Leah Fawcett and Abe Gilchrist are the founders of Plot of Earth, a small-scale farm near Winchester which sustainably produces nutrient dense vegetables which are sold through a CSA veggie box program and at local farmers’ markets.  Andre Dumont Photo

WINCHESTER – There are a lot of different ways to describe Plot of Earth. You could call it a small market garden. You could say that they produce vegetables that taste like vegetables are supposed to taste. You could even say they grow nutrient dense vegetables on an intensively managed piece of land, but perhaps the best way to describe Plot of Earth, is to say they offer fresh produce, grown close to home, using sustainable practices and what they grow, tastes great!

Plot of Earth was created by Leah Fawcett and her partner Abe Gilchrist. You could say it is a labour of love, but it also speaks to how strong the draw to “come home” can be.

Plot of Earth is located on County Road 38, on the farm where Fawcett grew up. “I finished high school and then I went away to college and university and then moved west,” said Fawcett. “I was living on Vancouver Island for a few years and did a little travelling. At some point, I felt like I wanted to get back into farming and explore that a bit more.”

In their first year, they planted crops that would help to condition the soil. The following year, they prepared some beds. “I used raised beds. I did a block of maybe 30 beds,” said Fawcett. “I didn’t know what to start with, but I thought I’d do a farmers’ market. And I’ll just start off with a few CSA (community supported agriculture) shares, which are weekly vegetable boxes, that the members get every week during the season.”

The growing interest in eating healthy food has helped Plot of Earth to be successful, and being able to find that close to home is a bonus. As with any business, if you aren’t moving forward, you are falling behind, which is why Leah is spending time right now planning the growing season ahead.

“I’m working on the crop plan,” said Fawcett. “Now’s the time of year when I’m doing all that planning.  I always like to try out a new variety of something. Could be, you know, the purple carrot, or different coloured tomatoes, or different varieties that are supposed to taste really, really great. I haven’t like got the seeds just yet, but yeah, I always try something new every year, you know, for fun and to add the variety and everything.”

Last season Plot of Earth grew about 30 different crops (veggies and herbs) and 85 different varieties!

With most of their business coming from CSA customers, the business runs very efficiently. “During the season, which starts in June, I start the farmers’ market and the CSA deliveries,” said Fawcett. “Every Sunday I go to the Kemptville Farmers’ Market, and my Kemptville CSA people pick up there.

“This past year, we decided to have a pickup at the farm. Previously, it had been at the Presbyterian church in Winchester.  It was kind of nice, we didn’t have to go and set up in town for people to pick up. We just kind of were here and we set up a couple tables.”

Every spring Fawcett contacts past members, to see if they want to sign up for a CSA share again. She says she has a pretty good retention rate, with 75-80 per cent of members returning.

“I think I had around  30 members last season, and I’ll probably be likely adding a few more spots this year,” said Fawcett. “If anyone’s interested, they could just send me an email or message me, or whatever, any way they want. Now is a good time because I’ll be reaching out to my members from last year first, but then after that, I open it up. I look at my waiting list from last year, but then the new members, if they get their name in there early, I contact them right away and they get a spot.”

One change that Plot of Earth began making during the season last year was to introduce a “swap” option. “You know, some people are like, I really don’t like tomatoes. I really don’t like beets, or whatever it is. So, they get their share and if there is something they don’t like in there, they can just like swap it out for something else.

“A lot of people, they would really like to customize and have more choice and not have to take home something they really don’t want. There’s a whole other table or box of things they can look through and choose instead and just leave the other behind. I think people appreciated that.  I got really positive feedback.”

While the type of vegetables in season varies, they include summer squash, carrots, radishes, green onions, celery, peppers, beans, turnips, beets, kale, rhubarb, tomatoes, and potatoes, to name just a few.

Unlike produce sold in grocery stores, which could spend many days in transit, Plot of Earth produce can go from field to fork in a day or two.

One thing that hasn’t changed is how the crops are grown. Plot of Earth uses sustainable growing practices. They do not use any chemicals, pesticides, or fungicides. The main thing they rely on is crop rotation and compost to keep the soil healthy. They also use a floating row cover, which is a very fine material that lets in the rain and the sun, but it excludes insects.

They practice low till in preparing the soil, as it keeps things from getting too compacted. They still have a machine that does harrowing and ploughing when they need to make new beds, but in order to keep to low till they use a broad fork instead.

Irrigation is through a drip irrigation system as opposed to sprayers because it is a much more efficient use of water.

It doesn’t get much better than that: fresh, sustainably produced food grown close to home, and vegetables that taste like they are supposed to.

If you have any questions, or would like to sign up for a CSA share, you can reach Plot of Earth through their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/PlotofEarth), and their website (https://plotofearth.square.site/contact-us.

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