Still hunting for the perfect tree? Check out Agritourist Lara Bender’s guide to tree farms in Ottawa

Photo credit: Lara Bender

Fun fact: in 2010, Agritourist Lara Bender visited a number of Christmas tree farms in the Ottawa region, and wrote articles about each and every one of them. 

We love to blog, but we also love to celebrate the great blogs in our area that already exist – and Lara’s is definitely one of them.

Photo credit: Lara Bender

She is the creator of Agritourism Ottawa, a blog that profiles wineries, orchards, gardens, farm tours, and other agricultural destinations within an hour’s drive of Ottawa. 

So, are you still hunting for a tree?

Check out Lara’s guide, including write-ups of Ian’s Evergreen Plantation, Cedar Hill Berry Farm, Kings Creek Trees, Fallowfield Tree Farm, Hillcrest Tree Farm, Thomas Tree Farm,  and Briggs Trees.

It’s definitely the most comprehensive snapshot we’ve found! Thanks Lara!

Where do you get your Christmas tree?

Eating Ottawa (and area): Lara takes a Locavore Tour

Alpenblick Farm in Ashton

Lara Bender (blog/Twitter) is the creator of Agritourism Ottawa, a blog that profiles wineries, orchards, gardens, farm tours, and other agricultural destinations within an hour’s drive of Ottawa. When she’s not hanging out on farms and driving Ottawa’s rural back roads, she’s a product marketing writer in the high-tech industry.

While visiting Ottawa’s many agritourism destinations over the last year, I’ve often thought that it would be great if someone organized bus tours to some of these farms. After all, not everyone has a car to drive to Ottawa’s rural outskirts, nor is everyone comfortable with putting together their own itinerary. So I was really happy to see that a local university student, Jasen Brousseau, has recently created Locavore Tours, a tour company that brings visitors to local and organic farms in Ottawa.

Agritourist Lara Bender

I always like to help promote local agritourism businesses, so when Jasen asked if I could help him get the word out for his next tour, I enthusiastically agreed. (Disclosure: I am not compensated for this or any other promotion that I do through my Agritourism Ottawa website or my Local Tourism Ottawa articles.)

The tour was planned for Saturday, Aug. 13, at Alpenblick Farm in Ashton. About 20 people signed up, including a reporter from the Ottawa Citizen who plans to do a Travel section profile on the tour.

Everyone met in the Eagleson Park and Ride in Kanata, where Robert Oechsli (the farmer at Alpenblick) picked us up in a yellow school bus (conveniently, he is also a licensed bus driver and owns the bus!) Then it was a 20 minute drive to Ashton, where the farm is just off Highway 7.

On arrival, Jasen jumped out of the bus and opened the gate. Once inside, we entered into the type of farm that is rarely seen these days: an off-the-grid, small-scale, mixed farm that lets the animals roam free in as natural a state as possible. From the 1827 log home, to the dairy goats with bells, this tour would provide a glimpse of how farming was done before the age of factory farms and mass production.

Robert Oechsli discusses milking by hand

We began the tour in front of the log home that Robert shares with his wife Petra Stevenson. While seated in lawn chairs in a semi-circle, we listened as Robert shared his views on the modern food system. He explained his philosophy for how he grows and raises food, and described some of the government restrictions that make it difficult to sell the local products that customers want to buy (e.g. eggs, milk).  He encouraged us to carefully read labels in the grocery store, and to watch out for things like “chocolate dairy beverage”, which is packaged to look like chocolate milk, but does not actually contain real milk. 

Next up was the farm tour. Our first stop was a visit with the very friendly goats, which were happily relaxing under a big tree. A few of the goats got up to investigate the new people, approaching us for petting and to sniff and nibble at our clothes. The goats were a big hit with the crowd, and everyone took lots of pictures.

Dairy goats

The organic garden at Alpenblick Farm

We then moved on to the organic garden. Robert says the garden provides enough produce to feed a family of five through the winter (with food preservation such as canning, of course). The vegetables are grown completely naturally, with no pesticides. Robert uses the garden to educate the many visitors to the farm, including school groups, children who attend summer camp on the farm, and international volunteers who help on the farm through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF).

Our next stop was the cow barn, where Robert milks his Simmental cows by hand. None of the cows were on hand – they’d wandered off to a back field, accompanied by the pot-bellied pig. Robert explained the milking process, which provides 15-17 L of milk per cow each day (about half the amount of a conventional dairy farm). Although government regulations prevent Robert from selling his milk directly to customers, he does lease “cow shares”. As part-owners of a cow, consumers can come to the farm and collect “their” milk – a practice that is currently considered legal, but is still being battled out in the courts (click here for more details on the raw milk issue in Ontario).

Organic burgers over an open fire

By this point we were all getting hungry for lunch! So we made our way over to where Jasen had organized an outdoor lunch at picnic tables under tents. We were treated to organic hamburgers (from the farm) cooked over a wood fire. We also got to sample Robert’s homemade Swiss cheese, made from milk produced on the farm. The vegetarians in the group made sandwiches out of cheese and an assortment of vegetables. After lunch, we were able to walk around the grounds on our own, or hang out at the picnic tables and listen to Robert’s entertaining stories of coming to Canada and living on the farm.

Sampling organic milk at Alpenblick Farm

Our final stop on the tour was outside the cold storage room where Robert and his wife Petra sell their farm products. Jasen went down to get a pail of fresh cow milk, followed by a pail of fresh goat milk. We tasted samples of both types of milk, and most people were surprised that the goat milk had only a very mild goat flavour. Robert says that this is partly because the goats are not kept in a barn, so they are not breathing in methane which impacts the taste of the milk.

While sampling the milk, we were joined by a miniature horse who wandered through the group, much like a large dog. It’s not too often that you have the opportunity to drink fresh, raw milk while petting the back of a little horse!

When were finished our milk samples, we had the opportunity to go into the store and buy meat from the farm. The animals are butchered at Rideau Meats in Smiths Falls; Robert them in on a Tuesday night, and they are processed first thing in the morning to avoid cross-contamination with non-organic meat.

The store also sells Robert’s homemade Swiss cheese. Robert has created his own cheese press, which can be seen in the store. The final product looks similar to Havarti, with many small holes rather than the large holes commonly seen with Swiss cheese.

Petra Stevenson in the Alpenblick Farm store

After making our purchases, it was time to get back on the bus with Robert and Jasen. While driving out, Robert pointed to a goat with two lambs. The goat had lost her kid that winter, and the lambs had lost their mother. So Robert put the lambs with the goat, and she has raised them as her own. Now the lambs think they are goats – they play like goats and make sounds like goats. “Because they were raised on goat’s milk, they will also taste delicious,” said Robert. “But we don’t tell them that.”

By 2:30 pm, we were back at the Eagleson Park and Ride, with lots of time still available to enjoy the rest of the day. Everyone had a great time visiting the farm and learning about organic and sustainable farming. Aside from the educational component, it was also fun just to interact with the very tame farm animals, and spend a day outside in the country with a great group of people.

Thanks, Lara! Want to check out your own Locavore Tour? See the details below!

Locavore Tours Details

Next tour: Saturday, September 17, 2011 at Alpenblick Farm

Cost: $20 each, including lunch and transportation (that is crazy cheap!)

Contact: Jasen Brousseau at 613-324-5864 or jasen@locavoretours.com

Alpenblick Farm Details

Location: 8138 Golf Club Way, Ashton, ON

Contact: Robert Oechsli and Petra Stevenson, 613-253-2640 or alpenblickfarm@sympatico.ca

Where to buy: At the farm gate or at one of the farmers markets that Robert and Petra sell at. Click here for details.

How to visit: Sign up for a tour with Locavore Tours, or contact Alpenblick for farm gate hours. Robert also allows people to camp in tents on his property if they want to spend a weekend at a farm. (The property has outhouses and a clean water source.) Children can also sign up for the Youth Food and Farm Apprenticeship Camp organized by Canadian Organic Growers. Click here for details.

A delicious blend: Girl Geek Dinners joins forces with C’est Bon Cooking

Lara Bender is the creator of Agritourism Ottawa, a blog that profiles wineries, orchards, gardens, farm tours, and other agricultural destinations within an hour’s drive of Ottawa. When she’s not hanging out on farms and driving Ottawa’s rural back roads, she’s a product marketing writer in the high-tech industry.

In the last year, I discovered two new organizations that I wanted to check out: Girl Geek Dinners Ottawa, and C’est Bon Cooking.

Girl Geek Dinners is a group for women in technology; they hold monthly get-togethers with the goal of making technology accessible to all people, especially women.  I work in high-tech, so the idea of meeting other women in my field in an informal and fun environment is very appealing.

For more information on GGD visit GirlGeekDinnersOttawa.com

The other organization, C’est Bon Cooking, is an Ottawa-based company that offers cooking classes, food tours, and team building events. I’ve been particularly interested in their food tours, as it fits into my own blog’s focus on culinary and agricultural tourism.

So I was pretty excited when I saw that this month’s Girl Geek Dinner event was to be a food tour led by Paola St-Georges at C’est Bon Cooking. How perfect – the opportunity to attend my first Girl Geek Dinner event, while touring around Ottawa’s ByWard Market and learning about the local food scene!

The event took place on a Thursday evening, a special tour created just for us, since C’est Bon Cooking typically schedules their food tours during the day when the outdoor vendors are open.

The tour started at Murray’s Market, a local food emporium offering charcuterie, artisan cheese, and other gourmet products.

Murray's Market charcuterie

I walked into the store and was immediately welcomed by the Girl Geek Dinner coordinators. After filling in my name tag, I ran into an old work colleague, and then met some other women taking the tour. Everyone was super friendly and welcoming.

After some socializing, Paola kicked off our tour by introducing Paddy Whelan, the co-owner of Murray’s Market. He provided an overview of the Nose to Tail Cooking philosophy of the market. Next up were four big plates of artisan cheese and meat samples, including cheese from Glengarry Fine Cheese and Fifth Town Artisan Cheese, duck liver mousse made in-house at Murray’s, elk salami from The Elk Ranch, and Mario Pingue’s prosciutto. (If you want to read more about Fifth Town and Mario Pingue, I’ve written about them here and here.)

When we were finished sampling the cheese and meat, we headed out for a walk along Murray Street. For sustenance, we all dug into our free bags of gourmet granola from Siren Bakery (thank you Loreli Lees!)

Murray's Market cheese plate

Paola explained that Murray Street has seen a significant rejuvenation over the last few years with the addition of numerous critically acclaimed restaurants, including Domus Café, Navarra, Benny’s Bistro, Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro, and Murray Street Kitchen (which Paola recommends as the most romantic patio in Ottawa).

The Tea Store

Next up was the Tea Store in the ByWard Market, home to over 300 different types of tea. I love how the store keeps the tea in glass jars on the shelves, where customers can smell the teas on their own. I will definitely have to stop in at this store for a longer visit next time I’m downtown.

After the Tea Store, we headed over to the ByWard Market indoor stalls, where we sampled Mrs. McGarrigle’s mustard from the Canada in a Basket store. Then it was off to La Bottega Nicastro, an Italian gourmet food shop with an outstanding selection of international cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, deli meats, and premium pasta and sauces. We were treated to another big plate of cheese and deli meats, and some figs for dessert. Delicious!

La Bottega Nicastro cheese and deli samples

After this, we spent some time around the outdoor stalls in the ByWard Market. Our guide Paola provided an overview of the Savour Ottawa program. When a vendor displays the Savour Ottawa logo, it means that Savour Ottawa has verified that they are selling food grown or raised near Ottawa. Not all the ByWard Market vendors are selling local food – in fact, some of the food is imported from outside of Canada – so it’s a good idea to look for the Savour Ottawa logo or ask the vendor where the food was grown.

The Cupcake Lounge was recently named LTO's top cupcake in the city by Hilary Duff

Our last stop of the evening was The Cupcake Lounge, Local Tourist Hilary Duff’s winner for best cupcakes in Ottawa. We arrived to a store completely sold out of cupcakes! Fortunately for us, the owner, Claudia Arizmendi had put aside several cupcakes for us to sample. Yay! The red velvet cupcake was amazing, and the small piece I had left me craving much more. I think I’d have bought a dozen cupcakes if they’d had any left to buy!

We finished up outside of The Cupcake Lounge, where the Girl Geek Dinner coordinators explained that the group would take a break in August, but be back in September with the next event. Usually the events are more focused on technology, which is great, and I look forward to attending the next event (assuming I can get in – I hear that the dinners sell out fairly quickly).

I also look forward to attending some C’est Bon Cooking events in the future. In addition to their ByWard Market tour, they also have a tour of Wellington West. And on October 1^st, they are offering a Savour Ottawa Farm Tour, where participants will spend the day visiting local farms to learn more about how their food is produced.

Now that is a tour that is close to my heart!

Wow – thanks Lara! What a wonderful snapshot!

Maple Madness: The Local Agritourist visits a sugar bush

The entrance to Temple

Lara Bender is the creator of Agritourism Ottawa, a blog that profiles wineries, orchards, gardens, farm tours, and other agricultural destinations within an hour’s drive of Ottawa. When she’s not hanging out on farms and driving Ottawa’s rural back roads, she’s a product marketing writer in the high-tech industry.

How is it possible that I could have lived in Ottawa for 18 years and never visited any local sugar bushes before this year?

For many years, my idea of being a local tourist was heading into the city to enjoy Ottawa’s many great museums, restaurants, and urban neighbourhoods. It wasn’t until I started my Agritourism Ottawa project that I really started exploring everything that rural Ottawa has to offer. And I soon discovered that I’ve been missing out on a lot, including Ottawa’s fantastic sugar bushes.

This week I made a trip out to Temple’s Sugar Bush, in Ferguson’s Falls, Ontario. Ferguson’s Falls is located in Lanark County, which calls itself the “Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario.” That certainly seems to be true, considering how many sugar bushes are in the region – from large, year-round operations like Wheeler’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush, to small, traditional sugar bushes open only when the sap is running.

Before you head out to a sugar bush, it’s good to consider what you want out of the experience. Is it mainly about the food? Do you want to get out on some trails through the forest? How important is the educational component to you? Does a heritage experience matter to you?

Temple’s is a great choice if you are looking for an excellent restaurant experience, with the opportunity to go for a short walk though the woods. There are no sleigh rides, maple museums, or boiling sap demonstrations, but what they do have is great food and a very well-planned nature trail that families will enjoy.

Let’s start with the restaurant.

Temple

The building itself is beautiful – a brightly lit, two-story timber frame building with a giant fireplace at one end. The floors are made from trees damaged in the 1998 ice storm, including maple planks with old tap holes. There are no benches or plastic chairs like many of the pancake houses – this is a real restaurant that is used in the off-season for weddings. Also unlike many other pancake houses, you place your order at your table, rather than lining up cafeteria-style or at a buffet. And your order comes on a real plate, not plastic or paper!

 

Temple

There are many choices on the menu, but my eyes were immediately drawn to the Belgian waffles.

Temple

How could I resist something that comes with maple whipped cream, wild blueberry preserves, and my own personal bottle of maple syrup? One look at the plate when it came out told me I’d made the right choice, if not for my waistline, at least for that happy feeling in your brain when you eat something that is JUST. SO. GOOD.

Fortunately I had worked up a bit of an appetite while walking the Temple’s Sugar Bush trail.

Showshoe hare tracks

This short trail winds through part of the 70-acre property, and takes approximately 15 to 25 minutes to explore, depending on how deep the snow is and how much you stop and look around.

Each trial stop has its own bridge

The trail has 11 stops, each with its own nature topic. The Temples have done an excellent job of integrating the forest features into an educational program for all ages. For example, along the trail you will see a hawk’s nest, a yellow birch tree with “stilts”, and a beech tree with bear claw marks. You’ll also have fun trying to identify the many animal tracks in the snow.

 

Claw marks left by a bear who climbed this beech tree

Before you leave, you can pick up some maple products at the well-stocked shop at the front of the restaurant.  I bought some maple granola, which tastes as delicious as it sounds! There are also maple candies, maple salmon, pancake mix, and maple tarts, not to mention lots of maple syrup.

The gift shop

On your way home, have a quick look around Ferguson’s Falls, which is a very pretty town on the Mississippi River with lots of old log buildings.

The falls in Almonte

 

And if it’s not too far off your route, try to visit the power dam in Almonte. The river is so beautiful at this time of year, with its mixture of rushing water and ice. Just follow County Road 16/Wolf Grove Rd. into Almonte, and you can’t miss it.

Location: 1700 Ferguson’s Falls Road (County Road #15), Lanark (southwest of Ottawa)

Phone number: (613) 253-7000

Website: http://www.templessugarcamp.ca

Reservations: Not required

Hours: Open daily in March and April, weekdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., weekends 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thanks Lara! Do you have a favourite place on the outskirts of Ottawa? Send us a note!

Local Agritourist Lara Bender visits Carp’s Carleton Growers

Lillies in the greenhouse at Carleton Growers

Lara Bender is the creator of Agritourism Ottawa, a blog that profiles wineries, orchards, gardens, farm tours, and other agricultural destinations within an hour’s drive of Ottawa. When she’s not hanging out on farms and driving Ottawa’s rural back roads, she’s a product marketing writer in the high-tech industry.

If I needed reminding of how quickly things change in the agriculture business, my recent visit to Carleton Growers sure provided it. I first visited this cut flower business back in September, when I toured the greenhouses and spoke to co-owner and fifth generation flower grower, Darlene Hogg. I had not yet profiled this business on my website, so I felt they would be a great agritourism destination for Local Tourist Ottawa.

Entrance off Carp Road

After reviewing my notes and photos, I was ready to start writing. But I decided that I should make one more trip out to the greenhouses to see what is currently in bloom and to buy some of their fresh, local flowers.

Little did I know that a major change had occurred at Carleton Growers, one that is very exciting for our community.

At the end of January, Fred and Darlene Hogg sold their 97-acre farm and cut flower business to the Carp Ridge EcoWellness Centre (CREWC), a charitable organization dedicated to “teaching, modelling, and facilitating healing and sustainability with emphasis on our local community.” CREWC runs a natural health clinic, holistic wellness centre/healing house, and an outdoor learning centre, all located on the beautiful Carp Ridge.

Preparing the rose patio planters

CREWC bought the Carleton Growers property in order to start an organic farm, which will sell organic produce directly to the public. They plan to continue running the cut flower business, switch over to organic methods, and build new greenhouses to grow organic produce year-round. They will also use the surrounding fields, but first need to plant windbreaks, replenish the soil using natural methods, and establish bee colonies for pollination.

I spoke with Liz Bradley, who is heading up the project. She talked about building up a community, one where students learn about organic growing methods and the public feels completely welcome in touring the facilities. It is all quite exciting, and something that is still a bit under the radar while her team works to get ready for a more official opening this spring.

Flower varieties for sale in the fall

Speaking of touring, the greenhouses are a wonderful place to visit in the winter, where everything inside is green and humid and warm. You will see rows and rows of different flowers, all in various stages of growth. Many of the rows are dedicated to roses, one of Carleton Growers’ specialties. The former owners, the Hoggs, developed their own rose variety a few years ago. Because the business does not have to pay royalties on these roses, they are able to sell “rose patio planters”, a product that is not economically feasible for most rose growers. These planters are a popular gift for Mother’s Day.

If you visit right now, you can purchase asters and lilies, with other flowers becoming available as the season progresses. Because the flowers are local, they are much fresher than the cut flowers imported from South America, and will last longer. You also have the added benefit of knowing you are supporting local farmers, who must follow much stricter environmental and labour laws than those in South America. And the prices are very reasonable – I paid just $10 for the lilies shown in the photo, and the happy feeling I got from walking in the greenhouses was free!

My lilies against a winter backdrop

Location: 3320 Carp Road, Carp (just off the 417 in the west end of Ottawa)

Phone number: 613-839-2989

Website: http://www.carletongrowers.com

Reservations: Not required, but call ahead if you want to check availability or place an advance order.

Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon. Closed Sundays.

Introducing the Local Agritourist: Lara Bender

Lara Bender, creator of Agritourism Ottawa

Lara Bender is the creator of Agritourism Ottawa, a blog that profiles wineries, orchards, gardens, farm tours, and other agricultural destinations within an hour’s drive of Ottawa. When she’s not hanging out on farms and driving Ottawa’s rural back roads, she’s a product marketing writer in the high-tech industry.

Did you know that there are 10 wineries within an hour’s drive of Ottawa? Or that you can visit a cranberry farm right in the city of Ottawa? How about taking a wagon ride through a bison ranch, or visiting an organic farm with heritage pigs and free-range chickens?

These and more than 200 other agricultural experiences are available to visitors and residents of the Ottawa area. It’s a sector of tourism called “agritourism”, and it includes destinations such as farms, wineries, orchards, gardens, sugar shacks, cheese factories, corn mazes, farmers’ markets, and farm stay B&B’s. It also includes the many agricultural events that take place throughout the year, such as harvest festivals, agricultural fairs, and open house events at farms and agribusinesses.

We are very fortunate in Ottawa to have one of the most diverse agritourism regions in the world. From orchards to maple syrup, Christmas trees to commercial greenhouses, and corn mazes to wineries, the Ottawa region is blessed with a rich farming heritage – just minutes away from the urban core.

Yet visitors and residents are often unaware of the many agritourism opportunities in the region. To help get the word out, I decided to compile a list of all the agritourism destinations in the Ottawa region, visit them as a tourist, and then share my experiences through my Agritourism Ottawa website and blog. (I also have plans to self-publish an agritourism guidebook, although that is turning out to be a slow process and a LOT of work!)

I began working on my agritourism project last summer. Since then, I have spent countless hours visiting farms in a 100-km radius of Ottawa, including the Outaouais. I have to say that this project has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve become a passionate promoter of agritourism, which I see as an excellent way to:

• Learn how and where your food is grown;
• Increase awareness of agricultural issues;
• Support local farmers, businesses, and the rural economy; and,
  
• Escape from urban life and connect with nature.

Most of all, agritourism is simply fun! Nothing beats the feeling of walking among a herd of alpacas, holding a baby chick, or sipping wine on a patio beside a vineyard. These are the experiences that make me think “Life is Good”, as my day-to-day worries are swept aside by the joy of the present moment.

To give you a taste of what’s available in our region, watch for my Local Tourist Ottawa profiles of agritourism destinations right within the city of Ottawa. You can also read more profiles on my website, beyond the ones I will occasionally write for this fine blog.

Happy agritouring!