About Us

Catena is the Latin word for chain

We illustrate this by cultivating the fundamental link between

the sun’s energy, water, air, microbiology, soil, plants, and animals.

We connect the food we grow with the nourishment of people in our community.

We establish a bond between farmer and consumer.

We are Jennie, Chris, and Winnifred-Sunshine, the two farmers (and farm pup) of Catena Farm. We are first generation farmers with a passion for feeding our community and learning as much as possible from what the land has to teach us. Our operation is about to enter our fourth season of growing and we are loving every second of it.

Our sweet farm pup joined the family in the 2019 season and puts in many hours on the job. Winnie is in charge of vole patrol, snacking on extra vegetables, rolling in everything possible, and digging helpful holes in the middle of our walking paths.

Our love of growing food originally started on a very small garden plot in the city of Ottawa. This was a great learning experience for us and as we gained confidence, we began selling our garlic and holding annual spring seedling sales. These became popular enough that we received requests to start selling other produce, which we did, customizing weekly orders for friends and family. Eventually we outgrew our garden and started to farm on a 1 acre rented piece of land in Shawville, Quebec, selling through both our CSA memberships and Farmer's Markets. We grew on this piece of land for three years.

We have since moved to our forever home on a 200 acre farm in Gracefield, Quebec. Our fourth year of growing will actually be our first year on this new land. We plan to grow our operation to include an orchard, an apiary, and some cute, furry friends - trying to expand the biodiversity of this land to all corners. Our philosophy, however, will always be to try to grow the best quality produce possible, which is why we plan on staying small.

We are a micro-farm; choosing to restrict our land use so that we are able to immerse ourselves in the ebb and flow of farm life but still maintain a balanced work-home life. We don’t need to be a multi-million dollar farm to feel successful, so we work enough to be comfortable, and find happiness in our work, each other, friends and family.