Flour Mill Community Farm holding annual open house Wednesday
The public is invited to the Flour Mill Community Farm’s 6th annual Open Farm on Wednesday Aug. 17.
This is an opportunity for the community to tour the space and sample some of the farm’s produce which will be used to prepare snacks supplied by Knowhere Public House.
Live musical entertainment will be provided by local powerhouse, singer-songwriter, Lisa Marie Naponse. The Indigenous artist, of Atikameksheng Anishinawbek territory, does her best to live her best life. Her music is influenced by prime country, MJB, 90’s grunge, Aaliyah, R & B, the blues and her parents, Jeff and Dolores. Naponse is working on releasing her first album.
The Flour Mill Community Farm is Sudbury’s first urban farm. The project, by the Social Planning Council of Sudbury, started in May 2017. The farm cultivates 2,500 square feet of fertile ground near the Ryan Heights Park.
“I couldn’t have been more excited about the potential benefit to the surrounding neighbourhoods. The urban farm was a welcome addition to the park, which had just opened a brand new $87,000 playground structure, an enhanced community garden, and a revitalized youth centre,” Robert Kirwan, Ward 5 Councillor for Greater Sudbury, told CTV News.
Now in its sixth year, the farm has provided meaningful employment to almost 50 area youths through the YMCA Employment Services and the Canada Summer Jobs program. After a successful fundraising campaign this past winter, the farm was able to employ 14 young people this summer through these programs.
“The Flour Mill Community Farm uses ecological agriculture as a tool to help youth gain meaningful job experience, social skills development, and a connection to the environment and the food system. This initiative aims to break the cycle of poverty by intercepting youth at a transitional stage in life,” the farm said in a news release Saturday.
The fresh, ecologically grown produce harvested at the farm each year is offered at affordable prices to those living near the farm in the Ryan Heights neighbourhood through a weekly market.
Kirwan told CTV News, he has seen the positive impact the urban farm has had on the neighbourhood and how they often walk over to talk with the workers at the farm during the summer.
“This is a program that adds so much to the community. I am hoping that we will be able to provide permanent funding for the urban farm program so that the farm can cultivate an even larger space at Ryan Heights and expand to other suitable sites in the City of Greater Sudbury,” added Kirwan.
To donate to the Flour Mill Community Farm visit the Social Planning Council of Sudbury’s “Canada Helps” donation page.
The open farm event is Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 736 Bruce Ave next to the Ryan Heights Playground.
More information about the farm and the event can be found on the community farm’s Facebook page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
Parliamentary report on Emergencies Act decision is 18 months past due — and counting
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.