Good Things At The End Of A Long Road

Ecological Farm
longroadecofarm.ca

When Xiaobing Shen wanted to leave his native Chinese village, his options were either to go to school or join the army. He chose school — and eventually moved to Canada to pursue a master’s degree in engineering, which is how he met Jonathan Davies.

They were living in Toronto when they began to question whether a high-stress, high-speed lifestyle was something they wanted.

Neither Xiaobing nor Jonathan expected to become farmers, but they found themselves learning more about organic farming as a way to return back to basics. “We were trying to bring some sustainability to our lives,” said Jonathan.

In 2013, Xiaobing and Jonathan decided to buy a farm just north of Kingston and Long Road Eco Farm was founded.

“We had to figure things out pretty quickly,” Jonathan explains. “Looking back, it was kind of bold, there was an element of risk. But, there was some kind of ‘we can do this’ instinct. Whatever good or bad has come of it, it was a good decision. We’ve had some very rich experiences.”

Together, they cultivate their gardens and raise chickens, ducks, and pigs using ecological practices — strictly followed in a bid to become certified organic. Some of their practices include only using certified organic and heritage seeds; using compost and manure produced on the farm; rotating crops to ensure enriched soil, and; feeding their animals with certified organic feed.

“Farming is a way to get in touch with simpler things,” says Jonathan. “The pace of our style of farming is much slower than a large scale, fully commercial kind of farm. That’s something that both of us find important. I find there’s a lot of dignity in that kind of agriculture, even as just a part of your life. There’s a lot of resourcefulness involved.”

“It’s very small-scale farming,” agrees Xiaobing. “There are different elements in the life, not just farming. We like to keep life interesting.”

Xiaobing never lost sight of his roots in rural China and decided to bring something special to Frontenac County in the form of “Farm Sum”, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Chinese dim sum — a dish of steamed buns with a variety of fillings. It’s nostalgic food that Xiaobing ate growing up. He fills his steamed buns with pork and vegetables grown on the farm and dabbles in creating chili oils, kimchi, Hot Pot, fermented vegetables, and dumplings for their Farm Sum.

You can get your Farm Sum fix every Sunday at the Memorial Centre Farmers’ Market in Kingston.

A strong community also makes farming more fulfilling. “The farmers’ market is a big part of my social life,” Xiaobing explains. “Most days I stay at the farm, working alone. Meeting customers, that’s the most exciting day for me.”

That strong community connection to Kingston was the catalyst in choosing an area to settle down and start Long Road Eco Farm. Jonathan and Xiaobing saw that Kingston had a strong local food movement and the Frontenac region was filled with small-scale farms whose success they could find inspiration from, like Otter Creek Farms which is just a minute down the road. The Cook family raise their full-blood Wagyu cows using traditional farming methods and also run a gourmet food truck bringing their mouthwatering burgers into Kingston.

“We saw other parts of Ontario,” says Jonathan. “And some were affordable, but there wasn’t as much to draw us, like cultural opportunities and markets.”

“We wanted to be somewhere close to an urban centre,” Xiaobing recalls. “To get more out of life, not just the farm.”