Conference Program

Dr. Av Singh is one of Canada’s leading authorities on organic agriculture. Dr. Singh has authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, chapters, and extension articles and has been an invited speaker to over 500 workshops, conferences, and symposia as well as guest-lecturing at over 30 universities in Canada, the US, the UK, and India. Emphasizing a union of traditional knowledge with science, Av works with growers to cultivate an appreciation of plant:soil interrelationships.

Jean-Martin Fortier is a farmer, author, educator, and advocate for regenerative, human-scale, profitable agriculture. For over 20 years he and his wife Maude-Helene Desroches have operated les Jardins de la Grelinette, a successful 2-acre microfarm. His bestselling book The Market Gardener, which has sold a quarter million copies in nine languages, describes the biointensive principles used at his micro-farm. In 2015, he established a research farm, la Ferme des Quatre-Temps, where he trains apprentices and develops new strategies for market gardening, including year-round production. His methods of production are taught to a worldwide audience through the Market Gardener Masterclass, an online course of the Market Gardener Institute, which is tailored to small-scale food growers. He is the founder of Growers & Co., a tool and apparel company that celebrates sustainable, local, and equitable food producers. Jean-Martin farms and lives in Quebec, Canada.

Allison J. Squires is a researcher interested in promoting the organic industry, especially through on-farm research. She and her husband, Cody, have implemented several on-farm research projects at Upland Organics. She is also the President of the Canadian Organic Growers (COG) and in 2020 was also elected to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) North America board of Directors.

Ran Goel is the CEO and founder of Fresh City, a Toronto urban farm and organic retailer. Some of his formative childhood experiences include his grandmother’s stories about growing up on a Kibbutz, feeling democracy awakened in his childhood home of South Africa, and his mom’s stuffed peppers. Ran has spoken on food issues before hundreds of audiences. He proudly leads a team of over 250 staff as they collectively create a better life through food.

Reid Allaway is an organic vegetable farmer, tool builder, and technical problem solver at Tourne-Sol co-operative farm in les Cèdres, QC. Tourne-Sol manages about 7.5 acres of vegetables and seed crops organically on 15 acres and produces 500 CSA shares weekly. In 20+ years as a CSA farmer, Reid has developed particular expertise in mechanical weed control, electric drivetrains for farm equipment, and cover crop management. In partnership with Thiessen Tillage Equipment Reid is currently working on next-generation mechanical weeding solutions for small and medium-scale organic farmers.

Sam Oschwald Tilton is a horticulture instructor at Lakeshore Technical College near Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He has a background in vegetable farming and a Master’s degree from Michigan State University with a focus on precision weeding tools. Sam has designed weeding machines for KULT-Kress and visited farms throughout Europe and the U.S., and he organizes the Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day.

Jean-Martin Fortier is a farmer, author, educator, and advocate for regenerative, human-scale, profitable agriculture. For over 20 years he and his wife Maude-Helene Desroches have operated les Jardins de la Grelinette, a successful 2-acre microfarm. His bestselling book The Market Gardener, which has sold a quarter million copies in nine languages, describes the biointensive principles used at his micro-farm. In 2015, he established a research farm, la Ferme des Quatre-Temps, where he trains apprentices and develops new strategies for market gardening, including year-round production. His methods of production are taught to a worldwide audience through the Market Gardener Masterclass, an online course of the Market Gardener Institute, which is tailored to small-scale food growers. He is the founder of Growers & Co., a tool and apparel company that celebrates sustainable, local, and equitable food producers. Jean-Martin farms and lives in Quebec, Canada.

Catherine Sylvestre is the director of vegetable production at la Ferme des Quatre-Temps, a collaborative farm project inspired by the principles of ecological polyculture and regenerative agriculture. Leader of the market garden team, she trains program participants and develops and implements best practices for cold season growing, specializing in crop protection and greenhouse production for northern climates. She is also a technical advisor at the Market Gardener Institute, where she studies and teaches organic agriculture. In addition to her field experience, Catherine has a BSc in Ecological Agriculture and Professional Agrology and a Master’s degree in Political Science. Her academic focus has been the rich and complex relationship between human beings and nature, which meets in agriculture. Through her research, writing, and training, Catherine hopes to provide other farmers and market gardeners with the tools and knowledge to produce their own successful winter harvests. She lives in Quebec, Canada.

Dr. Av Singh is one of Canada’s leading authorities on organic agriculture. After completing his post-doc at the University of Minnesota on pasture-based livestock production, Singh worked at the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada and served as the Organic and Small-Scale Farming Specialist in Nova Scotia, for over 15 years, and recently held the Just Us! Chair in Small Farm Sustainability. Dr. Singh has authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, chapters, and extension articles and has been an invited speaker to over 500 workshops, conferences, and symposia as well as guest-lecturing at over 30 universities in Canada, the US, the UK, and India. Av has had the privilege of visiting over 2000 farms across five continents which has shaped his extension of holistic, system-based design solutions. Emphasizing a union of traditional knowledge with science, Av works with growers to cultivate an appreciation of plant:soil interrelationships.

Guillaume Lambert has given several lectures, including a panel for Zone Agtech and for Cycle Momentum in Montreal. He has conducted numerous webinars on automation and cold greenhouse crops. He is the CEO of the company Orisha, specializing in AI systems and greenhouse automation.

Steph Muma co-owns Silver Creek Nursery Ltd in Wellesley ON with her husband Zack, where they grow a large variety of fruit trees, berries, and various tree seedlings focusing on species with edible properties. They also manage 3 test orchards, each about 1 acre, collectively growing well over 700 cultivars of fruiting plants and trees. Their farming philosophy involves promoting natural (and organic), balanced ecosystems centered on biological health above and below ground. As well as both producing and empowering their community, to grow nutritionally dense and diverse food for a sustainable food future.

Susan Poizner is an urban orchardist and fruit tree care educator and the director of the fruit tree care training website OrchardPeople.com. She is the author of two fruit tree care books, Growing Urban Orchards and Grow Fruit Trees Fast. Susan trains new growers worldwide through her award-winning fruit tree care training program at Orchardpeople.com, she is the host of a fruit tree care radio show and podcast at Podcast.OrchardPeople.com and she is an ISA Certified Arborist.

Dr Hubert Karreman graduated in 1995 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Between getting a bachelor’s degree in soil science from the University of New Hampshire in 1984 and starting veterinary school, he worked on dairy farms for 6 years. He was introduced to homeopathy, botanicals, and biologics on a biodynamic farm in 1988 and saw those work so well that he wanted to go to veterinary school to learn “the real thing”. He was in dairy practice for 20 years in Lancaster, PA working with almost 100 certified organic Amish farms. He was appointed to the USDA National Organic Standards Board in 2005-2010 and has written 3 books on natural treatments for dairy cows. He enjoys sharing insights about natural treatments with veterinary colleagues in order to reduce the reliance on antibiotics and hormones in livestock. He and his wife, Suzanne, have a pasture-based, diversified livestock farm based on their herd of 60 A2A2, grain-free, grass-fed Jersey cows.

Aaron Varadi is a Commercial Grower Sales Representative with High Mowing Organic Seeds, where he works with commercial vegetable growers across Canada to get them the seeds and knowledge they need to thrive. In addition, Aaron also works as High Mowing’s Contract Production Specialist, where he helps coordinate contract seed productions with High Mowing’s dozens of growers.

Kim Delaney is the owner of Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds.

Manish Kushwaha is the owner of Gaia Organic Seeds.

Angie Koch is the owner of Fertile Ground Farm.

Leslie Moskovits is the owner of Cedar Down Farm.

Ludovic Lair was originally trained as an agronomist in France (AgroParisTech). In 2021, after 17 years in the pet food industry in Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America, he decided to jump on board with Entosystem and be part of the great challenge of reinventing our food system by unleashing the superpowers of insects. He is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Entosystem.

Owen Goltz‘s career has spanned over 30 years in the arboriculture industry as a climber, teacher, mentor, innovator, and consultant. In 2008, Owen sold his company to pursue a childhood dream of becoming a farmer. Over the years, he has honed his soil health skills and is now recognized both locally and internationally for his innovation in composting, brewing, biochar, and wood vinegar, and their connections to living soils, plant health, and human wellbeing. Riverdale Farm and Forest is a living example of the growing possibilities when farming within nature.

Ryan Cullen is a grower, educator, and entrepreneur. Trained with some of the best agricultural professionals in the world, he has studied permaculture, regenerative agriculture, market gardening, and urban farming. Ryan managed the urban farm at the W. Galen Weston Centre for Food at Durham College and now works closely with Growers & Co and The Market Garden Institute while operating his own regenerative farm homestead and commercial market garden City of Greens. He also specializes in farm design and consulting, teaching and training, media, and entrepreneurship at the Horticulture Food and Farming Company.

Ben Caesar was born and raised in Elmira, Ontario. He has been experimenting with perennial edibles for many years and opened Fiddlehead Nursery in 2012. He manages (and eats from) an ever-expanding demonstration garden to showcase some of the best plants for edible landscapes. He’s always experimenting with new edible plants and is passionate about gardens that mimic the diversity and structure of natural ecosystems as they build soil and produce food.