Meet Some Farmers We Love
Today is Canada’s Ag Day - a day to celebrate the industry and people who bring us such a wonderful, abundant and safe food supply!
From coast to coast to coast, we are grateful to know so many amazing people who work in agriculture - from farmers, to all the businesses that supply them and help get their products from the farm gate to the table. Today, we wanted to introduce you to a few of the local farmers we are working with at Bonfire on Queen.
Stewart & Jessica Skinner
Stewart & Jessica Skinner - Imani Farms Ltd.
Since 2015, Stewart Skinner and Jessica have operated Imani Farms Ltd. They proudly work alongside dozens of families in Perth, Huron, Grey and Bruce Counties, to provide high quality pork for consumers to enjoy. They have two amazing little people -- Bryce, 4 and Mae, 1. Bryce is growing into a great farm helper -- his favourite job is preparing "piggy porridge" for the small pigs. They often get asked about the origins of their farm name. Imani (i-MAH-nee) is a Swahili word meaning faith. They’ve spent time in both Tanzania and Kenya and that part of the world is close to their hearts. They agreed that they wanted to use a Swahili word for their farm name and Imani seemed most fitting. With the unpredictability of farming, it's good to have a little faith!
Watson Family
The Watsons
Dennis Watson and his family; wife Laurie and daughters Emma (19) and Abby (17) live on the Watson family farm on 200 acres South of Tara. The farm has been in the family since 1856. The family raises direct to customer beef, pork and chicken as well as cash cropping soybeans, wheat and corn.. The family is especially happy to provide Bonfire on Queen in Paisley with fresh, locally grown pork and chicken. Dennis and Laurie are both graduates of the University of Guelph. Dennis also teaches high school and has been teaching the Bluewater District‘s Agriculture SHSM program at Chesley District Community School since 2005. When Chesley District High School closed in 2017, the Agriculture program remained in Chesley as a satellite for students within the board. Laurie is the office manager at Arran Tara Elementary School, Emma attends the University of Ottawa and Abby is in Grade 11 at OSDSS in Owen Sound. The family works together raising animals on the farm but also enjoy camping, snowmobiling and hockey.
The Christie family.
The Christies - Christhill Farms Ltd.
We can’t introduce you to farmers without telling you about our family. Jim and Helen, Mike and Trevor Christie operate Christhill Farms south of Tara and around the corner from the Watson’s. The farm has been in Jen’s family for six generations. 65 cows are milked by two robots whenever the cows please. The Christies also grow hay, soybeans, corn, wheat and canola and raise some veal for our restaurant. Our family are long-time members of Gay Lea Foods Cooperative and volunteer with the Arran-Tara Agriculture Society and the the Chesley Easyriders Snowmobilie Club. It was Jen’s involvement growing up on the farm and her parents’ introducing her to 4-H that nurtured her passion for the agriculture industry.
