My name is Michaela and I am the owner of Laughing Radish Eco Farm.
I would like to share a little bit about myself, so you know exactly where your food is coming from and more importantly, WHO is growing it for you.
I was born and raised right here in the nation’s capitol, so I’m a city girl through and through. However, my adventurous side has called me into the wild on multiple occasions and lead me to develop a taste for living in harmony with nature. So the countryside is what my heart yearns for. Luckily for me, Laughing Radish has an urban-rural farm setting, so I get the best of both worlds!
When I’m not on the farm, you can find me working on my various hobbies, such as traditional bow archery (I shoot the Galaxy Sage Elite recurve bow), sourdough bread making (cause as much as I love veggies, carbs are cool too) and my newest hobby is spoon carving which I’m still trying my best to get the hang of.
My passion for environmental stewardship and activism sparked after participating in the Students On Ice Arctic Expedition in 2014. I saw the beauty of Mother Earth in her most raw, authentic form while travelling with 130 other students, scientists, artists, Elders and environmental leaders over a 2 week journey in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland. We travelled from Kuujjuaq, Quebec up through Northern Labrador to the Torngat Mountain National Park (coming from the Inuktitut word Tongait, meaning Place of Spirits), then on to southwestern Greenland. During this expedition, we learned about the various political, environmental and cultural challenges that face the Arctic region. This was a truly lifechanging opportunity which opened my eyes to so much incredible beauty-in the land, culture and community of the North. But it also taught me that the world is not perfect. I wanted to do better than those who’ve come before me, I wanted to make a change. But as a young 17 year old, I had absolutely no idea how I could go about doing that.
So I continued along the path set out for me… I studied Biochemistry and figured I would become either an ER doctor or cancer researcher who finds the cure we’ve all been waiting for. As I progressed through my studies, I worked in a metabolic research lab (studying diabetes, heart disease and obesity – amongst other things) and I was even published in a peer-reviewed journal, all massive stepping stones leading to a successful career in science and medicine. However, something in my soul didn’t feel quite right. “Im spending my life researching cures for diseases that are linked to poor nutrition and lack of exercise, I want to be proactive and stop these diseases from happening in the first place!” I kept thinking.
While completing my biochemistry degree, I started to get interested in food activism after experiencing firsthand the food insecurity crisis within the student population (because when you have a million things to pay for, rent, tuition and electricity generally get top priority) and I started thinking more about the idea of food independence. I became co-leader (and one of the few founding members) of a newly formed student club, AgroBishops. For 2 years I created workshops, campus events and fundraisers, all geared towards combating food waste and food insecurity on campus. During this time our small but mighty group started a community fridge and was awarded the Club Community Impact Award from the Bishops Student Representative Council.
In the final semester of my undergrad, Bishops announced that they were adding a new department to their ranks, the Department of Sustainable Food Systems. They also announced that they will be offering a Permaculture Design Certificate over the “summer school” semester. Around the same time I was considering starting a post-graduate program, Sustainable Agriculture, at Fleming College but I was still very uncertain. “How could I possibly become a farmer? I have never lived in the country OR worked on a farm!” I thought to myself. The career path switch was daunting, but with the announcement of Bishop’s Permaculture Design Certificate program I immediately felt like things were falling perfectly into place, almost like it was fated. I would use the summer school Permaculture Design Certificate as a “farming trial” and if I liked it I would continue on to Fleming College’s Sustainable Agriculture program in the Fall. Well… I loved it and the rest was history!
Laughing Radish Eco Farm is the cumulation of my Post-Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture program. Every course taken as a part of this program was aimed towards teaching me how to successfully run a small but sustainable farm business. From vegetable crop planning, to livestock rotation, tractor training and even accounting! I learned it all!
…And Laughing Radish Eco Farm was born!
It is incredible to look back and see how far I’ve come in just a short amount of time. It feels like just yesterday I was sitting in class, thinking of a farm name and brainstorming logo ideas. My vision for the future of this blog is to share news and updates about Laughing Radish’s progress as we grow and develop, but also act as a way to reflect and show gratitude for the journey I am on. Of course, I’ll throw in my favourite seasonal recipes, stories and other fun surprises to spice things up as well! It has taken a lot of courage to completely uproot my comfortable life in science and make such a drastic “last minute” switch of career paths. However, with challenge comes growth and Laughing Radish feels like home. By feeding my community, I feed my soul.
If you’ve made it this far, THANK YOU so much! Dont be afraid to leave a comment and share what kind of content you’d like to see next!
Until next time,
Keep laughing,
Michaela
#zerotohero #organic #farm #homestead #sustainable #lifejourney #local
Laughing Radish 