Four Sisters Farm preparing for fall U-Pick season

Times Reporter  

 

A new farm has opened one kilometre north of Strathmore, and it’s a little different from your typical farm. Four Sisters Farm, started by the Beekman family, has many plans for the community, starting with a U-Pick fruit, vegetable and flower garden. 

The farm is located at 27-24-25-W4, just barely outside of town, but feels like it is miles away. 

“You can be two minutes from Strathmore, but you can’t see it because there’s so many trees and you can’t hear anything. Honestly it feels like you’ve gone up north,” said Courtney Beekman.

The garden boasts strawberries, two kinds of potatoes, many types of carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, squash, cantaloupes, garlic, onions, a dozen kinds of sunflowers at least and much more. 

There’s a large pumpkin patch as well, with numerous kinds of pumpkins; – warty ones, Casper ones, regular ones and even “giant PEI pumpkins that can get up to 900 lbs, so we’re going to try and figure out how to do that,” said Courtney Beekman. 

A coloured corn maze is being grown, with pink, blue and strawberry corn planted. 

“It’s decorative corn, so once we’re done with the cornfield we’re going to cut it down and you can come and grab some for your thanksgiving table,” said Beekman. 

“My mom (Paula) went and found every odd vegetable you can find and said we should grow that. It’s going to be unique and odd but it’s going to have that farm feel.”

The list of things the family wants to do are overwhelming, but exciting. There are plans for a garden market, a petting zoo, Christmas and fall markets, a haunted forest and haunted house, sleigh rides, there’s a swimming hole, and beach volleyball is already available. The venue will be available to rent for weddings and birthdays. There is a projector to begin hosting movie under the stars nights as well. The idea is for it to be a place where everyone can go and enjoy.  

“My mom saw a need in this community for something for children to do and she didn’t want it to be another attraction, she wanted it to be organic and she wanted it to flow,” said Beekman.

Paula has a bit of a farming background, having worked on farms when she was younger. She wants everyone to be able to share in that experience and she wants to grow organic foods close to home that can be made available to everyone.

“She loved it, she loved the way it felt to grow something and be proud of it,” said Beekman. 

Another thing the family hopes to do at the farm is have school-aged kids come out to the farm to teach them a little about agriculture. 

“We’re going to do workshops with kids so they can come and plant flowers or their own vegetables and take them home. We’re going to show them where food comes from, from seed to the table,” said Beekman. 

The family hopes to have the market ready in time for the Heritage Days weekend, and to have people in and picking, or just purchasing, fruit and vegetables by September. To follow along with the many plans at the farm check out the website at www.foursistersfarm.ca or check out their Facebook Page Four Sisters Farm.