About Us

About Us!

Good Thymes Garden is a local, woman owned and operated, two acre, high intensity, sustainable farm that is located on a land lease outside of Leduc that grows herbs, vegetables, fruits, edible and non-edible flowers, and specialty items. With a focus on no-till, no waste, natural growing, it is herbicide and pesticide free on land that has used natural growing methods for decades. 

We believe that farming needs to be sustainable for the earth, the community, and to ensure stable careers and good mental health for farmers to encourage more young people to get into food production. The average age of a Canadian farmer is 55, with less than 10% of farmers being under 35. We were lucky to be connected through the Young Agrarians land matching program to our Lessor, making the farm a possibility!  

Caitlyn and Melissa have an expansive collection of experiences that have led to this farm. Melissa has worked on local farms for more than five years and has more than eight years of customer service experience, while Caitlyn has over a decade in customer service experience, and has managed a grocery store produce department, and a coffee shop, with additional farming and urban growing experience. Through their degrees (Melissa graduated in 2022 with a major in Psychology from MacEwan, while Caitlyn is in her third year of a Human Geography degree at the UofA) they have discovered a role they can fill in their community and are eager to do what they can. 

Good Thymes Garden is committed to doing good and meaningful work, and is creating a model that supports food justice and security in their communities. Through their CSA program they will match every box purchased with an equal box donated to the Multicultural Health Brokers Grocery Run program, and are working on pay-as-you may options and additional support for those who have difficulty accessing fresh, healthy foods. 

 

 

Land Acknowledgment

We acknowledge that the land on which we grow on and gather in is Treaty Six Territory which is the traditional gathering place for many Indigenous peoples. We honour and respect the history, languages, ceremonies and culture of Indigenous Peoples including the Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, Ojibway/ Saulteaux/Anishinaabe, Inuit, and many others who call this land home and have cared for these lands for generations. 

The Indigenous Peoples connection to the land teaches us about our inherent responsibility to protect and respect Mother Earth. With this acknowledgement, we honour the ancestors and children who have been buried here, missing and murdered Indigenous women, two-spirits, and men, and the process of ongoing collective healing for all. We are reminded that we are all treaty people and of the responsibility we have to one another as a community.

We acknowledge that it is our responsibility to meaningfully participate in Reconciliation beyond a land acknowledgement, and we are committed to doing that work continuously. We stand against the ongoing genocide of Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island, and believe reparations need to go beyond words to support land back, financial aid, and restructuring our systems to end discrimination. Farming, agriculture, and private land ownership have long been a tool of colonization, and we hope that this statement makes settlers reconsider the lands of which their sustenance comes from, and consider the implications of their “settled” presence in urban and rural areas. 

Thank you to Chelsea Vowel of apihtawikosisan.com, MacEwan's kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre and the University of Alberta Faculty of Native Studies for resources and support in producing this land acknowledgement.

We encourage all our customers and community to learn more:

Find which Indigenous Lands you live on: https://native-land.ca/

Read more about the purpose of a Land Acknowledgement: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/canadas-impossible-acknowledgment

Moving beyond Land Acknowledgements: https://apihtawikosisan.com/2016/09/beyond-territorial-acknowledgments/

Understanding the history in Canada: https://www.coursera.org/learn/indigenous-canada?utm_source=gg&utm_medium=sem&campaignid=13440968592&utm_campaign=12-Indigenous-Canada-Alberta-CA&utm_content=B2C&adgroupid=130160700424&device=c&keyword=coursera%20indigenous%20canada&matchtype=b&network=g&devicemodel=&adpostion=&creativeid=526589477720&hide_mobile_promo&gclid=CjwKCAjwy_aUBhACEiwA2IHHQOZSkqREGkhjjp_hIQcYL2i1QoGY91oM5a5-DgMLPoqkkMqAVaE81hoCvwEQAvD_BwE

Moving from Obligation to Reconciliation: https://www.su.ualberta.ca/media/uploads/1143/Reconciliation%20or%20Obligation.pdf

The 94 Calls to Actions from the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission to Canada: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf