Almost Urban Vegetables is a 12 acre  family farm, owned and run by Marilyn Firth, Bruce Berry, and their children, Noel, Liam and Graeme. We are located in St. Norbert, Manitoba, right on the south edge of Winnipeg. Our vegetables are grown in the fertile, nutrient rich soils of the Red River Valley.

Five years ago, we left our urban lifestyle to follow our dream of growing food and living simply. We settled in Manitoba, appreciative of the fresh air, natural surroundings, and friendly communities of the Winnipeg area.
Marilyn has twenty years growing experience, including a Certificate of Permaculture and Certificate of Horticultural Therapy. She coordinates the “what we’ll do” – choosing the vegetable varieties, timing, monitoring plant health and more. As an engineer by trade, Bruce manages the “how we’ll do it” – the logistics of materials, water, harvesting and equipment. Our three boys  young men (!) are all involved in our farming project, either through developing our websites, helping with growing and harvesting, and running their own small vegetable businesses.

We follow three important principles in our growing practices:

• Sustainable
• All Natural
• Environmentally Responsible

We use no pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilizers. Most of our implements are hand operated so we burn very little fuel in our operation, since we strive to live on current sunshine! We nurture the soil by adding compost and growing green manures. Barriers such as agricultural fabrics (row cover) help keep pests in check along with crop rotations, companion plants and reduced plot size.

Local Food Plus

We are certified under Local Food Plus, an  award winning charitable non-profit committed to growing local sustainable food systems. LFP monitors for environmentally and socially sustainable practices.