Felseck Farm

Orange sunset at Felseck Farm

Why do I want to farm? Why do I see myself working outdoors and specifically in food related industries? One of the most prominent reasons is my deep love of Felseck Farm, my late granfather's and now father's sheep farm located in the Laurentians of Quebec.

Growing up I spent countless weekends and summers at the farm. Without television or internet, it was here that I learned to explore outside to entertain myself. I'd fish, search for frogs in the brush, climb trees, stalk deer, go tobboganing with our pet cats, brush the horses and clean their hooves, bottle feed abandoned lambs, fly kites in the fields and nail together makeshift wood boats that my brother and I would race down the creek. One spring I even found a whole glob of frogs eggs in a quiet creek which I obviously had to bring home to show Mum, at which point she said I had to keep them so we loaded them into an old aquarium and took them to my grade 2 class to become a science experiment. We had a lot of frogs.

The farm is where I became close with my German grandparents. It is where my family spent many Christmases. It is where I learned to think practically, be skillful with my hands and to be adventurous. I had to learn to be agile to get across creeks dry, and I had to think more quickly than the animals I was working with to avoid being butted or kicked. It is also where I first had fun foraging for wild flavour-filled berries (blueberries, strawberries and raspberries), it is where my granmother taught me what mushrooms we could and couldn't eat and where to find them, and also where I learned to love home grown meat!

I had many other experiences growing up, but for me these are some of the most pleasing. And today, I am seeking to rediscover much of the adventure, the fun, the tactile work, the family and good food I grew up with on Felseck Farm.

Today whenever I return to Montreal, I try to spend as much of my time as possible on the farm. This year was no different. Right after Christmas Day my father and I drove up north to retreat to the farm - him to work on his new 'shed' and I for posterity's sake.

Here are some pictures so you can enjoy a bit of Felseck Farm as well.