Welcome to the Jungle:
JUNGLE FARMS PROVIDES INTERACTIVE EDUCATION WITH A SIDE OF HARVEST PUMPKINS
BY ELIZABETH CHORNEY-BOOTH
M
ost working farms are exactly that— workplaces where agricultural professionals grow and harvest the food that eventually lands on our tables, but a growing number of farmers are taking on an added business model that includes public-facing programming to help better connect consumers with the agricultural industry. The Jungle Farm, a family-owned farm just south of Red Deer, near Innisfail, falls into the latter category. With its welcoming bright red barn, regular farm tours, and educational programs, Leona
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Staples and her family have used the farm to create an agricultural facility that produces fresh food along with giving visitors a healthy understanding of where our food comes from. Staples’ family established the farm in 1867 when her great-grandparents, Jacob and Sophia Quartz, travelled west from Ontario to try their hand homesteading in Alberta. While the name Jungle Farm may seem like it was adopted to jibe with the farm’s current programming, it actually dates back to Jacob and Sophia’s time. While clearing their wooded land to make it more suitable for farming, the Quartz
family came across a bear living amongst the trees. They named their parcel of land “The Jungle Farm” in homage to the animal, and the name has stuck throughout the generations. Even though she has always been proud of her family’s legacy, Staples didn’t grow up dreaming of taking over the farm — she wanted a career in food and agricultural education. After getting a degree in home economics, she and Blaine (who has a degree in agriculture and very much did want to farm himself) took on management duties at the Goldeye Centre in Nordegg, where they
