Our Story
Vision & Values
Farmgate Cider is a family-owned and operated cidery just outside of Ottawa. Family is at the core of everything we do. We plant, prune, graft, harvest, crush, bottle, label and sell together. Each bottle of cider is a testament to this: we won’t sell anything not worthy of our own dinner table.
We also value local and sustainable agriculture. We don’t use pesticides, hormones, or other chemicals on our apples. We don’t add sulphites, preservatives, or additives to our cider. Our bottles are high-quality and reusable. Our samples are poured into glassware that can be washed and reused. We work with other local businesses as much as we can. These are values we hold dear. We think it makes the cider taste better.
Land Acknowledgement
We at Farmgate Cider recognize that the land on which we grow our trees, harvest our apples, make our cider, and live with our families is on the traditional, unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin peoples. They have lived here since time immemorial. We wish to acknowledge their stewardship of this beautiful land and are grateful for their wisdom and enduring presence.
Our Story
Farmgate’s story started about 25 years ago. As a family, we moved our home — a heritage stone building — to Mohr’s Road. A wild apple tree was discovered on the border of what would become the Farmgate orchard. The apples from this tree are so sour, they aren’t edible, but they do make great cider.
It’s the apples from this very first tree (and a few other wild trees) that make up our Wild Apple Estate Cider. Our youngest thinks the apples are tasty just on their own, so we affectionately call this first tree “Stuart’s Tree.”
Over the next few years, more land was cleared, and trees were planted by the dozens. Jim and Brenda’s children — Jacob, Matt, and Stuart — helped plant and maintain these trees during their summers. At first, having so many fresh apples was wonderful, but soon there were too many to eat. Making cider seemed to be the natural next step. The first batch wasn’t so great, but persistence and experimentation (and a little bit of reading) lead to a delicious product we were excited about. And as is tradition around the Davies household, a little cider turned into a lot of cider, and soon there was simply too much to consume ourselves. Why not share with those around us? So Farmgate was born: out of hard work, out of family, and out of a love of trees.
Photos by Krystal Dalby Photography
