The Rural Voice, 2002-07, Page 22Tony and Fran
McQuail (standing)
give pointers on
tomato production t
Jenn McMullen and
Peter Dixon in the
farm's hoop-housvfN ' '
Below, the apprenticies
dig a garden.
Switching made easier
Once taking the plunge into organic production was a
lonely act of courage. As the sector grows more and more
help is becoming available for farmers wanting
to make the difficult switch
Story and photos by Keith Roulston
18 THE RURAL VOICE
peter Dixon leaves his work and
comes forward to greet the
stranger as he enters the yard at
Meeting Place Farm near Lucknow.
Dixon is learning how to farm
organically, working for the second
summer in a row as an apprentice on
the farm of Fran and Tony McQuail
near Lucknow. He's taking
advantage of a route into organic
farming that wasn't available for the
McQuails when they became among
the pioneers of the organic
movement, halting the use of
chemical inputs on their farm
following the 1975 crop season. By
1985 they were one of the first to
have their farm officially certified as
organic.
Tony McQuail recalls there were
few resources to turn to back in the
'70s as they battled to make the
transition to organic. He turned to
Alvin Filsinger of Ayton for advice
on running an orchard organically
and Herb Eldridge for cropping
advice.
The small group of brave souls, 20
or 25, who had decided to reject
pesticide and chemical fertilizer on
their farms formed the Natural
Farmers Association and began