The Acadia Community Farm

Learn the basics of vegetable gardening at the Acadia Community Farm with Sarah Pittoello.

This past fall the Acadia Farm was graciously donated many bulbs of garlic from David Kristie, the Director of Research in the KC Irving Environmental Science Center.

The story behind the Gido’s garlic starts in the 1960’s when David Kristie’s Grandfather traveled to Ukraine. There he collected some of his family’s garlic with plans for it to return to Canada with him. It would not be easy to transport as he was under watchful eye during the Cold War, technically not allowed to transport goods such as garlic across borders.

He was clever, and individual cloves were stitched into the cuffs of his pants. They were carried across land and ocean into Hamilton, Canada where they were first planted into Canadian soil. The garlic was passed down through the generations in the Kristie family and can now be found growing across the country in British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia.

It is not known exactly what village David Kristie’s Grandfather traveled to in the 1960’s, or what the original name of the garlic was. For this reason, and the amazing endeavour undertaken by David’s Grandfather, the garlic has been named Gido’s Garlic. “Gido” which translates into Grandfather.

The Acadia Community Farm currently has approximately 150 bulbs growing that were planted this past fall.  After they are harvested and cured they will be making their way to Wheelock Dining Hall for Acadia Students to enjoy as well as to the Wolfville Food Bank!

The Acadia Farm would like to invite you to come visit us for Open Farm Day!

Join us for some brain teasers, sun tea, and late season planting. Drop in any time between 1:00pm and 3:00pm to get to know where your food comes from and how you can get involved.

Date: Sunday, September 17th

Time: 1:00pm – 3:00

Location: Acadia Community Farm (behind the Acadia Athletics Complex)

NOTE: There is an active bee hive on site.

The Acadia Community Farm is in full swing! Perfect timing as Acadia Students return to campus. We look forward to seeing new and returning faces at the farm this fall. If you would like to volunteer for the Acadia Community Farm contact Sarah@acadiafarm.org. Have no prior experience in the garden, no problem! We encourage anyone who is eager and willing to learn, to come out and volunteer.

Farm Update

Our pumpkins are looking great, and will be ready in October to be donated to the Wolfville Food Bank.

The sunflowers are starting to bloom and will soon be cut and delivered to Wheelock Dining Hall.

Kale growing in our cold frame was delivered Wheelock Dining Hall this week.

Upcoming harvests will include cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, swiss chard and lettuce.

Please join us at the Acadia Community Farm for our Composting workshop at 6:00pm on Wednesday August 23rd!

Please join us at the Acadia Community Farm for our Season Extension workshop from 7:00-9:00pm on Wednesday July 26th!

Please RSVP sarah@acadiafarm.org

The Acadia Community Farm is off to a fantastic start thanks to our faithful Volunteers! We welcome anyone who is interested in helping out to come join us on Wednesday nights from 6:00-8:00pm. No previous experience required!

Plot Holders, Volunteers and our Farm dog Anna are working hard planting cucumbers at our weekly Wednesday Night Volunteering

Arianne (left) and Alisha (right) are securing row cover that protects squash from striped cucumber beetle.

Garlic, strawberries and tomatoes are just some of the many things you can grow here at the Acadia Community Farm. Come down and sneak a peek of what else is growing!