since april 28 2014, i’ve been working as an apprentice at ferme coopérative tournesol (get it? tourne le sol?) in les cèdres, québec. this organic vegetable and flowers farm is about an hour west of montréal, which is part of the appeal for me to work there, as i wanted to remain close to my partner and community ties. “tournesol” as it’s called in common parlance, is also a very well known farm in canadian organic farming, somewhat legendary in fact, and i am completely humbled to have been selected to apprentice there for four months this season. the farm is extremely efficient, well-organized, and well-managed. the soil is beautiful and irrigation water abundant.  we work regular hours which contributes a lot to a healthy team morale. but mostly what makes it so great to work there is that everyone has a positive attitude and a willingness to get things done. this is a rare find in any profession, farming or not, so i’m very happy to be working there.

over the next few months i’ll be writing about some of the goings-on at the farm, on topics ranging from tractors and farming implements to the favourite vegetables of my co-workers, to harvesting in the pouring rain. if you know a little bit about farming and are curious to see what it’s like to be an apprentice at tournesol, these posts are for you. and if you know nothing about farming but are curious about where food really comes from (i’m pretty sure it doesn’t just appear at the grocery store), then hop on the tractor wagon, ’cause we’re going for a tour!

about to go on a tractor ride to talk about what’s growing and what needs to be done on the farm