Lohbrunner Community Farm  Goes to Ottawa

Photo courtesy of Lohbrunner Community Farm

One of the goals of Lohbrunner Community Farm Cooperative (LCFC) is to address the prohibitive cost of farmland for new entrants to farming. When Norma Lobhrunner passed away she left the old farm house unoccupied. The Coop saw this as a perfect opportunity to get a young farmer on the land.

In April of 2017, the Co-op agreed to lease the house and 2 acres of land to Ariella Falkowski in order to start up her farming business. “I’m going to work up the land this year,” she says, “and, starting in 2018, I’ll put in about half an acre of vegetables.”

After joining the Co-op last year, Ariella was excited to share her experiences both as a new farmer and as a coop member. “I had a small project on the farm I worked on last year where I was using some of their land and I grew medicinal herbs. It was fun, it was small, it was a good experience, but this will be my first real farm,” she says. “My main motivation for joining LCFC was to access a secure lease on farmland but I also had the desire to be part of a co-op whose mandate includes protecting farmland for the future – this is in line with personal values of mine on a deep level. ”

Last month Ariella was invited to attend the Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada Delegates Conference in Ottawa on November 29th and 30^th and she’s thrilled. “I will get a chance to share the story of LCFC with delegates at the conference, as well as network with and learn from co-operators, both large and small, from across the country.”

Good luck on your journey!