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SEELEY'S BAY - Forman Farms co-owners Charlie and Christine Forman know how to keep pace with evolving food trends while notching up sustainable farming practices.
This diversified family farming operation south of Seeley's Bay spans a large area in both Leeds and the Thousand Islands Township and the Greater Kingston area. Their array of products range from their sister company SwitchGreen pellet mill items for fuel, bedding and mulch to cash crops, year-round greenhouse produce and a garden centre.
"We have a lot of product pride," says Christine. "If you eat our food you have a hand in what we create. We're very motivated by that and always working hard to provide high quality, fresh and flavourful food for our customers."
From the fields come 9 different cash crops, including alfalfa, grain, corn and soybeans, as well as sweet corn, garlic, squash, onions, peas, beans and broccoli. In their ever-expanding greenhouses you'll find everything from winter greens to tomatoes. Sale of all greenhouse vegetables has really taken off the past 3 years. They grow mini cucumbers and eggplants, crisp lettuces and flavourful herbs, to name a few.
Natasha Abrams is the greenhouse manager. It's all about top-notch foods and interesting varieties such as the trendy kalette. Product diversity is celebrated and so is environmental friendliness. "We're environmentally conscious and use sustainable agriculture practices in all aspects of the farm, from biological bug controls, crop rotation, companion planting and cover crops," says Natasha.
Forman Farms provides food to 15 Kingston and Gananoque restaurants and has a growing list of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) clients. They sell wholesale to Freshmarts in Elgin, Lansdowne and Seeley's Bay, Baldree's No Frills in Gananoque and Brownlee's Metro in Perth.
"We have a good reputation," says Charlie, whose family started with a dairy operation in the 1980s. Today he is proud of how the farm has expanded into new products while being almost entirely fueled by biomass for heating buildings.
The pellet mill production currently supplies softwood pellets for the greenhouse boilers, farm residences, a school in Cloyne, a number of outdoor boilers and residential customers. The wood used to produce pellets is all clean wood directed away from landfills."
Forman Farms also provides land improvement services as well as trucking and delivery services. Charlie is interested in starting a co-generation project in the future that will supply electricity and heating needs using woody biomass.
To learn more about Forman Farms or place an order give the office a call at 613-382-7914,
email
them or check out their
website
.
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