How it all Began

Today Firefly Farm is home to Lauren and Chad but looking back to the very beginning of Firefly... Way back in the before times (covid) in the summer of 2019, Chad and I were out on a random afternoon country drive and a tiny for sale sign tacked to a post in the trees caught my eye as we passed and I yelled; “Stop the car”! I’m sure Chad thought I was nuts but that’s not the first time haha - he stopped, backed up and I think I was out of the car before he even stopped because I was so excited.

I ducked under the rickety gate (which brought a flood of happy childhood memories at our family farm- a story for another day) and I stood in the most beautiful meadow, that was untouched for years and full of wild flowers. As my finger tips grazed the grasses in the wind (another core memory) I thought - this is it. This is where I’ve been moving towards my whole life. So began the hardest and wildest ride of even buying this land. I honestly wouldn’t even let myself believe it would happen. It took weeks of back and forth and much negotiation… I held my breath every time the phone rang and then this heavenly place in the Slate was ours. 55 acres of nature. I couldn’t believe it. Even now most days I still can’t.

Lauren

Lauren grew up in Thunder Bay and had many wonderful childhood memories playing with her cousins on her grandfather’s working farm. Her educational interests were always focused around the creative, and she eventually went to university and college for a joint fine art & business degree, and then a graduate program in multimedia from Sheridan, business leadership school in Spain and most recently graduated from Harvard's Innovation course. While this led to a successful career in marketing and digital management; including for brands like Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), Bell, and the Ottawa Senators NHL team and founding her own company - Superior Digital, her passion for farming and gardens stayed with her throughout.

In Ottawa, on a small city lot, she shaped the landscaping the yard and created a wonderful vegetable garden, complete with a little DIY greenhouse. It was the first foray into gardening after having lived the condo life in Toronto for 5+ years.

After moving back to Thunder Bay, she helped her father with his large vegetable garden, while enhancing the curb appeal of our new house, once again, through a beautifully curated flower garden and landscaping. Fast forward to finding our dream farm property and building a house in the pandemic, and the while recovering from a major surgery in the winter of 2023 she began major research into cut flower gardening and starting seedlings as early as February! Then in the spring the garden expanded to an “I’m not sure if this is big enough” size of 210ft x 72ft, along with raised garden and flower beds

Chad

Chad grew up in the Ottawa Valley and migrated north to Thunder Bay for university. After graduation, he lived in London and Ottawa, working in various communications, development, and management positions in the charitable sector. He fell in love with northern Ontario as a student, so convincing him to move back to Thunder Bay in pursuit of a better quality of life, was not difficult for Lauren to do.

He currently works for Parks Canada, encouraging others to explore along the north shore of Superior.

Chad is the Chip to Lauren’s Joanna Gains from Magnolia Home. When ideas for interior, exterior, or renovation projects are planned, he figures out how to do them. Together, there’s not a renovation project that hasn’t been tackled – kitchen updates, bathroom remodels, wall removals, room additions, flooring, painting, lighting, plumbing, landscaping, decks, patios, gardens and greenhouses and their biggest adventure of designing and building a whole house!

Around the farm, Chad enjoys using the larger toys to “do some tractoring” and can often be heard saying “I did a thing!” Along with his interests in photography (he takes the photos), Chad enjoys hiking, kayaking and exploring, playing golf and hockey, and is a volunteer firefighter in Slate River.