Laepple Organic Farm, Petersburg, ON

Organic Farming is more than a job. It is a live style in which we, the Laepple family have grown into many years before emigrating from Germany to Canada in 1998. Fritz and Linda with Frieder, Florian, Gerdi, Freddy, Elisabeth and Roselinde are all involved in one way or another.
“The way we farm and produce food has developed out of the need to provide our (large) family with healthy food in an economical way. The products that have grown out of this, we share with a growing number of customers concerned with health, quality and the environment… and we share the same concerns as our customers.”
Our farm is certified organic by Pro-Cert Organic and the general principles are to protect the environment, minimize soil degradation and erosion, optimize conditions for biological productivity and promote a sound state of health. No chemical fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides are applied to the crops. Our animals are raised drug free without hormone implants and are fed grass and hay, ckickens and pigs grain, all grown on the farm.
When you drive in our laneway you might have noticed the compost piles. They are the essential factor to improve the fertility of our mostly sandy soil.
The old bank barn has been the home of many farm animals since it was build 150 years ago for J. Jutzi. It has seen some renovations and additions but the giant hand-hewn, white pine logs still hold the original design together. There are also still the ropes and wooden wheals inside with witch the horses used to pull wagons two stories up for unloading. In 2011 a 10kw solar system was added to the roof. This investment allows us to harvest the sun year round.
Buy Local! Buy Fresh! is more than a slogan. It is a fact that this region provided healthy food in abundance to settlers and natives hundreds of years before trucks made it possible that every bite of food in average travels more than 800 km before it reaches the consumer.