The Rural Voice, 1995-09, Page 3a\
Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
John Heard, soils and crop extension
and research, northwestern Ontario
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
Gisele Ireland, Cathy Laird, Wayne
Kelly, Sarah Borowski,
Mary Lou Weiser -Hamilton, June
Flath, Ian Wylie-Toal, Susan Glover,
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Darene
Yavorsky, Peter Baltensperger, Sandra
Orr, Yvonne Reynolds, Carl L. Bedal
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
Anne Harrison
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Behind the Scenes
Looking at new crops, and an old tradition
For many farmers, the search for
profitable new crops goes on and for
some, the newest answer is in garlic.
With the changes in the ethnic
background of the Ontario popul-
ation, and the evolution in our eating
habits, Ontario has become a major
importer of garlic. It turns out, how-
ever,that Ontario can produce large,
high quality bulbs that chefs will pay
a premium for over imported garlic.
While most people experimenting
with garlic have restricted themselves
to an acre or so, a trio of Perth
County partners have, after three
years, advanced to growing 11 acres.
They're sure enough they can find a
ready market that they're looking for
others to join them in growing the
crop. The story of Flat Creek Farms
leads off our issue.
It's International Plowing Match
time again and this year the match is
almost in our backyard, just across
the Perth County border in Waterloo
Region. We have a number of stories
based around the match, beginning
with a profile of Waterloo's proud
place in agriculture and what's
planned for this 1995 Plowing Match.
It takes a huge number of
volunteers to put on a Plowing Match
(Waterloo involved 500 planning the
Match and 1,000 for the run of the
Match) but even before the event
there's a lot of work in putting
together a bid to win the rights to host
a match. With Huron County
currently seeking the 1998 IPM, we
take a look at what goes into winning
the bid.
While farmers bemoan the lack of
knowledge of farming by urbanites,
there's a constant fascination in the
cities about farm life. Marsha
Boulton has been filling that need
with radio features and columns since
moving to her Mount Forest -area
farm, trading her life at Maclean's
magazine for her sheep, cows and
horses. Some of those writings have
been gathered together in Letters
From The Country, a book reviewed
this month.
A group of experts in finding, and
serving, niche food markets gathered
recently at A Taste of Country Food
Fair. Some of their advice is sum-
marized in our News/Advice section.
Bonnie Gropp's recipes this month
involve the bumper crop of tomatoes
now on the vincs.0
Update
Bringing 'em back to the country
Perth County residents will get their second chance to drop in on working
farms this fall when the second Harvest Days Tour is held October 1 and the idea
is spreading westward to Huron.
When Perth held its first Harvest Days Tour last fall, 1,200 people toured six
area farms. Various commodities are represented in the tour and volunteers from
those commodities are asked to help out at the farms along the way. Both
traditional and non-traditional farms are represented. Tow -s take place from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors pick up a map of the route and travel by car to whichever
farms they choose.
Meanwhile the first ever Farm Hiker Tour will be held in Huron, Sunday,
October 15 to allow residents to see a few of the 3,200 farms that give Huron a
higher farm income (more than $400 million annually) than any of the Atlantic
provinces. The tours are a joint venture of the Rural Health Co-ordinating
Committee of the Huron County Health Unit, the Huron County Federation of
Agriculture and the Huron OMAFRA office.
Those taking part in the tour will be able to visit a Jersey diary herd, a hog
operation, a cow/calf operation, a sheep farm, an orchard, an emu farm and elk
and red deer farm. Maps of the tour will be available from noon to 3 p.m. at the
Clinton OMAFRA office with tours being from noon to 5 p.m. The tourists arc
asked to donate a non-perishable food item to the Huron County food bank by
way of payment.0