Canada 150 photo: Popsilos tour in Prescott-Russell, Ontario

The Popsilo at Horses by Hannah in Casselman incorporates a touch of the business’s signature colour, pink.

What the heck are Popsilos, you ask?

They’re a combination of farm architecture and art, the brainchild of Jen Larocque and Mat Mault. The young couple grew up in Prescott-Russell, east of Ottawa—Jen in Casselman, Mat in Rockland—and now run a project management company.

On a trip to Scotland, they visited Kelburn Castle, a 13th-century structure now covered with colourful paintings created by a team of Brazilian artists. “We just thought it was such a surprising idea,” said Larocque.

Marc Gagné, owner of PopCurds in Casselman, serves up breaded, fried St. Albert cheese curds at the Popsilos launch.

Larocque and Mault started dreaming of ways to try something similar in Prescott-Russell and decided silos would make the perfect canvas. (It turns out that great minds think alike; long after conceiving their project, they learned of a similar route in Australia.)

It took almost two years to bring the idea to life. In late June 2017, the first five Popsilos were unveiled on a route stretching from Embrun to Vankleek Hill. The idea is that visitors and locals alike can follow the self-driving route to see the silos, admire the countryside and stop at a few local businesses along the way.

St. Albert Cheese Co-op laid out tasty plates of their products during the Popsilos launch.

The Canada 150 project involved lots of partners, including many who didn’t previously know each other. For instance, Larocque spotted Hannah Weideman’s silo from the road, thought it had great artistic potential and cold called her to see whether she’d be interested. Weideman, owner of Horses by Hannah in Casselman, was intrigued and signed on. Her silo sports a giant pink flower and buzzing bees.

The Popsilos partners (including Larocque, standing, third from left) celebrate the launch in the shadow of a silo painted by Lacey Jane and Layla Folkmann at the farm of Michel Dignard and Jeannette Mongeon in Embrun.

Other local farms and businesses came on board, including the St. Albert Cheese Co-op, Beau’s Brewing Company, Ouimet Farms Adventure and Vankleek Hill Vineyard.

The art on the Ben-Rey-Mo Ltd. farm in St. Albert evokes vintage postcards celebrating fishing and other local activities.

“Ambitious ideas—if you talk about them, they attract ambitious people who make successful things happen,” said Larocque.

Artists from across Canada created the murals, based on ideas generated by school and community groups. The logistics weren’t simple; artists had to work from cranes, which could be a tricky task on windy, rainy days.

A raven peeks out from the silo at Vankleek Hill Vineyards. At 30 metres (100 feet), it’s the tallest silo on the Popsilos tour.

The murals will be up for at least 10 years, and Larocque and Mault hope to unveil others as time goes on, if funding allows. The Popsilos website includes a detailed map and instructions for visiting each property. It’s a self-driving tour, and some of the properties are closed at various times due to farm operations, although you can still see the silos from the road.

Beau’s Brewing Company is a popular stop in Vankleek Hill. Just be sure to pick a designated driver!

You can have a meal or buy the fixings for a great picnic at St. Albert Cheese, or swing by Beau’s for a light lunch or early dinner on the terrace (Friday to Sunday until September 3).

Disclosure: I participated in the tour as a guest of Popsilos, which neither reviewed nor approved this post.