Youth Now Farm

New to the market gardening line-up is the Youth Now Farm, to the east of Ottawa on Russell Road. Now in its second year of operation, this farm, on 74 acres leased from the National Capital Commission, is a new supplier to The Red Apron.

It is also a totally unique operation, launched with a $100,000 grant from the Ottawa Community Foundation and the support of many Ottawa agencies, Rotary clubs and businesses.

Youth Now is a social enterprise, as well as a fully functioning farm, complete with vegetables, herbs, horses, goats, ducks, pigs and turkeys and plans for a fruit orchard.

“It exists for the sole mission of doing good for underprivileged youth,” declares the website on its home page.

“Our focus is to grow and nourish youth, hand-in-hand with our farming activities,” explains Jenny Roebuck, farm manager, who grew up on a farm near Peterborough and lives on-site with her husband Weldon.

“We recognize the incredible value of animals where they intersect with people and how they can help with mental health issues, calmness and offer a connection that doesn’t demand anything in return.”

Youth Now welcomes young people from many at-risk groups in Ottawa and the surrounding area, from as far away as Cornwall. Their stakeholders are struggling with a wide variety of barriers to full integration into working life.

“Working on the land has great value to growing kids, offering a healthy alternative to classrooms and office walls,” Roebuck says. “The skills learned here offer lessons on self-regulation, an ability for these youth to focus on what they are good at.”

Young people come to the farm to interact with animals and to care for them. They also come to work in the small market garden, which produces herbs, squash, kale, Swiss chard, ground cherries, tomatoes, green onions and beans, among other crops, for sale through the roadside farm stand and for delivery to partners in Ottawa such as primary charity partner Parkdale Food Centre, The Red Apron, Thyme & Again, Seed to Sausage, Operation Come Home's Food Works and St. Joe’s Supper Table. Youth involved with the You Grow — Choose Your Potential program, also have the opportunity to work one day a week at the Parkdale Food Centre to learn kitchen skills.

Roebuck has plans to plant a fruit orchard too — mostly likely apples and cherries — but is researching what tree will thrive on the dry, heavy clay soil that is on the farm.

During the summer of 2018, the NCC is restoring the barns, fixing the foundations and giving the property a face-lift. It will be up to Roebuck and her team to get the ground in order.

“While we are not going for organic status, we will be following all natural, organic methods,” she says. First task is to add nutrients back into the severely depleted ground, a maze of dry, cracked clay, formerly cultivated as a single-crop soya farm. Roebuck has sourced tonnes of nutritious horse manure just down the road, but she has to find a way to get it to the farm. Horse manure, in the huge quantities needed, isn’t something you can just toss into the back of a truck.

Several enclosures dot the property. One houses Muscovy ducks, white of feather and with a happy waddle, which should soon start to lay eggs. Another, Angora goats; a mother and her two kids, the latter called Thelma and Louise are shut inside a large airy barn, because true to goat form, they keep escaping. They’re affectionate and love to be scratched and cuddled — perfect therapy animals for those struggling with anxiety and confidence issues.

A little farther afield, six pink piglets seek shelter from the summer heat under a bush, but they’re happy to have visitors. A teenaged girl visiting the farm from Cornwall, gets to name one of them, and after a short pursuit, she puts a red “H” on its rump with a marker pen. Hamlet is named.

It’s an idyllic scene of homesteading, one that belies the greater good that will come from this cracked earth.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to enrich at-risk youth,” Roebuck says. “We offer employment opportunities to those who might not otherwise get them, we offer pre-employment training, we offer skills building and the chance to be part of a team learning critical horticultural and agricultural skills. But we also foster soft skills such as showing up on time and building community through the land.”

Youth Now Farm
5039 Russell Rd., Carlsbad Springs, Ont.
youthnowfarm.ca | 613.513.8853 | @youthnowfarm

Garden Vegetable Slaw

There is no salad easier to pull together quickly than a simple vegetable slaw. The beauty of this salad is that you can use almost any ripe and crunchy vegetable. If you have a food processor, it’s even easier. You need a total of 8 to 10 cups of shredded vegetables — any combination of cabbage (Napa, red cabbage or green), kale, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, green onions, red onions, radishes and more.

Make a simple vinaigrette by mixing five tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with a salt and pepper, to taste, a tablespoon or two of maple syrup and whisk in ¾ cups of oil (sunflower oil works well). If you want to add a little kick, a few minced chipotle peppers make for great smokey flavour and a touch of heat.

Toss the shredded vegetables together with the vinaigrette and let sit for at least an hour before serving. And a good slaw is always better the next day.