QUICK PROFILE
WHO: Rick Posovad
WHERE: Wilsonville
WHAT: Organic Farming
When Rick Posavad moved from Burlington in the Greater Toronto Area to Wilsonville in Norfolk County four years ago he did not foresee things developing as they have. A former music teacher and an ordained minister, he was looking for a “retirement farm” where there was enough land for him to grow a “kitchen garden”. It was very early in the spring when he looked at the property. He says he didn’t care for the house, and the five acres were covered in snow, but a “strong impression” had somehow brought him there and compelled him to purchase it.
Rick is from farming stock. His grandfather emigrated from Yugoslavia in 1926, and purchased five acres near where Burlington Mall now stands. His father was also a farmer. Rick has always had a strong interest in horticulture and botany, and says he believes he was “born to be outside” and to have dirt under his fingernails.
The first year on his Wilsonville property Rick says he did not grow anything of consequence. He merely “scoped out” the land, did an analysis of soil quality, drainage, available water, and so on. The next year, he began growing on a small scale for himself, his family and friends. Rick chose to grow his produce free of chemicals. Although his operation does not have the official organic certification, he still does all the weeding and insect control by hand, learning in the process that his chickens love the Japanese beetles that would otherwise be feasting on his produce.
Two years ago, Rick began a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for a small trial group. Now in its third season, the program has doubled each year, with his only advertising being word of mouth. He says his members appreciate the variety he is able to provide from the beginning of the growing season through to frost. There are members in Oakville/Burlington who receive their boxes mid-week, and in Brantford, where he delivers his boxes to be picked up at a health food store there on Fridays. Half his members pick up at the farm on weekends. Some have allergies or other health concerns, but all, he says, are “careful” about what they choose to eat. At the beginning of each season he hosts an open house for them. He also provides them with a weekly newsletter which, he says, has become something of a dialogue, with members contributing items of their own, including recipes.
Rick currently has less than two acres under cultivation, but in that relatively small amount of space he grows 20 varieties of greens, peppers, garlic, onions, carrots, eggplant, herbs and 52 varieties of tomatoes, 50 of which are heirlooms. Many of the tomato varieties originate as far away as Russia and France, and they come with such marvellous names as Olga’s Round Yellow Chicken. In addition, he has fruit trees, beehives and free-range chickens, which he began raising two years ago. People driving by often stop, attracted to the place. Rick says “there’s an energy; people want to be here”.
Two years ago Rick had built what he calls a “multi-purpose cabin” on the property. It houses a little shop from which he sells eggs from his chickens, Kernal Peanuts products, a selection of pottery by Simcoe artist Marguerite Larmand, lovely soap from Hobbitstee in Jarvis, and honey, a blend of some of his beekeepers’ own and some from Rick’s hives. Early in the season he has heirloom tomato seedlings for sale. At the urging of some of his friends and CSA members, he hopes to be able to add a selection of his own homemade food products to his stock in the future.
Rick also gives workshops on such topics as raised-bed gardening and growing heirloom tomatoes, and holds special events at the farm. One such event is planned for August of this year. There will be presentations by a chef, a kinesiologist, a yoga instructor, and an artist (on tapping into one’s creative energy). In addition, there will be workshops on the benefits of fermented foods and the energy inherent in the food we eat. Rick feels this event may be the beginning of a potential future direction for him and the farm.
As may be seen from all the above, this is a busy, labour-intensive operation. It is a surprise to learn that all this productive activity takes place with no paid employees to help, although Rick does have a young man who volunteers on the place one day each week. It is no wonder, then, that along with weather, weeds and insects, Rick lists human resources issues among his challenges. Weather causes even more concern for him than for most growers, in that so much of his production is in heirloom tomatoes which, being relatively thin-skinned, are much more susceptible to weather damage. He also decries a lack of reliable internet access, when so much communication with his members and others is by e-mail. On the other side of the ledger, Rick cites the success of his CSA program as a major source of gratification. It makes him happy that with his membership he has “been able to bring a group of like-minded people together”.
Rick gets up each morning to face his battle with the insects and his never-ending war with weeds, with contentment and a happy heart. He is living the life he loves, dealing with people, and growing things. He often thinks, he says, of individuals he is growing food for while he works at planting and tending his large garden, and sometimes grows a special item because he knows someone who would like it. Growing good food to nourish people is almost, with Rick, a calling.
When asked for his vision of the future of agriculture, Rick has a unique and interesting answer. His dream is that “every household will be growing their own vegetables”. In an ideal world, he says, “I would be phasing myself out”. As for the people who make agricultural policy, Rick thinks they should “know what really goes on in a farmer’s life”, and that “they can really only learn it on their hands and knees”.
Rick Posavad is reluctant to call himself a farmer, or a grower, seeming to believe those terms don’t quite fit his idea of what he does. There is a trace, perhaps, of his pastoral background when he describes himself rather as “a steward of the land”. Rick’s approach to growing things certainly has a spiritual quality, and his reverence and respect for the land, nature, the seasons, the elements, and especially the people, is apparent in everything about Wilsonville Organics.
Editor’s Note: Since this interview was published, Rick Posavad has purchased The Good Bread Co. in Vittoria.
More Information: The Good Bread Company (link to partner listing)
