ABOUT THE FARM
Root + Sprout began in 2019 out of a labour of love between two good friends. Although you'll mostly see my face around the website now, it's extremely important to acknowledge that Root + Sprout would not be where it is today had my co-founder, Amy and I had not chased our dream's in starting this business together.
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Our produce comes from Ashley's parent's farm located 30 minutes south of Brandon, Manitoba. Here, Ashley (along with her husband, Calan, daughter Aubrey, and her parents, Don and Liane, help maintain and harvest the spray-free gardens. The farm is small-scale and is tended to with love and care always.
THE GARDEN
The farming methods used on our farm aim to both support and enhance the health of our soil and also contribute to the health and sustainability to our garden's ecosystem. One of the way's we achieve this in our gardens is to use well-composted manure from our cattle as well as house hold compost to fertilize the garden each fall before frost.
We make use of all kinds of tools to get big jobs done such as walk behind tillers, hand held tools, and our hands...Ashley does A LOT of weeding by hand and makes a point to remove every. single. weed. from the garden. We also make use of row covers to keep some varieties of veggies like broccoli, kale and cauliflower safe from pests like Flea Beatles so we don't have to rely on harmful sprays.
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Our first (original) garden is peacefully located between evergreen trees and a small agricultural crop. We often see ducks laying eggs in the long grass on the outer edges, and over the past few years, we've had a fox friend who will come say "hi" during quiet weeding mornings.
Our second and newest garden is just across the lane and resides on the outer edge of our bale and silage yard.
THE CATTLE
Our farm also has a cow-calf operation. In 2024 we decided to stop butchering our beef to sell to the public. The costs unfortunately became to high and it's also heavy for our hearts. For those of you still reading who are interested in the cattle part of the farm...read on!
My parents run a cow-calf operation which means that our cows get bred and about 7-8 months after the calf is born, we wean them and sell the calves. They primarily go into feedlots, but some go to other farms as well. A select 10-12 heifers (young female cows) stay with us and when they're old enough, we breed them and the cycle starts over.
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In the summer months, you'll find our cattle practicing rotational grazing in healthy pastures. They help the pastures flourish by distributing their rich manure and urine fertilizer. Once one pasture has been eaten down, they move to a new area of pasture to continue the rotation process. They eventually circle back to the original pasture they started in.
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In the winter they stay closer to home and are fed baled hay from our local hay crops as well as pea and oat silage that has been harvested and fermented over the summer and fall. Silage is their personal favorite in the winter, and we'll often see one of Ashley's cows running along side the tractor to be the first to the feeder!
We feel strongly about treating our cattle with love, care and respect while they are with us. This includes everything from the food they consume, their care and comfort, the pastures they graze on and the healthcare they receive day to day from birth until the day they leave our farm.
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We take pride in spending quality time with our cattle, you'll often find us walking with them so that we can maintain their care and also to give them the occasional comb or scratch!
