Take Root Fest

05/30/2026

What are you harvesting this ‘spring disguised as summer’?

So thankful to whomever planted this asparagus way back when… it’s a joy to hunt for it in the overgrown medicine orchard!

05/22/2026

🐓 Hey, early birds! This is for those of you who know you will be at Take Root Fest and/or Rise Up Herb Gathering, period. You know you’ll always find workshops you love, and are in for the community-building, time on the farm, camping, all under the big prairie skies. Or, maybe you’ve never been, but just know you need to this year.

🌱 Early Bird tickets will debut at the Swallowtail Farmstead & Ferme Fiola Farm Seedling Sale & Spring Fest, Saturday, May 23, 10-3.

🎟️ Fan of event mementos? The only way to get these fun printed tickets is to purchase them at in-person pop-ups like the seedling sale.

Early Bird tickets will be available until the workshop schedule drops!

Tickets are All Access, which means you get:

🐓 12 hours of workshops over 3 days
🐓 Forest camping
🐓 Live music
🐓 DIY activities
🐓 Kids area
🐓 Animal visits
🐓 Herb Garden
🐓 Forest labyrinth
🐓 Local food and vendors

This year, General Admission tickets will available only as an add-on to All Access Passes. These will be available when early bird pricing ends.

Ticket Types:

🎟️ 3 Day All Access
🎟️ 2 Day All Access
🎟️ Saturday All access
🎟️ Sunday All Access
🎟️ Rise Up Herb Gathering

Youth tickets for all of the above available at 60% off the adult price. Let’s get more youth learning important skills outdoors, in community!

Hope to see you at the seedling sale and at the fest, August 7-9!

05/15/2026

Save the date - workshop line-up & tickets coming oh so soon! 

Join us for a farm fest under the big prairie skies — a THREE day weekend rooted nature, and hands-on learning, in community.

New to the fest? It’s hard to describe, exactly, but… if a festival, a conference, and a summer camp had a baby, Take Root Fest would be that babe! It’s a beautiful blend of fest fun, workshops, camping, a touch of live music, and local market vendors.

🏕️Set up camp in the beautiful pine forest, and plan your weekend of re-skilling workshops based on the skills you’d like to learn…

… be sure to leave plenty of time to:

✂️ pop into some complimentary DIY activities & demos
🎶 tap your toes to the lunchtime live music
🌮 savour some delicious local food and coffee
🕯️ shop the local makers & producers
🧶 craft at the kids’ area
👕 screenprint a fest shirt
🌼 add to the communal weaving project
😅 and more!

For those of you who feel a little tired just reading all of that, rest assured (literally), the flexible schedule leaves plenty of time to lounge in the herb gardens or nap in the woods.

🍄 Please help us grow our mycelial network by sharing this post and spreading the word! It truly takes a village to raise a fest! ❤️Thank you!

04/25/2026

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow for the swap! We're all set up with picnic tables, fire pit, spruced up washrooms, and the farm stand has some herbs from Awaken and some farm fresh eggs from our neighbour.

Swallowtail Farmstead will be bringing an assortment of delicious savoury and sweet home-baked treats for purchase. We'll also have complimentary herbal tea from Swallowtail & Awaken Herbs!

Please take a moment to share with a friend or two!

04/23/2026

The SPRING SWAP is in 2 days!

See you there? Comment or DM to let us know!

HOW TO SWAP:
While a great model in many ways, we are moving beyond direct/swap barter, to reduce limitations of needing to find something you want from someone who wants what you have.

👋 Arrival: When you arrive, you’ll be greeted by a volunteer who will help you place your goods on the appropriate swap table/s.

🪧 Place Your Items: The tables will be labeled with categories, such as kitchen, garden, fibre arts, animal-related, etc.

One table will be marked “1 item only”, and another “2 items only”. If you feel an item you bring belongs on one of these, place them there. And please only take 1 item from the 1 item only, and 2 from the 2 item only. Thanks.

🏷️ Share Your Story: We will have tags and twine available for you two share a special story or instructions for your item/s.

⏰ Schedule:
11am: Arrive and check in. Set out and organize swap goods.
12pm-2pm: Swap, share info and stories about items, and participate in the additional activities available.

Low Pressure RSVP:
If you think you might come, consider an RSVP to help us get an idea of numbers. This is non-committal, and you can show up whether you RSVP or not.

Location: Find us at Awaken Herbs or Take Root Fest on Google Maps

04/17/2026

Our first SWAP for 2026 is on April 25th! Why Swap?

Share your thoughts in the comments... here are a few to get us started:

- Cultivate community - meet people
- Keep the lifecycle (and story) of goods going
- Fewer items into landfills
- Practice alternative economies - an act of anti-capitalism rebellion
- Envision - and practice - the world we wish to see

What would you add?

Regenerative Disobedience describes those actions that aren't strictly legal, but which have so many benefits alongside the implied climate message that we would do them anyway. These actions can be home scale, like having water tanks, chickens, raw milk and compost toilets in councils where these things are still illegal. They can be community scale, like reclaiming the common land and trading things and services outside the monetary economy. They can also be city-scale, like the bike collective I stayed with in Mexico that went out in high vis vests and painted their own bike lanes to make riding safer in the city for everyone. There's and many many more. We are empowered to create the world we desire, and it's never been more urgent.

What examples have you seen of regenerative disobedience in your part of the world?

04/02/2026

What is VALUE?

When we started organizing this first swap of the year, my mind beelined to fairness and balance, fretting about some folks taking home several high value items, and others not having much to choose from. How would it all work? How would participants feel? Did we need to create systems, checks, and balances so we’d all have some boundaries to feel safe and organized within?

And these thoughts fairly quickly melted into a reflection on value. What is value? Who decides what holds value? Isn’t creating strict systems and notions of what has value just an echo of our current capitalist paradigm?

If someone brings an antique loom they’re no longer making use of, or a fancy dehydrator they’ve *never* used and sees no value to them, and they take home a Hori Hori knife just like they’ve been wishing for - is that not a balanced outcome? When goods are removed from the mainstream market, value – like beauty – is in the eye of the beholder.

So, come to the swap with an open mind and heart, trusting that what will be will be. Let’s challenge ourselves to first trust that value is *subjective*, and second that we are capable of re-creating and thriving in alternative systems—essentially, that we can create the world we wish to live in.

We hope everyone can leave with something that puts a little spring in their step – and while this isn’t a seed swap, we will have some beautiful seeds for you to take home that seeds kindly donated for the last (just to be sure there’s something for everyone).

If you read this far, amazing. Maybe you’ve got thoughts to share on this topic! Jump in below. Your opinion is of great value!

02/19/2026

We’re saddened to hear of the loss of Audrey Logan, a powerful storyteller, teacher, and elder deeply rooted in food sovereignty and community.

Though we didn’t know Audrey well, we fondly remember fascinating and heart-warming teachings and experiences peppered through a couple decades, and are so grateful for her presence and teaching at the latest Take Root Festival.

The impact of her teachings and lived example of deeply connecting with your food (like eschewing grocery stores for 20 years!) will be lasting. It seems that all who met her hold a great story in their hearts.

More info -

You can explore some of Audrey’s teachings through where she generously shared an abundance of info on food preservation and gardening, as well as through where some of her story is shared.

02/09/2026

Witnessing you all light up here at the farm really is the best, so 2026 is about more of that…

This year is all about more connection - with the land and each other - in the spirit of gifting. Most of this year’s events are either entirely gifted, reciprocal, or have a gifted access point & some paid options (or a sliding scale). We hope to see you here - spring, summer, fall, and winter!we always welcome a little gift of thanks to the land - however that looks in your ancestral tradition.

📚SWAPS - Cheers to alternative economies! Join us for a Spring Garden & Homestead Swap, a Summer Natural Fibre Clothing Swap, a Fall Herbal Swap, and a Winter Homemade & Handmade Swap!

🪴TEND TOGETHER DAYS - with a focus on friendship and reciprocity, let’s tend the land and each other. Join us for a work project & learning experience. The line-up includes W**d Dating & W**d Remedies, Tree Planting & Tree Cuttings, Herb Harvest & Hydrosol Distillation, and Root Harvest & Root Remedies. Each with a shared potluck meal.

🏕️ FESTIVAL - The most heart-warming and soul-soothing event of our summer - Rise Up Herb Gathering & Take Root Fest take place August 7-9 and are a fun mash-up of a summer camp, festival, and conference. With loads of hands-on workshops, live music, local food, camping, a kids area, and so much grassroots goodness, it’s a little gem to not miss.

🌸 OPEN FARM DAYS & U-PICKS - soak in the sun, forests and fields on a mid-summer day. Enjoy the forest labyrinth, have a picnic, take in a mini-workshop, pack some teas to be donated, and if you’d like, check out the farm shop or try out our fresh medicinal herb u-pick experience (paid) and an in-depth workshop (paid).

You can also book a stay on the farm at our vintage RV or cozy tiny house in the forest.

The farm stand will be stocked with fresh and dried herbs, posies, local goods, and snacks most weekends.

** In an effort to tame the many ways we connect, we’re moving towards using Cityfolk Farm as the hub for farm events and offerings. There’s a nifty website that will lead you to the herb farm, the fest, and farm stays! cityfolkfarm.ca

01/18/2026

♻️Free/Gift Event: Swap on the farm, April 25th!

But what to swap?!

This is a new idea for the farm, and part of our effort to host more gift events for you all to enjoy time on the farm and build community this year.

We’d sure appreciate any feedback before really digging into planning!

Would you join in?
🔥chat around the fire
☕️ enjoy a hot drink
🌿 check out the farm stand
💬 cultivate community
♻️ and the main point: consume less - swap what you’re not using for items you’d love to welcome home - maybe to learn a new skill with!

SWAP Options:

GARDEN: think hand tools, pots, wheelbarrows, seed starting gear, garden books, etc. Other groups are doing the seed and plant swaps really well, so we’ll leave that to them!

HOMESTEAD: think dehydrators, canning jars, canners, crocks, fermentation gear, soap-making stuff, beekeeping things, homesteading books, etc

VOTE below to let us know what you’d be into. And please take a moment to pop into the comments even with a 👋 to show your interest in the event or share an idea!