Christmas on the Farm

Some people golf, we farm," is how Sandra Marsters explains the side-hustle of a hobby she shares with her husband, Pierre Laframboise. They raise heritage Tamsworth pigs on their 185-acre farm in Venosta, Que., due north of Wakefield. They also work day jobs. Marsters, who works in palliative care in Ottawa, is particularly fond of taking care of the red-hued piglets when they're born in the spring, while Laframboise, a restauranteur-turned- renovator, is the do-er, Marsters says. "He's the one who really drives the farm."

But the pair fell for farming by accident. Eight years ago, while farm-sitting for a friend, a horse in their care fell ill — and at the time, they had no experience looking after livestock. It was Christmas Eve and instead of enjoying dinner with friends they were entertaining for the evening, the entire party ended up outside walking a horse around until a vet could arrive. It's the kind of experience that would have sent most people running back to the city, but they were hooked.

"When I go home at the end of the day, I'm so happy," she says. "It's a pretty magical place to live."

What the pair enjoys, perhaps, most of all is opening their farm to the community. Every year, they host two farmers' markets, just before Easter and Christmas, and a series of farm-to-table dinners, running mid-summer to early fall.

The first time they held the Christmas market, they expected maybe five farms to join them and, at best, a handful of customers and neighbours. They were pleasantly surprised when nearly 30 local farms, artisans and producers transformed their large drafty barn into a festive marketplace and more than 500 people came to shop for the holidays.

This year's event will see the return of the original vendors "who have stuck withus since the beginning," Marsters says. On Saturday, Nov. 30, the barn will fill with live music and more than 40 local vendors, selling everything from duck, rabbit and smoked fish, to knitwear, candles and pottery. There will be Christmas trees for sale, live animals and buskers and Peabody Farm will be serving warm food and beverages, including its heritage pork.

Peabody Farm
26 Ch. Sullivan, Venosta, Que.
peabodyfarm.ca | 613.558.4517 | @peabodyfar