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
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.