Our Philosophy
Manorun Organic Farm is a family run farm set on the outskirts of Hamilton in Copetown, Ontario — just a short 5 minute drive from Ancaster and Dundas. Chris Krucker and Denise Trigatti alongside their four children have been farming organically for 25 years, offering organic vegetables through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Working to mitigate climate change is a large priority at our farm. Some of our climate change impacts include; growing trees to store carbon, increasing the amount of carbon that is in our soils and using human power as much as possible. We have transitioned the landscape away from its previous monocrop and pesticide reliant systems. We believe that through regenerative agriculture we can rebuild our organic matter, increase biodiversity, which in turn provides us with more nutrient-dense crops. As we learn more about soil health and incorporate low-till practices, we are aiding in carbon sequestration to help reverse climate change. Our livestock plays a large role in our holistic system as they are integrated into our field designs.
Another important part of our farm is education and community building. We have trained many new farmers over the years, many of whom have gone on to start their own farms or continue to be involved with the regenerative food movement. We work to connect people with their food. We encourage our customers to learn more about their farmers, by visiting us during Farm Crawl events or to pop by our farm store to chat about our farming practices. We want to continue the movement of sustainability and inspire others to incorporate these practices into their daily lives.
Vegetable Production
At Manorun Farm, soil health is integral to everything we do. We believe that in order to grow healthy food we first have to grow healthy soil. We care for our soil by incorporating a crop rotation, composting, decreasing tillage, cover cropping, and integrating livestock with our crops. All these methods help rebuild our organic matter, increase biodiversity, which in turn provides us with more nutrient-dense crops. We do not use any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or growth hormones. We are guided by organic regenerative agricultural practices that incorporate a larger set of guidelines. The majority of our vegetable production takes place on twenty acres of land that we have transitioned from a conventional field into an oak savannah. We have utilized permaculture design to create a food forest with swales to capture and store water. In between our tree lines, we sustainably grow our vegetables, rotationally graze our livestock, and grow cover crops, hay, and grains.
Pasture Raised Meats
Animals play an important role on our farm, from their nutrient-dense manure to holistic grazing methods that lower our environmental footprint. We rotationally graze our cattle which allows the soil to sequester more carbon while their manure enhances our soil health and ensures that our nutrients stay within our farm. By allowing our animals to graze freely on the land, we increase biodiversity and restore native grasslands, and also improve the soil’s ability to retain water. Our animals are hormone and antibiotic-free. They have a longer lifespan making their meat more flavourful, without sacrificing tenderness. All our livestock are processed at a small processor in Troy or Elmira, Ontario. This means that the stress levels of our animals are decreased as they spend less time on trucks or in cages or pens. Our chickens and pigs are fed certified organic grains or grains grown on our farm. Our cattle are fed grass and hay. They are not grain-fed and are not grain-finished. While there are large problems within the industrial meat industry as a whole, we believe that through holistic livestock management, we can work towards offsetting carbon emissions, improving our diets, and raising livestock ethically.