Covenant Farm / Ferme du Covenant
Philosophy
“Great food sustainably produced on a diversified family farm.”
We are determined to develop a model of a sustainable family farm. “Sustainable” to us encompasses practices that are environmentally responsible AND the possibility of earning a family income from farming. To achieve this we are working towards providing food to our member families year-long, while targeting an ecological footprint for production at zero or less. Ambitious, we are!
Farm Description
Covenant Farm is a 48-acre farm located in Clarence Creek, Ontario, about a 45-minute drive east of downtown Ottawa, and an hour and a half west of Montreal. The farm has 12 acres of young forest, and gently rolling hay fields are framed with hedges of jack pine, spruce and cedar. Three hay fields are currently farmed by a neighbour. The intensive vegetable gardens make up about two acres.
The farm isn’t certified organic, but there has been no pesticide use on the farm for 15 years. We use organic methods, which means that we focus on building healthy soil to grow healthy and nourishing vegetables. In future years we will extend production to include the fields which are now in hay, and these will be divided into small 1- to 1½-acre areas for growing row crops and cereals with the help of draft horses. For now there are two ponies on the farm, and the pair provides some much-valued manure that is composted for the gardens.
There are two houses, a stable for the horses that also houses laying hens in the winter, a large storage shed where we prepare vegetable baskets for our CSA members, and an above-ground swimming pool. One garage serves as a wood working shop, and the other is used for mechanical work.
The farm is a busy and creative place, but the setting is quiet and relaxed.
Production
We produce a large variety of vegetables for our 30 CSA member families and for selling at the Cumberland Farmers Market. The garden beds are set up in the spring with the help of a “walking” tractor (a two-wheeled tractor, looks a lot like a large rototiller), and after that they are tended manually. We use as much straw mulch as we can lay down because it conserves moisture, helps to suppress weeds, and improves the texture of our heavy clay soil. We seed continuously through the season, so work is a cycle of seeding, thinning and pruning, mulching, weeding, harvesting, packaging, selling, and sometimes preserving.
We use a lot of soil blocks for seeding, which is time consuming but ensures far greater reliability with germination. The soil blocks are then transplanted to the garden.
Weeding is a continuous task, one that Zen-types will enjoy while less patient people struggle with. We have a variety of tools to make the job as pleasant as possible.
Harvesting will be concentrated on two days per week, one for the CSA shares and the other for market. Harvesting days are hectic and exhausting, but also exhilarating, because there we get the real measure of our success! The day starts early, and we harvest as much as we can before the garden warms up. When harvesting is done we wash and sort the vegetables, and in some cases measure out quantities.
The CSA baskets are assembled as we go. We document what is harvested and how much goes into the baskets, and the day ends with a write-up that is sent out to CSA members. A few of the baskets are picked up at the farm, but most are delivered to Orléans and Ottawa.
For market day we will have done some of the harvesting on Friday evening. On Saturday the day starts very early, because we leave the farm at 7:30 am. The market ends at 1:00 pm, and in the afternoon there may be some preserving to do, depending on what vegetables are not sold.
There are many other activities going on at the farm: beekeeping, soapmaking, coffee roasting, animal tending (pigs and chickens), and metal working, all of which interns can participate in depending on their interest.
General Lifestyle
The farm family is comprised of Stephanie and Jean-Pierre (“the parents”); their son Joël and his wife Catherine along with their children Kamé (age 5) and Mateo (age 2); youngest son Nicolas; Stephanie’s parents June and Lloyd who live at the farm part-time, and sister Jackie who owns the property but lives in Mississauga. Got it? 
The farm is also a WWOOF host, so there are occasionally travelers who stop by for a few days to a few weeks. Two interns from the OTESHA Project, participants in the Ferocious Farm tour, will be at the farm in July and August.
Our working language is French, although everyone here can speak English. We hope that our interns will appreciate the opportunity to learn or practice their French.
The interns will have use of a new camp ground set up in a treed area near one of the houses. Two large canvas tents are set up on wooden platforms, with tarps to provide a covered porch at the tent entrance. A well-equipped outdoor camping kitchen is set up on another platform, along with a screened gazebo. An outdoor shower with hot water is located nearby. A composting toilet is planned, but a rented outhouse will be used in the meantime.
Interns will have use of a summer kitchen at the nearby house when the weather prevents cooking outdoors, and there they will also have access to a computer with high-speed internet. Books on farming and gardening are also in the summer kitchen. There is a large gazebo nearby for use by the farm family and the interns.
Water is always a concern at the farm. The campsite will share a surface well with the nearby house, so water must be used cautiously at all times, and sparingly if there is a period of draught. The other house provides water for cleaning harvested vegetables, so wise water use must be kept in mind there too.
Interns will make their own breakfast and supper at the campsite. Farm vegetables and eggs are provided and a stipend will be paid to cover other food costs. Monday to Friday lunch is a shared meal, and each person will be responsible in turn for preparing lunch, according to a planned menu.
Intern Positions
We are looking for two volunteer interns for the 2010 season. They will participate in all stages of vegetable production, from seed starting through to market sales, and may participate in other farm projects.
Individuals applying for the position must be in good health, with the physical and mental capacity to work long days, at tasks that are sometimes monotonous, and sometimes in difficult weather. You must be responsible and emotionally mature. We are looking for people who are able to work with others as well as independently, and have a sense of initiative. Good communications skills are required.
Farm work is very demanding. This is why we are looking for interns who are seriously considering a future in farming — the determination (or hard-headedness) required to be a farmer is a good measure of personal endurance.
We are offering to transmit our own strength, which is the unwavering vision of the small scale farm as a place of health and economy. We will share all of the knowledge and experience we have acquired in the six years we have been farming: in planning, production, transformation, marketing, and management. There will be occasions to visit other farms through the CRAFT Ontario program. It will be a summer you won’t forget!
To apply, please send a letter explaining your interest to:
Covenant Farm
Stephanie Pelot
1277 Pilon Road
Clarence Creek ON K0A 1N0
email: stephanie@covenantfarm.ca
