News & Events

Register Now - Soil Heath Supports for Farmers - next week

There is a lot of soil health support available to Central Ontario farmers - but who offers it? And what exactly do they offer? Register now for this free workshop where speakers from a wide range of organizations will provide an overview of how they can help you. Hosted by the East Central Farm Stewardship Collaborative

Free - with optional donation

Register at:  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/de-mystifying-soil-health-support-for-farmers-tickets-272277026917

Peterborough Farmers: Two important meetings

You must register for each of these important meetings next week where the Official Plan will be discussed as it relates to Agriculture. This is the culmination of several years of work by the County and has implications for the coming decade. 

 

1. Presentation by planner Margaret Walton from Planscape to discuss their report the Peterborough County draft Official Plan, Agricultural Policies

The background to this issue and resources, including the video of Margaret Walton's July presentation to Peterborough farmers, as well as a link to Planscape's new Report, may be found on the Agricultural Roundtable website here: https://ptboagnews.com/land-use-policy-and-planning

Register until Sunday March 14 at 3PM  here: https://forms.gle/e6axd2ycsppDBLcq5 
 

2. Public online consultations on the new Official Plan 

March 17  6PM  is the date that agricultural aspects of the Official Plan will be open for discussion.

The Natural Heritage meeting on March 24th may also be of interest as there is an overlap of agricultural areas and natural heritage features and people may want to be aware of the restrictions in and around those features on a broader scale.

If you wish to participate in an electronic meeting in real time, register by email no later than 4:00p.m. on the day prior to the scheduled public open house and you will be provided with an invitation to join the meeting using your computer or phone. Email: NewCountyOP@ptbocounty.ca
Please indicate in your email which open houses you will be attending.

All details may be found at this link: https://www.ptbocounty.ca/en/growing/opconsult.aspx

 

Webinar: Regenerative Agriculture and Climate Change

Monday,  January 10, 2022 - 7:00pm

What is Regenerative Agriculture? What does it have to do with Climate Change? Can local farms adopt Regenerative approaches on their farms? Pat Learmonth, from Farms at Work, will address these questions at a 4RG Virtual Meet on Monday January 10 at 7PM. There will be time for discussion and questions. Organized by For Our Grandchildren

To register, email 4rgmeets@gmail.com

New video on Fibre Farming

Farms at Work has just published a new short film spotlighting local farmers that produce fibre from sheep and alpacas. The film also looks at how the fibre is processed and sold locally to the community. Check out  "From the Farm to You: The Story of Fibre in our Community"  here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5j7CynnEFA  It will be shown in 10 classrooms over the next couple of months. Students will have the opporutntiyto interact over Zoom with a farmer form the film so they can ask questions. 

The film can also be viewed from the Local Food Peterborough website, where there are approximately 30 films covering the activities of farms in the region! https://localfoodptbo.ca/know-your-farmer-videos/

Thanks to the Pathways to Stewardship and Kinship project for funding that made this film possible.

What we are doing to help!

We are working hard to support local farms in these difficult times - while also ensuring that community members have the food they need. Mainly we are focussed on the greater foodshed around Peterborough in these efforts.

1.  We are promoting the availablility of food right now to consumers using localfoodptbo Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. We are inviting all farms post what food and farm products you have available and how they can be purchased. Make sure that you tag @localfoodptbo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram AND add the hashtag #localfoodptbo to your post on any of those platforms. We will share all posts using the hashtag on the Local Food Peterborough social media platforms within 12 hours. This will ensure that your important message will be amplified throughout the community by us.  Posts must be specifically about about accessing products as we have limited capability to share general posts. If you don't use social media, send an email with your message to localfoodptbo@gmail.com

Farmers' Markets also may also use the tag and hashtag.

2. We have created a new website for consumers - with funding support from partners in the area - that will connect them to local food: localfoodptbo.ca

3. We are creating a page on our website where farms will be able to register for free and post what they produce so that consumers and wholesale buyers can find you. Stay tuned.

3. Last but not least, we have created this survey to help our partners who are trying to provide emergency food to vulnerable populations in the Peterborough region:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2FL6VLJ

KEEP DOING WHAT YOU DO, AND STAY SAFE!