2-5 acres
About
Message- Opportunity available:
- Mentoring
- Internship
- Lease
- Lease-to-own
- Available facilities and equipment:
- Housing
- Irrigation capacity
- Irrigation equipment
- Fencing
- Greenhouse
- Agricultural machinery
- Cold storage
- Processing facilities
- Other
- Preferred arrangement model:
- Lease
- MOU
- Partnership
- Transfer/succession
- Available acreage:
- 2-5 acres
- 1 acre or less
- Soil type on farm:
- Loam
- Current farming practices:
- Ecological production, but not certified
- Biodynamic
- Current land use:
- Livestock
- Market garden
- Hay or pasture
- Fallow
- Woodlot
- Vegetables
- Fruit/berries/grapes
- Other use
- Preferred farming experience for farmer:
- Practical farming experience (including work as a farm intern or employee)
- Desired farming practices by a new farmer:
- Certified organic
- Ecological production but not certified
- Biodynamic
- Agricultural products I am interested being cultivated on my property:
- Vegetables
- Seeds, seedlings or nursery stock
- Herbs
- Fruit/berries/grapes
- Flowers
- Years experience of new farmer:
- About 1 year
- 1-2 years
- 3-5 years
- 6-10 years
Farm description
Are you a market gardener/grower looking to secure land with housing for the 2025 growing season? Neighbourly Farm is a 228-acre farm near Dornoch in Grey County, recently established to grow a community of ecological farmers, craftspersons and food-based entrepreneurs, with secure land access and year-round, independent, affordable housing in a village setting. The land is 228 acres of fields, hedgerows, forests, a spring-fed pond and a creek, all backing onto Mountain Lake wetland. Outbuildings include large-scale barns and workshops, former dairy, sugar shack, studio spaces and more. As of 2025, we will have housing for 5 or more separate households. We can now welcome a market gardener household. A freshly renovated farmhouse is available as early as November 2024. The ideal candidate(s) have established organic growing skills and are fully committed to running your own enterprise. (We are unfortunately unable to accommodate homesteaders, weekend farmers, or semi-retired individuals at this time.) Neighbourly’s vision is building community, and there is potential for continuing to live there within a farm co-ownership model after the first trial year. Your current neighbours on the land include Johann and Magda Kleinsasser, well-known elders in the ecological farming community who ran Whole Circle Farm near Guelph for many years. There is also Christian and Ally, first-generation farmers who have established Rich Pastures Farm on the property (richpasturesfarm.ca), a mixed regenerative livestock operation consisting of cattle, pigs, and chickens.
Farm opportunity
There is now a great opportunity for a grower to hit the ground running with your own market garden at Neighbourly Farm. While it’s your own operation, you can benefit from: * Mentorship and practical help with your market garden * Prepared ground, irrigation, organic manure/compost, storage space * Possibility of sharing tools and equipment, including tractors * Philosophically aligned neighbours, willing to lend you a helping hand * A large support network to help you with your first-year produce sales If you are serious about running your own market garden operation at Neighbourly, we want to hear from you. Please email info at neighbourly farm dot ca and provide a background of your growing experience (feel free to include a pdf resume), expressing why you are interested and what skills and other qualities you bring.