Open Thursday through Sunday from mid-June to mid-October, weather permitting. Please check our website and Instagram for up-to-date information!
Welcome to All Things Grow Market Garden & Flower Farm. We're Christina and Alicia, a two-mom family passionate about growing a healthier and more sustainable world for our ten-year-old daughter and our wider community.
Before we found our green thumbs, we ran a home goods business out of our home in Toronto called Sea + Lake Paper Co. Alicia, an illustrator, designed all of our products and together, we ran the business. When the pandemic kept us at home in 2020, a simple gardening project with our daughter unexpectedly sparked a deep interest in cultivating the earth, and a completely new direction for our lives.
Our venture into urban gardening quickly turned into a deep dive into the world of regenerative agriculture, indigenous farming techniques, and Korean Natural Farming. We were alarmed at the ecological impact of modern agriculture, but excited by the potential of small, sustainable farming to make a positive difference. We transformed our Toronto backyard into a productive urban farm, but we dreamed bigger. We sold our house and moved to a 140-year-old farmhouse just north of Guelph. We quickly realized the maintenance of the historic home was simply more than we could handle, so we moved again. We are now happily settled on a property five minutes east of Guelph in Rockwood, Ontario, giving us the perfect space for our farm and easy access to the community we love.
As our farm has grown, our perspective on agriculture has also evolved. We deeply appreciate the nuance required in large scale farming. It is not possible to feed the world solely on small farms in this modern age, but we do need to find a balance. We believe it is critical that larger corporations are held accountable for their contribution to greenhouse gases and pollinator extinction, while small farms like ours focus on local food resilience.
Today, we cultivate a third of an acre, divided between vegetables and Alicia's love, flowers. Alicia enjoys growing unique, seasonal flowers, creating vibrant arrangements that you won't find at the grocery store. We also grow a diverse range of gourmet vegetables, from flavor-packed cherry tomatoes to succulent eggplants and a rainbow of other fresh veggies.
While our transition from urban life to rural farming has come with its fair share of challenges, we would not trade it for anything else. Every day, we get to work with our hands, learn, and grow as individuals and as a family. Our daughter enjoys roaming the flower fields and occasionally lending a hand to earn a little extra spending money.
Our journey has not been without its tests. Today, our greatest challenges revolve around adapting to a changing climate. We are constantly adjusting our practices to navigate wildfire smoke, tornado warnings, high winds, and torrential rains. But every difficulty has brought us closer and made us more resilient.
For now, we are committed to nurturing our small corner of the world. We do everything by hand. The largest machinery we have is a Husqvarna lawn tractor with a small trailer. We practice a deep composting method and use only organic inputs to ensure our farm is an oasis for pollinators, microbes, and critters of all sizes. This way, we're doing our small part in making the world a better place, one vegetable and one flower at a time.
We hope to see you soon at our roadside stand!