2022 Word of the Year

Friends, it is my hope that you have enjoyed a few special moments over the last few weeks. I have so appreciated and enjoyed the well wishes and stories of the beautiful meals you have shared and it is truly an honor to be a part of your story!

As journalist and author Liz Gilbert suggests, every person has a word. Each year brings us inevitable transformations of one kind or another, and I believe there is power in acknowledging it with a chosen word.

My word for 2022 was inspired by all the characters who choose to participate in the story of Meadow Creek Farms and a movement that goes against the grain.

Eccentricity is the word that is dedicated and celebrated for 2022 and by definition is “unusual behavior that other people consider strange.”

It is an honor to have all of you share in the Eccentricities of building and sustaining a food system and being courageous enough to believe in and discuss a food system that is different than the status quo! One united fist is stronger than five pointing fingers. Together we make a mighty fist!

Thank you for your patience, questions and engagement with our Farm. It is super important to me that you understand we are only ever a phone call away and if you ever need a place to find peace or enjoy your own eccentricities, you are welcome to visit us! There is always a lot to fill the senses and the imagination at our little nook in the north.

Without you, we would have no Farm or Gathering Place Co-op! THANK YOU with all my heart, and I wish you a fun, creative and loving 2023!

May the force be with you,

M

The Countryside is at a Crossroads

To my friends who are working for a better world:

As I write this letter in November 2022, the countryside is at a critical crossroads trying to compete with the profiteering industrial food system. Those of us raising food directly for consumers to eat are facing some tough choices. In early October 2022, sales dropped by more than 50%. This kind of drop in sales is operation-altering. In order for my farm to survive, I ask you to choose a closer relationship with your food.

While I understand that everyone is trying to deal with inflation and higher costs, I urge you to consider the benefits of purchasing directly from a farmer. Having a relationship with a farmer has helped many families reduce the distance their food travels. Families can have high quality, dense food that actually provides a far better return than industrialized food products. The Meadow Creek Farms families have taught me that the best way to economize your food costs is to plan meals. Meal planning can sometimes seem cumbersome, but if you make one meal that actually lasts for three or four, it is both time and cost saving.

Raising living things requires care, time and thought for each product we grow and each animal we raise for you. We value the countryside and Alberta and are working for the family farm and food sovereignty. We work very hard to keep the money in the province by supporting workers with fair wages, and when you choose us, you are supporting several small businesses in local communities rather than large corporations.

As it is difficult to produce food without a commitment from our customers, we need a commitment that you are going to purchase the food in a time frame that enables continued production. As the farm does not receive any subsidies, we rely on people regularly purchasing product from us. We need consistent cashflow in order to remain in operation.

We ask that you consider purchasing chicken, sausage, bacon, hams, smoked turkey and beautiful garlic and onions for your table and for a gift for family and friends. Orders can be made at our Order Online page at www.meadowcreekfarms.ca

We would like to be a part of your story and invite you to be a part of our Meadow Creek Farms Village as we know you understand the importance of co-ops. To help remain in existence, we also built a producer co-op that takes the meat and produce we grow and turns it into incredible meals. Additionally, perogies, turkeys and more can be ordered from the Gathering Place Co-op www.thegatheringplacecoop.ca. We encourage you to consider visiting our bistro too!

I know and understand fully that everyone has a lot to manage. Let me help you with the food on your plate.

Wishing you a safe and peaceful holiday season. I thank you for your time and for all that you do!

May the Force Be With You, and In Solidarity

Farmer Mandy

Garlic for Ukraine Fundraiser: Update

With your support, we are making a difference in Milijeve

Nov. 8 Update: To date, we have sent $1000 to Milijeve from 200 bags of garlic sold! Read more below about why we started growing garlic at Meadow Creek Farms, and how the fundraiser idea launched.

A Garlic Story

I started growing garlic because of my dad, my biggest fan, as well as an unending source of encouragement and wisdom. One piece of advice he gave about garlic was to focus on the flavour and not obsess about the size. Huge heads of garlic may be easy to work with from a cook’s perspective, but you eat garlic because of the flavour, not because of how big it was.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that bigger is better, but that’s not true when it comes to many things, including garlic. In the city, or in smaller lots where water is abundant, it’s easy to nurture what you grow. On a farm, especially in a year of drought, which we’ve had in the past, easy “anything” isn’t the case. Bad weather affects not only the size of the product but the bounty as well. Variety, though, also affects size, and in this case, it’s not a bad thing at all.

I grow two types of heritage garlic, Persian Star, a robustly flavoured garlic that is light pink in colour, and our very own cultivar, Matthew’s Zest, a type of garlic with a flavour profile like Russian Red. Both varieties produce smaller heads with firm, juicy cloves, and the intensely delicious flavour that garlic is famous for.

In 2021, two Edmonton retailers that specialize in organic foods told me they prefer the uniform size of garlic grown by producers in BC and southern Alberta. One retailer even told me I was incompetent and didn’t know how to grow garlic even though his customers loved the garlic they had tried from me.

This business about selling only the perfectly shaped and uniformly sized food has got to stop. We are flooded with advertisers telling us that only beautiful things have value... we don’t need that from our food producers and grocery stores, too. Convincing people to purchase perfect looking produce, when less-than-perfect is just as good, leads to food waste, and now, more than ever, we can’t afford to waste food.

Zina Nendze and Mandy Melnyk in 2019

Traditional wholesale buyers didn’t see value in my product, and to compound matters, they also considered my location and me—north of Edmonton—inconvenient, so I went to my cousin, Zina, for advice.

Zina is also my neighbour. She moved here to Alberta in 1998 from Milijeve, a small town in Ukraine. For the past several months she has been sending money to people in her village to help buy food and supplies for refugees who have flooded the town, fleeing the war in the east. She told me that garlic grown in Ukraine looked and tasted like mine, and that gave me an idea: out of solidarity, I would take $5 of every purchase of my garlic and donate it to her community.

“War is war,” Zina said, “it is the people who suffer the most.” By raising money through my garlic sales, I hope to alleviate some of that suffering. So far, because of you, we have sent $1000 dollars to Zina’s community from 200 bags of garlic sold. That is amazing. I am SO grateful!

Each bag contains a variety of sizes of heads with a total weight of just over 1 pound. Eat some, peel and refrigerate some, plant some, but know that you are working with garlic that has a story and a purpose. Consider giving garlic as a gift and know that when it comes to food, it’s the quality, the flavour, and the integrity behind how it’s grown that matters. Hybrids may work for some things but not garlic!

I am proud to be from Alberta’s north. I love to grow garlic and I am honoured to inspire solidarity with others who love garlic and want to help my cousin’s small village in Ukraine. If you want more garlic, we still have some available.

Go to our Garlic Order page