Meet Julia Sutton, farmer and cook at Santosha Farm!  Santosha Farm is a 1.5 acre, non-certified organic farm located in the Almaguin Highlands.  In addition to attending local market sales and supplying local resorts and restaurants, Julia hosts and develops meal packages for farm guests that incorporate seasonal fresh produce, directly from the farm.

Can you tell us a little about who or what started you on your food journey and how that eventually lead to starting Santosha Farm?

We always had a garden growing up, and one of my grandmas loved to cook. Working as a dishwasher and then in food prep at a fun restaurant at the end of high school gave me some insight into cooking. I almost went to school to become a chef. Instead, I went to Trent, and it was through my classes in environmental studies and a couple of courses on agriculture that I started to become interested in the intersection of environmental health, agricultural health and food issues. Peterborough was a perfect place to learn, as there were so many activities happening around those issues and so many potlucks to go to! I also had a great friend and roommate to go to the year-round farmer's market and cook with! We just experimented. After moving to Ottawa, we didn't have a space to grow anything, but we were able to get a plot at a community garden which led to more experimenting.

On your website you share that you have “worked in the environmental field for 15 years, with a focus on native plants, shoreline naturalization, stream monitoring and fish habitat restoration in Ottawa, Haliburton, Georgian Bay and Almaguin Highlands".  How does this work influence Santosha Farm and the food you grow and make?

Most of what we've done and do on our farm is done with ecology in mind. When we first moved here, I spent a lot of time exploring, observing and planning based on the different habitats our farm offers and what wildlife we have, and watching the changes over the seasons. On the farm overall, I looked at what areas we could reduce maintenance in order to restore biodiversity, and where we could plant native plants or other habitats to make it better. We've done quite a bit of restoration on the farm, both active and passive, since moving here. When moving here, our farm was much more tidy and trimmed, but the best thing for wildlife is to keep things more messy. It may look neglected to the majority of people, but it's quite intentional. In more direct farm operations, Rob designed a solar-powered and gravity fed irrigation system to reduce the need for fuel, we have never used any pesticides, and we follow soil conservation principles. Although we aren't certified, we follow organic principles, but incorporate other aspects of ecology into the garden to build a more ecological system.

When we cook, every meal starts with what we have available that we have grown or stored, and our meals change seasonally. When I need to purchase items that aren't grown on the farm, I consider where/how it's made and how much packaging it has. We use Sustain in Huntsville to refill all of our soaps, shampoos, etc., and it helps us keep a low environmental footprint. By basing our meals on what we have on the farm, we produce very little waste from our retreats.

How has the process of growing and making food by hand influenced your life?

I'm at my best when I'm working outside and with my hands, and I like active work. I love working out in the garden and watching things change, and I also love the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen with fun music! What I have learned from farming and making meals is adaptability, letting go and how to really focus on a task when there is chaos happening all around and there are deadlines that need to be met. I don't necessarily do these things well all of the time, but the more i do it, the easier it becomes, and it translates well into my personal life. Working outside helps keep me grounded and focused on what's really important.

Environmental restoration plays an important role in your farming practice.  What is it about this idea of restoration that inspires you and why is it so important?

I fell in love with the idea of restoration after volunteering in Ecuador doing mangrove restoration as part of my degree. While it's important to keep protected areas and parks, I loved the idea that you could take an area that had been degraded and work to create a healthier place. This has never been so important, as humans are causing so many issues on a large scale. We have more species becoming at risk every year, and most of this is due to habitat loss and degradation, and pesticide use, with increasing pressure from climate change. If we want to have birds, animals and fish in the future, we can't just protect areas, we also have to actively restore areas and change how we behave and interact with our landscapes.

What have you learned about your own personal taste preferences through farming and sharing food?

I love sharing food with people and trying new things! I don't know if I have any particular preferences, but I definitely have become a much more seasonal eater and find my tastes change with the seasons. It makes sense, as when the cooler weather comes in the fall, I want warmer, heartier meals, and as spring comes, I look forward to fresh greens again. It's not something I actively think about, but has really become more of an instinct.

Are there any specific skills you would like to explore or expand on to grow your personal making practice outside of food?

So many! I'd love to learn re-upholstering, basket making, working with sheep and alpaca fibre in some sort of way, and I'd also love to grow my very basic and rusty fly fishing skills and making different flies for that, which is quite an art. Also, I'd like to learn to knit beyond a rectangle!

What’s the last project you worked on (or are still working on!) and what did you like most about it? Is there anything about the project that is holding you up? How do you get over that hump?

I started knitting a scarf for my niece in December 2023 for her birthday in Feb 2024. I just finished the scarf in April 2025! What I enjoyed most about it was having little moments of quiet time to focus on the project and do something completely different in my day. My hang up was available time, and I just had to keep working at it a few rows at a time during the winter months.

Is there a farming or cooking term or technique you favour? Why does it speak to you as a maker?

I can't think of anything in particular for cooking aside from cooking with seasonal foods. In farming, I identify much more with permaculture and ecological agriculture. Our farm isn't a permaculture farm, but we incorporate elements from it that we can at this particular point and location. I identify with those terms, as they recognize relationships and aren't just a system or method.

As a person who grows and makes food what do you look for when purchasing/deciding on someone else’s recipe to make?

When I purchase products off-farm, I look at how they're made or grown. If I'm deciding on a recipe, it has to have ingredients that I have and look like it has a lot of flavour! I also like trying new things, and I try to use recipes that don't require a lot of specialized equipment.  I don't have a lot of kitchen gadgets.

What advice would you offer to your past self, or someone who is just starting their farming/cooking journey?

There's nothing wrong with starting gradually and building up your skills over time. Experiment as much as you can, and it's okay when everything seems like it's going wrong! There will be many times when almost everything is going wrong at the same time! Know that it gets better.

Reading is great, but there is nothing like talking to different farmers or cooks to talk about problems and solutions. Some of my best farming improvements are very small things I've learned from talking to other farmers and seeing other farms.  For farming, building up your farm to support beneficial insects and native pollinators is just as important as growing crops. It helps to alleviate some of the ups and downs of pest cycles.

For cooking, start by cooking what you love or are most interested in. Then grow from there!

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Meet Julia in person and stay on the farm during one of the workroom's Handmade Getaways in Sprucedale!  Join us for one of our upcoming dates:

• Friday June 20 - Sunday July 22, 2025
• Friday August 8 - Sunday August 10, 2025