Written by Denise Deby.
If you grow up in the city, don’t have a garden and buy most of your food from a grocery store, how do you gain an appreciation of what it takes to produce food?
Arlee and Diane Sheets are busy fourth-generation farmers at Rock-N-Horse Farm near Almonte, but they also take time to share their knowledge of growing food with people who are interested in knowing more.
I met Diane and Arlee in April while on a field trip to their farm with a group of elementary school kids. Arlee, Diane and their staff made the students feel right at home as they guided them in exploring how vegetables are grown, how animals are raised and how maple syrup is made. The kids got to identify, choose and plant cucumber, tomato, carrot and other seeds, ride a horse-drawn wagon, feed the horses and hold chicks and ducklings. They loved it, as did I and the other parent volunteers.
Rock-N-Horse Farm uses organic principles to produce the vegetables, eggs and meat that it sells to the public and at the Carleton Place Farmers’ Market. The farm also offers Community-Shared Agriculture (CSA) to customers who can order produce from the farm and pick up their shares at locations in Stittsville, Kanata and Ottawa. More information on their CSA program is at http://www.rocknhorsefarm.ca/csa.
Thanks to Rock-N-Horse Farm for helping us connect with the land and for getting us excited about healthy food.
Green Living Ottawa 