Fresh From the Fields – March 2025 Newsletter

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Garden Plot Registration

Now’s the time to register for your community garden plot for 2025! Don’t delay in registering. We sell out every year!
Have you already signed up for a garden plot and not able to garden? Let Pam know now so we can allocate plots accordingly.

Seedling Sale & Garden plots open: Saturday May 17

Community Garden Inforamtion

Join us for a Winter Root Sale

March 19, 2:30-4:30pm

Thank you to everyone who came to our root sales this winter! Your support to the Farm is invaluable. We have unwashed carrots & potatoes available. Ignatius carrots are the sweetest carrots you’ll ever taste!

· No pre-orders, just drop by

· Purchase in increments of 5 lbs $15, 10lbs $30, 15 lbs $40, 25lbs $60.

· Also available, Chili Oil from Piccolo Farm Organics

Bring your own bags to take your veggies home. We look forward to seeing you.

Ignatius Farm & Land Update

For 2025 the Land and Farm departments are integrating in their care for Ignatius farmland, trails, grounds as well as infrastructure & equipment. This merge of expertise is creating some very exciting opportunities for you, our amazing community, to come and volunteer/play with us!

We are hosting a Volunteer Fair on April 9 & 12 to launch this initiative. Come and join us!
From your Farm & Land team – Heather, Don, Lisa, Ashley, Jeff & Pam

Volunteer Fair details

Community Orchard Collective

Winter Pruning

Saturday March 15 & 29, 1-4pm

Join Matt, Alex & Kajal as we continue winter pruning in the Orchard. Come join the fun!

Please bring your own clean pruning tools. Sanitizing product provided. Dress for the weather.

Meet in Loyola House parking lot at entrance to Lower Orchard.

Holistic Pest Management & Scouting

Saturday March 22, 1-4pm

Join Matt Soltys of The Urban Orchardist, for a talk about Holistic Pest Management and scouting, all taking place in the Orchard! After the talk, stay and join Matt & Kajal to prune in the Orchard.

Meet in Loyola House parking lot at entrance to Lower Orchard.

Email Pam if you have any questions or about weekday pruning opportunities.

Ignatius Farm New Farmer Training Program

Save the date! Term 1 registration opens April 2nd.

Webinars start April 7, pending funding.

Look forward to webinars on Seedling production, botany for farmers, starting an urban farm and more!

The NFTP provides critical information to start your farm. You will meet other new and experienced farmers and become a part of the ecological agricultural community in Ontario. Educational content is geared toward new farmers, but is open to all farmers who might be curious about a certain topic, wishing to expand their farming knowledge, or in need of a refresh.

More details here!

Loyola House

Featured Worskhop & Retreats

Stories from the Heart
March 22, 10am-4pm
Story Telling Workshop with Michael Williams

The Second Journey – Life Beyond Success
March 28-30
Practices for inner transformation

The Passions and Virtues of the Enneagram
March 29

Birds Weekend Retreat
May 9-11
Learn and love your feathered friends

Check out Loyola House Retreats here

Seedy Saturday is a day of seeds, sustainability, and community

Ignatius Farm is excited to be part of Yorklands Green Hub’s Seedy Saturday

Saturday March 22, 10am-3pm!

Old Quebec St. Shoppes in Downtown Guelph

See you there!

Ignatius Farm Small Plot Agriculture

Are you on Google searching for a CSA, organic produce, plants, food or flowers? Guelph has many offerings, and Ignatius Farm tenants have some of the best on offer. Support these enterprises growing right here at your neighbourhood farm! They invest their energy and love into this beautiful land and help make this the community we love! And so delicious…

This month we feature Piccolo Farm Organics with their Community Supported Food distribution options, and Hope House Guelph with their Better Food Co.

Piccolo Farm Organics (PFO)

Steve D’Alimonte is the owner/operator of Piccolo Farm Organics (PFO). After completing the Ignatius Farm Immersion Internship in 2021, Steve started PFO in 2022 on a third of an acre in his backyard. PFO primarily grows Italian varieties of vegetables or vegetables commonly used in Italian cuisine. PFO has since expanded into offering prepared food products that incorporate their crops (including vegetable-infused pastas, pestos, tomato sauces and focaccia).

In 2024, PFO began leasing a plot of land at Ignatius Farm to allow them to grow their operation including a new subscription program that includes a mix of fresh vegetables and prepared food, delivered to your door.

To learn more about what PFO does and sells, visit Piccolo Farm Organics.

Better Food Co.

Enjoy delicious, chef-prepared meals while making a difference! Better Food Co., a social enterprise of Hope House Guelph, offers fresh, high-quality meals monthly where every purchase helps fund local food security programs.

Their ingredients are locally sourced from North Field Food Farm located on Ignatius Jesuit Centre land, where they grow fresh produce to support their mission of providing good food for all.

Order today to help build a better food system in Guelph.