Couple finds success in small scale organic farming

 In Business, Events

In the off-season last winter, Brent Preston sat down to write the story of a decade on the farm.

He set out to tell the story of a family that struggled to make it as a small-scale, profitable, organic farm, while maintaining a healthy lifestyle, happiness and at times, their sanity.

In The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution, Preston tells what reads like a very honest portrayal of personal hurdles and mistakes made along the way to success.

The soon-to-be published memoir is at once a story about business, family and community.

“I really wanted the book to be honest, if nothing else, an honest expression of what it took to create this farm and this business,” said Preston.

In addition to Preston’s wife and partner Gillian Flies, The New Farm features a host of the real-life characters in the area, often referred to by first name only; the interns who worked the farm in the early days, the migrant workers they now employ, chefs, and Preston’s circle of friends.

He said writing is such a private and solitary exercise, spending hours on end alone, that it wasn’t a challenge to tell such a personal story.

“I was absorbed in writing a personal story and now that it is ready, I do feel a little bit nervous,” he admits. “As the release date approaches, it’s gone from feeling remote to becoming more real.”

One of the main characters in The New Farm is Cona Metheral, from whom Preston and Flies bought their farm near Dunedin. Mike at Hamilton Brothers is another key figure. Preston recounts how he gradually learns about farm life from all the people he meets, trying out different strategies, sometimes abandoning them and choosing to do things their own way.

Throughout the book Preston recounts his misadventures in farming, with some especially comical, yet gruesome, stories about keeping livestock and fighting off varmint. Another thing that comes through: kohlrabi is a stupid vegetable.

At its core, The New Farm is a book advocating for sustainable, responsible, organic agriculture.

“It is about spreading the idea that this kind of agriculture is a viable alternative to conventional farming and make people understand that it is a viable way to make a living,” said Preston.

The New Farm, in one decade, went from selling produce at the Creemore Farmers’ Market on weekends in the summer to providing produce to restaurants and grocery stores throughout Toronto. The book takes the reader through the growth of the business as it breaks down barriers to getting organic food to the consumer, via chefs and good food advocates, all during a time when mainstream consumers were becoming more aware of their food choices.

Along with success, Preston writes, he and Flies decide to focus more on efficiency and less on the growth of the business.

“Gillian and I, as the farm has evolved, realized some of the things we are most passionate about aren’t money-makers,” said Brent.

Advocacy and education are included in that category. Last year they built The New Farm Kitchen, a space for cooking and teaching.

In its fourth season, The New Farm also took on a charitable component to raise money to subsidize produce for The Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto “to give people in low-income communities access to the best organic produce available, and to support small-scale organic farmers.”

The annual food event and concert has evolved into Farms For Change, which raised more than $100,000 last year. High profile chefs set up on the lawn at The New Farm and serve gourmet foods before a high caliber Canadian concert in the barn. Tickets for the event, which is always at capacity, are highly coveted by foodies and music fans alike. This year’s event is June 10 and will feature a number of chefs and Joel Plaskett Emergency as the entertainment.

Preston’s book, published by Penguin Random House, officially goes on sale on May 2, when there will be a book launch in Toronto. The local book launch is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, at Creemore Springs Brewery. Earlier that day, Preston will be part of Authors for Indies at Curiosity House Books (12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.)

Curiosity House Books is hosting a meet-and-greet with Preston from 11 a.m. until noon on May 20.

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