprayed even a 'natural' product, the natural system would not have kicked in" and he would have been fighting the beetles all summer. Now, when there are pests, he and Knox create an environment that favours creatures that eat those pests.

In their first year on the farm, MacPherson and Knox did not turn a profit, but they made an excellent start – forming relationships with Toronto restaurants, taking part in farmer's markets, operating a community-supported agriculture program of mixed vegetable boxes, and hosting the Rusholme Park Supper club; exclusive dinners for 20 held at The Depanneur which feature their produce. These dinners routinely sell out, and MacPherson and Knox see them as opportunities to "get people excited about food and to discuss things with people who are interested in our produce."

Mind you, adds MacPherson, "not that growing the food is easy, but that is the easy part . . . the real challenge is the marketing and distribution. Our product was very good last year. It's about getting the word out now. We will for sure make a profit in the next few years, though not a big one. I've never met a rich small-scale farmer, but we felt really rich last season."

A true modern farm, they have a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account, which they use to spread the word about their farm and recruit new clients. Their blog – www.theveglesstravelled.blogspot.com – is a good place to start if you would like to learn more about Prairie Boy Farms. BF