Julie Ann Bertram
Special to the Tribune
Aimée Jeannise Hodgins and her partner, Dan Weiler, have worked tirelessly over the past five years bringing Restless Ravens Homestead farm products and services to their local community of Field, and beyond.
Recently, the couple was awarded $20,000 from the Desjardins’ Good Spark Grant initiative to make their dreams of a “Farm Store” a reality. Their grant was one of just 150 awarded across Canada to small businesses that promote the well-being of individuals and communities.
The couple started a farmstand in 2023 while working toward building a larger retail space on their property, then hit a few financial snags. “We had already started working on the farm store but ran into some troubles; our truck broke, our oven broke, and we couldn’t afford to finish so I applied for the Good Spark Grant,” Hodgins says. “I wasn’t sure if we would get it, and we’re so grateful to Desjardins for this grant!”
Restless Ravens Homestead is located at 1415 Lac Clair Road and their website, http://www.restlessravens.ca, offers a variety of ways that connect people to a sustainable lifestyle, including seasonal herbalism boxes, plants and seeds, handmade jewellery, Mangalitsa pork, poultry and eggs, and a land and folk medicine mentorship program. Everything is locally sourced.
“We feel that our community needs to connect with local farmers and artists, and after we lost the Northern Corner in the Field store, that was like a stab to the heart, so it inspired us to start our own thing and sell our own products. We also want to collaborate with other local artists and farmers. It’s about being able to connect people to the land and inspire them to start growing their food, but if they’re not able to do that, they can still have access to it. It’s about food security, a healthy community, and sustainable farming. The education part of it is important, the space will also be used to teach others and share skills. We will be creating things ourselves and collaborating with others in making local farm products, and teaching people how to do it themselves,” describes Hodgins.
