Land Access Stories from the Field: Lawoti Farms

In 2024, NFU-O connected with Surendra and highlighted his land access story. At that time, he had started Lawoti Farms on a ½ acre plot as an agripreneur at Five Haystacks farm. Today we revisit his story to see what he’s been up to. Surendra’s farming journey started while growing up in an agricultural community in Nepal. It continued when he came to Canada and began growing food in his backyard. He went on to grow on 50 feet of land borrowed from a friend. Finally, he connected with the owners of Five Haystacks Farm via farmlink.ca and has since been operating his farm business there. 

Surendra noted that when he first started growing, he had been on his own without a community to reach out to. It had been an isolating experience. However, he first connected with the National Farmers Union of Ontario when he was invited to speak at a panel. From there, he became connected with The Exchange, a professional development program for equity-deserving farmers run by the National Farmers Union. He became a cohort member and through the program was able to access training support, grant writing assistance, mentorship facilitation, networking opportunities and more. 

Surendra shared that, “this opened many doors for me. I could ask so many questions and contact members who were experienced to share advice. I’ve been able to reach out to other community members in the farming world and use the resources from The Exchange extensively.” He attributes a lot of the growth in his business to his time as a cohort member in The Exchange. 

After months of virtual gatherings, The Exchange members were able to meet each other in person for the first time in Saskatoon for a retreat. There they got to know each other better and connect further. Surendra excitedly spoke about being able to finally talk to others about wanting to start growing ginger and receiving advice on how to do so. He also learned about soil blocking as an alternative option to plastic seedling pots and trays. This aligned with his farm’s values in integrating sustainable growing practices such as minimal tillage, crop rotation, and cover cropping.

Surendra’s primary crop has been Dalle cherry peppers (Nepali hot peppers and a cousin of Habaneros, with a Scoville Heat Unit range of 100,000-350,000). The peppers are the main ingredient for his Nepali-style hot sauces, including Ama’s Dalle Achar, which are pickled with South Asian spices. In addition to the peppers and hot sauces, he also grows 50 other varieties of crops and South Asian-focused mixed vegetables for farmers’ markets, restaurants, and wholesale. You can find him at the Evergreen Brickworks Farmers Market and the Withrow Park Farmers’ Market during the growing season.  

Lawoti Farms started providing a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program last year and will be expanding their program this coming season, which services various locations in the GTA. To find out more about the farm, where to find their products and how to join their CSA program, visit www.lawoti.com.

By:

Jess Tong (she/they)

Land Access and Outreach Coordinator