Emily VanderWey
Emily has now been with us for eight full seasons and looks forward to more! Along with helping in the gardens and greenhouses, she also manages the CSA program here at Earth Haven Farm and will be the person to contact for More Information or to Sign-up. We are looking forward to a great growing season and hope that you join us with your support.
In 2017 Emily completed her Bachelor of Arts Honours in Indigenous Environmental Studies at Trent University. Emily’s relationship with Earth Haven began in 2014, the same summer that she and her mother, Sue, took a course in biodynamic farming from Rosemary Taylor and Kathryn Aunger, and the summer that Aric began harvesting the hay at her family farm. Growing up on a farm with cows and horses, goats and gardens, has instilled a love for the land that inspires her to pursue farming as a vocation.
Emily: “Taking Indigenous Environmental Studies at Trent opened my eyes to different worldviews, in which humans are part of nature, not separate. What we do to the land we do to ourselves. There are systems in place that are destructive to people and places. I hope to cultivate honourable relationships based in respect and reciprocity with this land and the original peoples. At times I feel powerless in a world filled with challenges beyond my control. However, I am realizing that the actions we take on a daily basis can be very powerful. We create the future through everything that we do. Sometimes we have to question if the world we are creating is the one we want to leave for all future generations, not just humans. In growing our own food we are creating an alternative food system based in self-reliance as opposed to one in which corporations profit from the exploitation of people and their lands. When I am engaging in biodynamic farming practices I am participating in physical and spiritual healing processes in partnership with the land. As biodynamic farmers, we can offer an example to others of how to live creatively and sustainably. Aric and Kathryn have been the example for me and I hope to be part of building a community that creates the kind of world we want to live in.”
Most recently Emily has become a beekeeper. It all started in the winter of 2016-2017, when Aric of Earth Haven, and Emily's mother Sue, built Emily four top-bar hives. In the first year the bees had a happy summer, but did not survive the winter. In the spring of 2019 Emily's uncle Anthony built Emily a slovenian AZ style beehouse. The summer of 2024 will be her eighth summer having bees. It has been a fascinating learning experience! Emily is very grateful for all the help she has received from friends and family in this awesome experience.
