Thanks for “Growing Hope” with us! Here’s the first of several updates you can expect from
the farm this summer.
The Crop Is In
The crop is in and growing! With a
forecast of evening rain, Grant's crew
moved onto the Grow Hope field as
their first order of business on April 30.
By noon the seed was in the ground
and ready for that first nourishing
shower! So we have 160 acres of
wheat in the ground and growing!
Introducing The Dyck Family
Grant and Colleen Dyck are second
generation farmers, operating under
the name of Artel Farms. Grant and
Colleen have four young children;
Georgia, Oskar, Leo and Moses. Artel
Farms cultivates some 14,000 acres of
south eastern Manitoba farm land.
Grant, and his father before him, have
been strong and consistent supporters of Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Niverville area grow
projects, since, as Grant puts it, "as long as I can remember". Grant and Colleen are active in
national and provincial ag associations, as well as in Niverville area charitable organizations.
The Dycks attend Southland Community Church in Steinbach. (A side note: Colleen is the
creator of GORP, nutritional power bars. Check it out at gorpworld.com.)
Take A Drive
The Grow Hope field is located just 2.5 km east of Niverville on the north side of PR 311 (at
Mun. Rd. 20E). Four large signs should be up in the next couple of weeks, but if you take a
drive to "see your field" before then, look for a bunch of large steel bins about ¼ mile north of
the highway. As I recall the tradition from when I was a youngster growing up on a small farm,
Sunday afternoons are for doing a leisurely tour of the grain fields!
Other Farmers Out There?
It would be great to see the entire 160 acres "sponsored" by the time the crop comes off in the
fall. That could represent up to $400,000 for the work of MCC and CFGB! We're almost halfway
already. Can you help us get your friends, family, co-workers, etc. on board? We've recently had
several churches and schools take on multiple acres. If you can talk your pastor into giving you
2 ½ minutes on a Sunday morning, consider doing a Grow Hope promo. That's all the time it
takes to do a really brief intro, and show the Cindy Klassen animation video. If you're interested,
we can provide a script and other resources to help you.
Me
My name is Ed Barkman. Earlier this spring CFGB and MCC invited me to be a part of Grow
Hope. Having been on staff with MCC Saskatchewan and MCC Canada from '82 to '98, and
seeing the potential for this new urban/farm partnership, I was more than pleased to give this
some of my newly found retirement time and energy. Expect to see an update from me via MCC
Manitoba on the project every 4-5 weeks between now and harvest. If you have any questions,
ideas, suggestions, etc., we'd love to hear from you!
Farming together?
If you're receiving this update on behalf of a church, school, or other group that is sponsoring
acres together, please pass this on! If any individual "farmers" want to receive these updates
themselves, please let us know! We’re also sending the updates by email, so if you’d rather
receive them that way, let us know—manitoba@mennonitecc.ca.
Until next time!
Ed Barkman for MCC Manitoba