Friends of the Central Experimental Farm
Farm Notes - January 2023
Happy New Year! 
All the best in 2023! Bonne et heureuse année!
Here's to a happy and healthy new year!
May your days be merry and bright!

Our office will reopen at
9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.
Our Winter 2023 Newsletter is Here
Reasons to Celebrate!
It is now 35 years since the Friends of the Farm organization was formed and began operating in Building 72 (see photo).

In our Winter 2023 Newsletter, founding father Peter Elliott tells the story of how we began.

One of the early efforts by the Friends was to get a national heritage designation for the Farm, and that was achieved 25 years ago — another anniversary to celebrate.

Celebration was a major focus of the Friends of the Farm’s donor bench program, which has now ended. Shari Haas and Kate Harrigan describe the program.

Alexander Reford celebrates the collaboration of three remarkable women in horticulture — his great-grandmother Elsie Reford, founder of Les Jardins de Métis, Lady Byng, Rideau Hall gardener and rock garden specialist, and Isabella Preston, the Central Experimental Farm’s world-renowned plant hybridizer.

Read these and other stories in the Winter 2023 Newsletter.
Photo: Building 72 in the Arboretum / Richard Hinchcliff
Other Great News to Start the Year
Our 2023 events are on the way!
Mark your calendars for our 2023 events and
stay tuned for more information!
Visit our website often for more up to date information

  • Volunteer Recruitment, Building 72, Saturday, April 1, 2023 - drop in between 10:00-11:30 a.m.
  • Annual Plant Sale, Neatby Building parking lot: Sunday, May 14, 2023 (time TBC)
  • Autumn in the Arboretum, Building 72, Saturday, September 30, 2023 (time TBC)

  • Master Gardener Lectures: Back by popular demand, the Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carleton and Friends of the Farm will again host a virtual lecture series via Zoom in 2023. Don’t miss this series of five lectures under the theme of “Creating your Garden with Nature". The lectures run from March 7 through to May 16. Each lecture will be held on a Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
  • March 7, 2023: How to Live with What Lives in Your Garden - Judith Cox
  • April 4, 2023: Getting Started, Taking Stock - Rebecca Last
  • April 18, 2023: Your Dreams and Nature’s Needs - Candace Dressler
  • May 2, 2023: Garden Design with Nature in Mind: Basic Steps and Beyond - Agnieszka Keough and Claire McCaughey
  • May 16, 2023: Create a Beautiful Garden with Keystone Native Plants - Josie Pazdzior and Adair Heuchan
  • Pricing: FCEF members and Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carleton: $45 for the entire series, or $10 per individual lecture; Non-members: $55 for full series, or $12 for individual lecture.

Stay tuned for registration details!
Beautiful Books for Inspiration
Visit our Boutique to see our selection of books about the Farm
Building Canada's Farm, by author and photographer Richard Hinchcliff, and author and historian Patricia Jasen, is a fresh and captivating look at the buildings located in the pastoral landscape of Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm and the storied history they so beautifully represent.

This book is illustrated with stunning photographs and filled with fascinating archival information about this unique national treasure in the heart of Canada's capital.

If architecture, science, agriculture, or history interest you, you'll find much to enjoy in the pages of this beautiful new book. Visit our Boutique to get yours!
We prefer to think that spring and summer are ahead rather than behind us, but whatever your perspective, you can still enjoy the radiant colours of warmer days! 

Blooms is a stunning book about the Central Experimental Farm's Ornamental Gardens and the fascinating stories behind their creation, and it's now on sale! This lovely book will appeal to any lover of Farm history and horticulture.

Cost is $25 plus 5% GST. Take a peek inside for a preview! 
Since its creation in 1886, the Central Experimental Farm has earned an international reputation for excellence in agricultural research. You probably know and love it as a place to pet the animals, smell the flowers, and forget about the city for a while. 

But the Farm is also people, and Ottawa's Farm introduces us to the men and women who lived and worked here over the last century, along with the "farm kids" who grew up in this unique rural community. 

With text by Helen Smith and beautiful photographs by Mary Bramley, Ottawa's Farm perfectly illustrates why the Central Experimental Farm is a treasure that continues to inhabit a corner of Ottawa's heart!
Winter Road Closures at the Farm
Remember: you can enjoy the Farm year-round!
Please note that the following roads on the Central Experimental Farm (CEF) are closed to traffic for the winter:

  • McCooey Lane from Merivale Road to Ash Lane
  • Ash Lane from McCooey Lane to the NCC Driveway

These road closures are implemented to:

  • Reduce the possibility of unsafe road conditions during the winter months; and
  • To reduce the environmental impact of traction aids (salt) on the research fields.

Maps showing road closures and which paths are maintained for pedestrians are available by emailing aafc.cef-fec.aac@agr.gc.ca.

The roads will re-open to traffic in April 2023.
Members and Supporters
We welcome your comments and suggestions on articles, events, activities, and more.
Please contact us at info@friendsofthefarm.ca
or call us at 613-230-3276.
Charitable number 118913565RR0001