Open Farm Days to Kick Off This Week

Jeff Green | Aug 14, 2024

Open Farms was originally a weekend event in mid-September, featuring farm tours in South Frontenac and rural Kingston, and into Central Frontenac as well.

In 2020 and 2021, everything changed because of COVID, and Open Farms became a Zoom event in 2020 and a hybrid event in 2021, before returning to its more traditional format.

While successful, Open Farms became a strain on the farms who participated in such a concentrated event, and on the resources of Frontenac County and its partners at the City of Kingston.

This led to a change last year, and a rebranding of sorts to Open Farm Days.

Open Farm Days is a compilation of distinct events, taking place in Frontenac County and the City of Kingston, throughout the harvest season.

“When we developed Open Farm Days, we wanted to make sure that we were sticking to the core values that were the basis of Open Farms in the first place,” said Debbi Miller, Community Development Officer in the Economic Development and Planning department of Frontenac County.

The core goals of Open Farm Days include: educating consumers about small-scale agriculture, increasing awareness of farms and restaurants that serve local food, providing producers to connect with customers and to foster long term relationships with customers, restaurants and other producers, and to develop the region's reputation as a local food destination.

The idea is to foster the existing agricultural businesses, and create interest among visitors in order to attract new food businesses to the region.

Open Farm Days is now a series of independent events being marketed through the Openfarms.ca website and social media. On the website there is a list of 43 events as of this writing, and it’s growing as the season develops.

Much like the Olympics, the events are getting underway in the days leading to the opening ceremony.

The first two events are set for today, August 15. One is a flower pressing event at Sun Harvest Greenhouses in Glenburnie, and another is one of the Kingston Food Tours. Kingston Food Tours are listed with Open Farm Days, but they are a year-round event, running three days a week or more. They are a walking tour of downtown restaurants, and include tastings and a perspective on the culture and history of the City. Look to Kingstonfoodtours.ca for details.

Open Farm Days' kick-off event coincides with the regular Friday afternoon Frontenac Farmers Market Day at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith on August 16. The market opens at 3pm, and the opening ceremonies for Farm Days is at 4pm.

Many of the Open Farm Days events throughout the month are free events, but some are ticketed and information about pricing and booking is included in the listings on the website.

Among the highlights of the free events are Lawn Alternatives, also being held at Sun Harvest, on August 24. Rebecca Boyer will talk about alternatives to grass lawns, including micro-clover biodiversity options, selecting seeds, and more.

Also on August 23, it will be tomato tasting day at the Frontenac Farmers Market (FFM), followed the next morning by tomato tasting day at the Sharbot Lake Farmers market.

A few days later, there are two plowing matches scheduled at the same location on Wolfe Island, at Morningsight Farms. The Wolfe Island Plowing Match is set for Tuesday, August 27, providing a good setup competition for the Canadian Plowing Match, the very next day.

On the Saturday of Labour Day weekend, it is the 18th annual Verona Lions Garlic Festival. Admission is by donation, and if 2024 is anything like the past 10 editions of the festival, it pays to arrive early for the 9am -2pm event, for the best selection, as the garlic growers can sell out by the time lunchtime rolls around.

The Frontenac and Sharbot Lake Farmers Markets have special events scheduled for the next weekend, a Bloom Bar at the FFM and a Farm to Table BBQ at Sharbot Lake the next day.

That day, September 8, is also the day of the Frontenac Plowing Match, taking place this year at Ruth and Ron Tate's Farm on Perth Road just north of Inverary.

The plowing match is also a rural expo with vendors on hand, Otter Creek and More Smoke Food trucks, and more.

The next weekend is also busy, as the Kingston Fall Fair runs from Thursday to Sunday, September 12-15. This is the 192nd year for the venerable fair, and there will be a lot going on all weekend.

On the same weekend, take the new ferry (check the schedule because it is changing, unfortunately) to Wolfe Island for The Great Wolfe Island Bake-Off at Blue Moose Bed and Breakfast where bakers are coming together to determine the best pie and best cookie on the island.

Finally on September 28, the final Sharbot Lake Farmers Market day of the season features a Food to Table BBQ and local Beer Garden, with musical guests the Blue Skies Community Fiddle Orchestra.

There are also some special ticketed events as part of this year's Open Farm Days.

One of them is in Kingston, at the Donald Gordon Hotel where Chef Kevin Peters is preparing a 7 small course tasting menu featuring local products from Queen’s Bee’s, The Rise Farm, Sonset Farm, Patchwork Gardens, Votary Farms, Henderson Farms, Collective Joy, Fruition Berry Farm, Loughborough Heritage Orchard, Limestone Organic Creamery, Cressy Mustard Co., Creel & Gambrel, Fungi Connection, and Wilton Wheat Kings. Cost is $95 per person.

On September 14, another tasting event is happening, this one in Frontenac County, at Bloom Farm in Harrowsmith. The event is called Gather, and is presented by Bloom Farm and Rampant Kitchen. There will be 8 stations offering food and drink pairings with local ingredients. The farmers will be on hand, and Elisa Corrigan (Rampant Kitchen) is using their produce to create one-off dishes to be enjoyed. The cost for Gather is $125 per person.

Later in September, Myers Cave Resort on Road 506 in North Frontenac is hosting a series of Oktoberfest events, on September 21 and 22, 28 and 29. They will feature music, K&P Brewery Beer, Sausages from Seed to Sausage, Pretzels from Grain and Good Bakery, and produce from Gin Creek Farm. The cost is $15.