Our Story

A simple dream grows into a big idea...

Where it all began...

It all began with a simple dream when we were kids. Each of us individually dreamed of living in the country, raising animals, growing food and living in an old-fashioned way.

When Ken and I met, we quickly learned we shared a love for old things, old ways of doing things, good food, and cooking.

We started a garden at his rented acreage while we were still dating and when we got married, we kept the battle with the weeds going and eventually started to win and grow some beautiful veggies. Through job losses and dreaming of more time spent together we came to the idea of starting a market garden. We knew it would take time to get to the point of being able to produce a large variety ourselves and did not have sufficient land to grow enough to live on. So, we decided to start a strawberry patch at our small acreage and source quality produce from other Alberta farms who were growing amazing produce already.

In February 2020 we connected with some top-notch farmers and started taking pre-orders for a small variety of veggies. Our customers loved it! We also started selling produce at the Stettler Farmers Market, in the grocery corner at Sweet Home on Main and in Sweet Home on the Lake. We noticed that there were so many other great producers in our province and wanted to make our deliveries more worth our time and fuel, so we started connecting with more and more vendors. We began sourcing local meat, frozen berries, dairy and more.

In the summer of 2020, we incorporated Ford’s Farmstead and teamed up with my parents, Marc & Sharon Jongerden, to build a full time family business and realize the long term dream we had of a completely self sustaining intensive small farm.

The dream started as just growing animals and a garden for our own family. Through this journey of connecting with local farmers and learning about the immense impact quality food can make to our health and local area, our vision has grown to include our community and being a small part of providing nutrient dense food, creating food security and shifting the food industry. Along with these big picture dreams we want to provide a place of learning and enjoyment for family and friends! We are so excited to welcome you to the Farmstead!

~ Laura Ford