Galimax Farm Tour
By: Brendan Klatt
In July of each year Kyra and I (as well as many of our Amaranth team) look forward to the annual Galimax tour. Galimax is a Dutch family owned distributor out of Southern Alberta that exclusively works with small family farms. Many Amaranth customers are familiar with the Mans Free Range eggs, these come from Galimax who in turn gets them from numerous small family egg farms. The Mans family has multiple generations and many family members working on farms- including Vital Greens, Mans Organic vegetables, and Amiable organics- all products we carry in store.
Kyra and I always love farm tours because they intersect with many of the areas we are passionate about. We like learning how our food is grown and seeing the farmers and families that grow them. It’s a fascinating connection to know where the food you are eating comes from and who has grown it. Its amazing to get out of the city and walk around in green fields under the sun in the country. Local organic farming selling amazing products that we can then sell locally- truly the best for us, our society and our planet. Lastly, its incredible to run markets where we can bring these products in and pass these on to customers.
We started our trip with a small tradeshow at the Galimax warehouse. We say tradeshow but this is one unlike any other. Most farmers prefer to keep to themselves so the energy is very different than a big city tradefare that is ripe with professional salespeople. The farmers often bring many examples of what they grow and love talking about how they do it. At Amaranth some of our first questions are how are things grown. While we do sometimes bring in local produce that isn’t fully organic, we prefer if it is at least pesticide or herbicide free. Its interesting to hear HOW many of these farmers do without pesticides or herbicides. Some have greenhouses with complimentary plants that attract “friendly” bugs that eat the bad bugs. To get rid of weeds, one (Leffer Brothers carrots) actually hires young adults to weed by hand in a special machine! When I asked one of the brothers if they were going to buy the new robotic laser weed killer, he said they already looked into it and it was too expensive for them and they preferred to give the work to the local community teenagers.
They finish off the warehouse tour with a big lunch. This is something we save our appetites for every year as everything is made fresh and the local ingredients are all used. We truly feel that local fresh food tastes better and is more nutritious.
We then left to visit a few farms- Vital Greens dairy, Amiable Organics, Little Gem Wines and Busy Beas farm.
First stop- Amiable Organics farm run by Josh and Angie Mans. Josh is one of the sons of Joe Mans (the owner of Vital Greens). Josh and Angie started in 2019 planting vegetables on land rented from his father. This year they have their own land and it was incredible to see him building up and changing his operation. We used to think that farming was arduous and the same every year. What continues to astonish us when we visit some of these farms from the new generation is the degree to which they make changes and improvements each year. In addition to moving, they are planting more than just herbs this year and getting into lettuces, root vegetables, onions- adding on greenhouses and walls to act as wind breaks.
Visit Amiable Organics here for more info.
Next stop Vital Greens farm. Whenever we visit Vital Greens we are always struck at the contrast of the organic free range vs conventional fed beef. While we don’t view the latter as the enemy, the difference is vividly apparent. Driving up to Vital Greens there is a grain feeding operation on the right hand side- cows are crowded in and the entire operation is shades of brown and grey. A couple fields later and it feels like you are in a different world. Wide open green fields with sun shining down on healthy and happy dairy cows.
This time we visited the actual packing plant. While initially disappointed (as we love seeing the animals) I was surprised at what we learned. To this day everything is packed by hand by the family. It was obvious to see 3 generations of the family represented and manually filling each container- whether it was milk , yogurt or cream cheese. We also learned that all the fermented products are fermented in container. Meaning they put the milk and starter culture in the container then put it in an area to ferment in container. The result is a product very different than a mass produced yogurt (you can typically see cream separated out on the top and no binders or extra fillers in the ingredients). The Vital Greens cheese is aged in a cool dark room and since they are a Dutch family, it is all gouda. All of their cheese has a wax rind, a traditional coating that allows the cheeses to age longer and make them more durable. The tour guide muses out loud that this is why the cheese can also be made in Alberta, a climate very different than the humid Holland. Joe Mans lets us know he does the minimum processing required by law, not homogenizing (which gives the milk a more golden and wholesome taste) and using minimum heat. He also likes to say his milk is forage fed not grass fed. Rarely do cows just eat grass. Farmers fields are made up of many different types of forage for cows to eat, including herbs and different wild flowers. He believes his first job is to create a healthy and diverse field for the cows to graze on. To get a healthy field he focuses on organic growth and nurturing the soil.
On the way out we were happy to see the delivery room, where Amaranth is written on the wall next to our orders for the week.
Visit Vital Green farms here for more info.
An unexpected surprise visit- Little Gem winery. They started out with a passion for haskap berries, a native berry to Alberta that thrives in our climates. Anyone who has tried them can testify to the antioxidant and nutrient potential of these berries, your mouth is stained a deep purple after a couple. Haskaps thrive in colder temperatures so are unlikely to be outsourced to mega farms down in California and offer 3 times more antioxidants than blueberries.
Many frozen haskaps and haskap juices and jams have made it to market in our store (we were even lucky to get some fresh ones this summer) but Little Gem is doing something different. Because Haskaps have a complexity of flavor closer to wine grapes, they can be made into wine that is closer to the original than many of its fruit counterparts. The star of the winery is its haskap cider, which routinely sells out on site.
One of our favourite parts of this visit was the little market store in the winery. Half of it was products imported from Holland (they are Dutch of course) and the rest was local products we have never heard of. We picked up some samples of haskap jam, frozen dutch food, local A2 milk cheeses, a freeze-dried ice cream and more.
Visit Little Gem Wines here for more info.
Last but certainly not least- Busy Beas farm. Trevor took over the business from his parents in 1999 and now farms on the land owned by his father in law. The Oldman River Valley is stunning and surrounded by hills as far as the eye can see- making you feel like you are in a hidden paradise. Trevors family owns most of the valley and it is all organic. Entering into the valley we were greeted with a very old heritage ranch sign that immediately let us know the generational legacy and history of the farm and land.
Trevor primarily farms potatoes and had a bunch pulled out of each row with a sign to describe all of the different varieties.
Unfortunately, hail had destroyed one of his other crops but the potatoes had not grown out of the ground yet so were safe. He also grows onions, garlic and herbs. Before leaving, Kyra and I and the Amaranth team and their families all posed for a picture by an old red tractor on the field.
Visit Busy Beas Farm here for more information.
Concluding our visit we were left with a renewed appreciation for local farming and a long list of products to sample and bring into the store.