Our Story

‘Mangalitsa pig farmers! How did that happen?’

My ‘background’ really took form when I was studying Agriculture at the University of Guelph, majoring in Animal Science. After I graduated I made the decision to move out west to Alberta to purse my dream of working with farmers. The end goal, of course, was to eventually own my own farm.

I began working as an agronomist in southern Alberta, which is how I met my husband Andy. We both worked within the agriculture industry, and soon found out that we shared the same goals – to one day own a farm! It was meant to be!

It was later in the spring of 2016 that our dream finally came true and we, along with our two sons, purchased a family farm – we were officially farmers! We sold the old house remaining on the property near Strathmore, Alberta and began the construction of our very own new home, looking forward to the day when we would live and grow old on this beautiful acreage.

While construction continued, we tried to decide what we wanted to do on our newfound farm. There were a couple of barns on the acreage and we spent some time brainstorming what we could fill them with. Whatever it was, we concluded, we wanted it to be unique and different! It wasn’t until after much research that we came across a unique opportunity. We chose a slightly different path than many would normally think of when considering ‘farming in Alberta’ …

We became Red Mangalitsa pig breeders!

Being the first in Canada to import Red Mangalitsa pigs, we were excited to run with this business opportunity. Our very first Mangalitsa’s joined the farm later that year in November – two pigs named Zsa Zsa (who arrived pregnant!) and Hampton (ready to breed!). Just before we moved into our lovely home in the spring of 2017, on January 6th,Zsa Zsa had her first litter and the adventure of pig farming on Eh Farms began!

Easton’s Hens

But of course, pigs weren’t enough! Overtime, our family decided that we wanted to add just a little more fun to the farm. So, in the summer of 2017, we added chickens – the pride and joy of our youngest son, Easton (we like to call him the chicken whisperer!).

Our Farm Family

After having the pigs and chickens for a while, we realized just how much these animals had captured the hearts of each of our family members. Since the beginning, everyone has been doing their part on the farm – the whole family is involved! My husband, Andy, is my handyman and supports most of the crazy ideas I come up with. Aubrey, our oldest son, loves working and building things with wood or whatever he can scrounge up on the farm (he is a great help with many of the projects!). Easton, our aspiring chef, is more of an animal person like myself and is responsible for the care and feeding of his roosters and heritage hens. He also helps feed our family with his amazing dishes.

Our family loves what we do, and we are so happy that we can stay active outdoors by doing the thing we love best – farming! If you are ever looking for us, you will find us outside working with the Mangalitsa’s, feeding the chickens, playing with the dogs and cats, skating on the outdoor rink, biking the tracks around the farm, building tobogganing hills in the winter, and tending our full vegetable garden, berry patch and our little apple orchard!

 

EH Farms is a dream come true and my family is the best team I could possibly ask for!