Insider Stories: How the Farm is Really Run

Written by: TwinkleKit

I guess you could say that the business name really does match the lifestyle Veronica and Irene live: Fancy and Farmerettes! My time at the Fancy Farmerettes microfarm has been fabulous! During my time there, I’ve learned about business and about farming! When I left on my train ride home, I was a little sad. 

I am a teenager from the busiest city in Canada, which is Toronto. Going to Norfolk County with the Fancy Farmerettes was a nice change because the air smelled fresh and the noise level was silent (except for Charles, the alpha rooster, crowing). Everyone knew each other in this small town. All of the people were friends! Even if you didn’t know someone, they were all so friendly. I thought this was refreshing. As you drive down the roads to get to the Fancy Farmerettes location, you see a lot of farms growing vegetables, which you don’t get to see in Toronto!

The Farmerettes have a beautiful and safe farm! As soon as you walk in, you see the biosecurity fence that makes sure the chickens are safe from diseases from other chickens. When you walk through the fence, you can see all of the chickens happily milling around. Since their chickens are free range, you see them running around, and I just love the way they run!  Then you look some more and you see Veronica and Irene hard at work to make sure that all of their products are satisfying to the customers. At the back of the property, you can see all of the bees taking flight. 

During my time with the Fancy Farmerettes, I ate some delicious new foods, which include, honey (believe it or not), roasted crickets (a tasty human snack), ground cherries (yummy, golden cherries that they grow on the microfarm), and a chocolate Dutch baby (a delicious pastry pancake that Veronica made using her farm fresh, free range eggs!). Veronica and Irene have taught me a lot of cool facts while I was at the microfarm. They’ve also taught me a lot about businesses. I learned how to package the products, so they could be shipped off to the people that order them. Irene also showed me the “back door” to the business’s website! Plus, they helped me try honey! I used to dislike honey, until I got my hands on the Fancy Farmerettes pure honey! It was so smooth and delicious, and you could taste all of the different plants! 

Just like the honey, the chickens are sweet, too. The hens lay rainbow coloured eggs with yolks that are sunshine yellow, which is the sign of a good egg. The eggs taste delicious. Every day, I went to collect the eggs in the beautiful red coop while the rest of the chickens ran around the microfarm. Once a hen lays an egg, she sings a little song! The roosters are like the father of the group. They watch over and protect their hens. If there is a predator, they warn the rest of the group. Once they find food, they share it with the rest of the flock. There are two roosters, Charles and Fritz. Charles always chases Fritz because Charles views Fritz as a competitor, trying to take his hens away. Meanwhile, the bees in the back keep buzzing away and making their honey.

I really enjoyed my time at the micro farm and it was really interesting to learn all that the girls had to teach me. Going from a city girl to a country girl was difficult, but all for the better. Besides, it wasn’t too difficult because the house and food given were Fancy, like Toronto! Veronica and Irene treat their chickens, bees, plants, and guests very well! As I said earlier, I was sad to leave, but as I got on the subway, I thought, maybe I’ll stay in the city. lol.