Our goal is to grow what we eat and we would like to share it with you. From field and stable to your table.
Organic farming is more than a job; it is a lifestyle which the Laepple family has “grown” into for many years, before emigrating from Germany to Canada in 1998. Fritz and Linda and all their children, and now grandchildren, have worked together to build and improve the farm over the years.
The general principles of organic farming include protecting the environment, minimizing soil degradation and erosion, optimizing conditions for biological productivity, and promoting a sound state of health at every level: for our soil, our groundwater, our animals, and our customers.
No chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides are applied to our crops. Our animals are raised drug-free and without hormone implants. Our cows eat grass and hay, our chickens and pigs eat grain, and all of it is grown here on the farm.
The soil on our farm is quite sandy, and we have continuously worked to improve its fertility through rotational grazing in the summer, lots of cover crops, and adding composted cattle manure from the barn’s winter straw bedding packs. The old bank barn has been the home of many farm animals since it was built 175 years ago by the original owner and first settler J. Jutzi. It has seen some renovations and additions since then, but the giant, hand-hewn white pine logs still hold the original design together. The barn also still has the original ropes and wooden wheels inside, which the horses used to use to pull wagons up two stories for unloading. In 2011, we had a 10 kw solar system installed on the barn roof. This investment allows us to harvest the sun year-round, and produces more electricity than the farm actually uses.
Buy Local! Buy Fresh! is more than a slogan. This area has provided healthy food in abundance to settlers and natives for hundreds of years, well before our reliance on trucks and supply chains. This has brought us to the point that food now travels, on average, more than 800 km before it reaches the consumer. Our local customers help us to move away from a food system that is so heavily dependent on fuel consumption and lengthy supply chains. We believe that eating local foods, in season, fosters environmental and human health, enhances economic well-being, and strengthens our social fabric.
We look forward to seeing you soon at the farm!
Find Us
2298 Bleams Rd
Petersburg, Ontario
Contact Us
Home: 519-634-1033
Cell: 519-588-8922
Email: laepple@golden.net