Young farmers’ success leads to expansion

The Spring Farm is growing in more ways than one. What started as a small production that included backyard plots is steadily growing into a major operation that sustainably provides fresh produce to local residents and restaurants.

“New and exciting things are happening on the farm right now,” says the Spring Farm’s co-owner Jenny Spring. “We are getting away from backyard farming and will be expanding a lot.” From the half acre they worked at the farm last year, she and partner Oliver Wolfe will now be using 10 acres for both plants and animals, including 300 organically-raised chickens and 300 organically-raised turkeys. They’ll be building another 150-foot greenhouse where they will sell vegetable starts – tomato and pepper plants, among others.

The Spring Farm has also expanded its CSA – Community Supported Agriculture – program from 30 families to 100. The program allows people to buy shares in the farm’s production for the coming season and then receive a weekly box of produce through all or part of the growing season.

“We’ll be able to offer more products to our CSA families than in the last two years,” says Spring. “We are also partnering with an organic farm in Kawartha to give us a longer season to provide more produce and help us keep up with demand.”

The farm will be adding a new greenhouse and selling vegetable starts to gardeners this year. (Photo: Emily Blackman)

The CSA program will have a new pickup location at a barn behind Spring and Wolfe’s home on Florence Street West, a spot that Spring says will also function as a food hub. “We will have freezers and coolers so that we can have other products available like eggs and meat and juice from Totem (Juice Company). We’ll also have bread from a local bakery. You’ll be able to pick everything up in one location.” The barn is just a seven-minute bike ride from the farm and greenhouses which helps ensure utmost freshness of their produce.

The Spring Farm’s new, certified commercial kitchen allows them to process any produce that doesn’t sell so that it doesn’t go to waste. And they have a catering company that produces to-go salads using local products or certified organic produce, along with the Spring Farm’s year-round microgreens. “It’s a healthy to-go option,” says Spring. “They can be ordered for catered functions, and we’ll be at different events selling them, too.” The salads are also sold at retail locations around town including The Great Vine and Farmer’s Daughter, and the Spring Farm will be back at the farmer’s market this year.

Local restaurants continue to use Spring Farm produce, including Bartlett Lodge whose chef is designing the menu based on what the farm will have available in season, says Spring.

Although its not certified organic, the Spring Farm using organic gardening practices. (Photo: Emily Blackman)

Their expanded production means that the farm hired three people this year. “We have a good team,” says Spring. “We feel good about hiring locals and we are trying to diversify so that we can keep people employed in the winter, too. We’re hoping that our catering business will do that, and we are in the process of trying to get into local grocery stores.”

As if that’s not enough to keep her busy, Spring has also designed a college-level organic gardening course through St. Lawrence College and is currently teaching it to inmates at Beaver Creek. “It’s a three week class and they get a college credit for it,” says Spring. “They are really into it. They are starting tomato plants indoors that they’ll be able to transplant and they will have their own garden plots this summer.” She has been asked to deliver three more courses to prisons in the Kingston area, as well, and hopes to teach the class to the community, too.

Read Doppler’s earlier story on the Spring Farm here. For more information about the farm and its CSA program, follow The Spring Farmer on Facebook or email [email protected].