Six agricultural producers from across the MRC Pontiac opened their gates to the public for the third annual Farms Open agri-tourism day on Sunday. This is the greatest number of Pontiac participants to date.
The event is similar in concept to the Doors Open day hosted for over 20 years in Ottawa, whereby one day a year the public has access to unique and historically significant buildings in the city. The program allows both custodians and owners of buildings to throw back the blinds, open the doors and show the public what they may have walked, cycled or driven by every day and which they had always wondered about what it looked like inside.
This Sunday the Ottawa Valley Food Co-operative co-hosted a similar program, called Farms Open, at 16 locations across the Ottawa Valley whereby the public was invited to explore local farms and experience the heart of their communities’ agriculture.
Local farmers and producers threw open their barnyards, gates, gardens and more, affording the public a behind-the-scenes look at the method and source of some of the produce and services that the region has to offer.
Of the six Pontiac participants, Coronation Hall Cider Mills, Ferme Pure Conscience, Semences Allumettes / Matches Seeds, and Herboristerie La Fée des Bois were repeat hosts, while Vallée des Rosiers / Escapade Huskimo and Little Red Wagon Winery were new additions to the program.
Collectively they spanned an extensive swath of territory from Allumette Island in the west, to Otter Lake in the north, to Onslow Corners in the east and to the town of Bristol in the south.
With signs strategically placed in a broad catchment around each of the host farms, would-be visitors on the self-guided tour were well-positioned to arrive at their destinations. And this likely played a role in the high level of attendance reported by some of the participants.
“It was really amazing, honestly, and it was pretty successful I have to say because we were busy the whole day. There were about 70 to 80 visitors last year and at least 100 this year,” said Gema Villavicencio, owner of Ferme Pure Conscience and one of the organizers of the event.
Across the region, participants were checking in with rave reviews.
“This was our best day ever!” enthused Mariane Desjardins Roy, herbalist and owner of La Fée Des Bois Apothecary, while Greg Graham of Coronation Hall Cider Mills said, “We were extremely busy – sold every pie we had.”
Michael Matischuk of Matches Seeds was encouraged by the participation saying, “It went very well. It was our second Farms Open event and we were happy to see new and recurring customers coming out.”
At least one of the things that made the event such a hit was on display at La Fée Des Bois Apothecary. Passion. Full on, unadulterated, passion. And that passion was contagious.
Visitors approaching the 70-acre farm were greeted with a warm welcome from herbalist Fée Morgane, who goes simply by Val, a volunteer on this day and a herbalist friend of Desjardins Roy from Maniwaki.
From there, Morgane ushered visitors into the garden to learn about any herb they wanted, and proceeded to define, describe and extol the herb of choice with such genuine enthusiasm and familiarity that one was compelled to name a second herb in consequence. She was a delight and wore affection for her vocation as an aura of cordiality.
While Morgane was the outdoor ambassador for La Fée Des Bois, Desjardins’ mother, Geneviève, took over once visitors ventured into the boutique. A fast-talking and compact ball of energy, Geneviève, who has been a part of the operation since the beginning some 12 years ago, was as well-versed in the products on the shelves as Morgane was with the roots in the soil. Her joy at offering the therapeutic value of everything from calendula to nettle was only interrupted by her equally gleeful and tangential musings on peripheral happenings from the day. With short notice, an hour had suddenly passed and another sought.
And therein lies at least part of the magic of Farms Open. It is a chance to see the people and operations behind the products and services that we discover, enjoy, covet and value. It is an opportunity to see the worth that we, intrinsically, sense is there.
