Goodness Me! Organic Farm Tour

When I first moved to Burlington a few years ago, I quickly discovered a unique looking natural food market called Goodness Me! that I wasted no time in exploring. Since becoming vegan, I now frequent this store quite often. I’m readily able to find ingredients for the dishes I make that I wouldn’t normally be able to find at a more conventional grocery store. Goodness Me! was founded by Janet Jacks in 1981 at their first location in Hamilton. Since then, they’ve expanded to six stores in South Western Ontario with 3 more opening up in the next year.

One particular thing I love about Goodness Me! is the exceptional produce. Until recently, I had no idea that the majority of their produce is sourced from their own organic farm in Campbellville. This past weekend I had the opportunity to go on a tour of this farm with my friend Chelsea where we received a first-hand account of all the work that goes into getting the produce from the farm to the store shelves.

Their farm is located just north of the 401 but you’d never be able to tell because it’s so serene and peaceful. We were introduced to David and Meiring Beyers, the two brothers that operate the farm.

David took us to the green house where the plants start out as seed and are later transplanted to the field. David explained that they built the greenhouse with supplies that were already on site. This is not your run-of-the-mill greenhouse. There are no fancy instruments, no complex irrigation systems, just rows and rows of vegetables.

After the greenhouse, we trudged up a giant hill to where the main action of the farm occurs.

The first thing that stuck out about the field was the amount of weeds!!! As someone that helped their mother furiously remove every single weed from the garden when I was younger, I was appalled! But David and Meiring couldn’t have been happier. They explained that the weeds were part of the whole system that helped the crops produce fantastic yields. Every 10 rows or so, there was a ‘buffer zone’ of tall weeds and wild flowers. The reasoning for this is that if there were to be an insect infestation, the bugs will work their way along the crops until they reach the buffer zone. Since this zone has everything they’re looking for, they don’t need to progress onto the next section of crops.

David talked quite extensively about the amount of work that goes into obtaining and upholding an organic farm certification. It’s so much more than growing organic seeds and only using organic sprays (I was surprised to learn that such a thing existed!). Quite a number of factors affect the farm that I wouldn’t have even considered: pollution from cars on the nearby road, potential spray runoff from neighbouring non-organic farms, the cleaners used in the truck that picks up their produce, and the list goes on.

You could really tell how passionate these brothers are about organic farming. They express their views quite elegantly in their recent interview with Goodness Me! (seen here). After touring the fields, we headed back down the hill where we were able to purchase some farm fresh vegetables.

I bought some beets, swiss chard and a watermelon radish. I used the beets to make some Nutty Beet Falafels from Happy, Hearted Kitchen (recipe here) which turned out deliciously. I used the beet greens (more like beet purples!) to make some pesto. I wasn’t 100% happy with the recipe, so I’m going to tinker with it until it’s ready to post.

I’ve been using the chard in my smoothies & salads. I have to admit, I only bought the watermelon radish because of its colour (it’s SO pink!), but I have no ideas for what to do with it. Any ideas??

I thoroughly enjoyed this tour and I definitely have a greater understanding and appreciation for all of the hard work that goes in to organic farming. I love supporting local businesses and I can even state now that I’ve met the farmers first hand. Can’t get much more local than that!