Hearth & Heritage Family Farms began in the autumn of 2025, when co-founders Matthew Grant Bendick and Mackenzie Laurin acquired a long-neglected fourteen-acre homestead in rural Vermilion River County, AB.​

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At the time, we were stuck between living situations: searching for an environment in which we could both heal. We needed to find a healthy home: not only to heal, but to live, work, and build our future in. We dreamt of a building a place where healing didn't mean sacrificing our dreams- where health, sovereignty, stewardship, and a connection to the land could become part of daily life. 

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The property told a story of  a long and complicated history. Mature spruce still lined the winding driveway; but the house that once stood at the end of it had been lost to fire many years prior. The land had been left unmanaged, buildings had fallen into disrepair, and invasive species were claiming the majority of the landscape. ​

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Beneath these challenges, however, was a feeling neither of us could shake: the sense that this land was meant to cross our paths.

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In our first autumn on the land, with the help of family & friends, we worked endlessly on safe cleanup and waste removal. ​

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Today, Hearth & Heritage remains in the earliest stages. 

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We are currently in the middle of our first full season to work this land. We have been focused on planting a shelterbelt, building our new tiny home, finishing remediation work, and starting a small garden. ​