LUMSDEN, Sask. — Laureen and Wes LaBrash were both raised, at opposite ends of the province, on farms that focused on local, organic food production.
Now they are raising their son, Justin, 11, on an organic farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley west of Lumsden, Sask., with a goal of growing food and providing an organic experience.
Three years ago, they moved from Regina to their 72 acres primarily to help Justin deal with severe allergies and asthma. The cleaner air has worked.
“It’s better, not perfect, but better,” said Laureen LaBrash.
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On this May day, Justin, who is home schooled, is helping his dad and grandfather build new chicken coops.
“He’s building barns, learning how to measure and making memories,” she said.
The new coops are necessary because spring flooding destroyed the area where the family raised chickens and turkeys last year.
“Mother Nature landscaping company helped us make decisions this year,” Laureen said, citing a mess of branches, soil and entire trees that washed through the lower parts of the property through a small creek from the hills.
Fortunately, the greenhouse Wes built onto the west side of the house from reclaimed wood and windows was spared.
Inside, several thousand certified organic bedding plants are thriving.
The greenhouse began three years ago from a science experiment with Justin and has blossomed into LaBrash Homestead Organics.
Demand for organic flowers and vegetables is strong, but growing them that way can be tricky.
Finding seed and soil is easier than finding organic pots to put them in, said LaBrash. She is using coir pots and likes the fact that the coconut produces coir fibre in 25 days compared to the 250 years it takes peat bogs to regenerate.
Between 80 and 85 percent of the varieties they grow are endangered or rare.
There are about six places in Canada that carry the seed for such varieties, and LaBrash obtained one of her vegetables from a 17-year-old like-minded teenager in Halifax.
Her inventory ranges from corn and cucumbers to okra and celeriac and various herbs and flowers such as Bells of Ireland and nasturtium.
“I grow what’s available and what people are requesting,” she said.
Whatever is left, the family plants in its own garden, and any excess produce goes to a couple of Regina stores that sell local organic food.
This summer, they are getting some help from a volunteer through the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, an organization that links people who want to share a sustainable lifestyle.
Wes, who is director of marketing at SaskTel, said he is looking forward to spending time with someone who asks how instead of why.
“It’s a lifestyle choice we are making for ourselves,” he said. “Conventional farmers will certainly doubt the value of growing things organically, but to each his own.”
The LaBrashes are sharing their lifestyle through another venture — Hale Oasis Retreat.
Hale is Laureen’s maiden name, and they chose it to make sure their backgrounds were both recognized. Interestingly, the word also means remote valley in old English, she said.
They bill the retreat as an eco park, where corporate groups, youth groups and others can spend time hiking, bird watching, stargazing and enjoying nature.
They host tobogganing parties and team building, scavenger hunts and yoga retreats by appointment.
“A lot of youth groups come out here and camp out,” Laureen said.
About four kilometres of groomed trails through the hills to the top and back were already developed on the property when the LaBrashes bought it.
Along the trails, plants such as stinging nettle and burdock present other possibilities. Laureen is considering making stinging nettle tea fertilizer, an organic option for growers.
“It’s about getting back to the roots as much as possible,” Wes said.
He describes their farm a small, well-rounded operation that will feed them and others in a sustainable way.
The organic poultry will produce organic manure, and someday there could be organic cattle on the farm, said Justin.
“Having a very diverse crop really helps us be organic,” he said. “You’re always losing something.”
Last year, blight took their tomato crop, but the potato yield was better than ever.
“We lost all our turkeys, but the chickens did extremely well,” he said.
A disease cost them their turkeys, but they are trying again in the four new coops built this spring for them, broilers and laying hens.
Mother Nature wasn’t quite done with the LaBrashes after the flood damage. A windstorm took off the roofs of two of the new barns, resulting in another rebuilding project. Fortunately, none of the birds were lost.
Wes said he likes the poultry and the building side of things. An expanded greenhouse is on his agenda.
“I classify my wife as a farmer and I’m a farm labourer,” he said.
Still, he said he can’t give up his day job.
“The small farm movement is really growing. Unfortunately, you have to have one working off the farm.”
