As spring turns to summer, the variety of products on offer at the York Street Farmers’ Market continues to expand. The stalls are offered rent-free to local farmers or small-scale local producers just starting out.
Here are some of the stories collected by Zackery Liberty of Marchés Ottawa Markets
Péché Fumé
https://www.facebook.com/pechefume/
https://www.instagram.com/pechefume/
Fabienne and her husband started Péché Fumé in the Summer of 2015. Fabienne’s husband is a fish biologist who works on sturgeon, Through his work he met Gaston and the two of them fished often for fun. Since Gaston was 85 years old and retiring, he gave his fishing license to Fabienne’s husband on the condition that they prepare the fish themselves.
Unlike many fishers who choose to gut and sell their products to a third party that prepares the fish for purchase, Péché Fumé offers a hook-to-table experience by catching and preparing the food themselves. Gaston taught them many tricks of the trade and another friend was helpful in teaching them how to smoke and prepare their fish.
Sturgeon was the only product Péché Fuméoffered for the first 3 years. Along with smoked sturgeon, they also offered caviar. When they expanded their fishing to include the Ottawa River, they were able to diversify their offerings to include carp, bullhead, black crappie, and catfish. But their best selling product remains their smoked sturgeon.
Fabienne was surprised by the amount of work that is involved.
“There are a lot of steps that go into getting products prepared and sold. We have to catch the fish, which isn’t always easy as it’s dependant on a number of factors. The process also includes fixing them, doing loads of paperwork for certification, and preparing the final product. Finally, we organize everything to be able to attend the markets and sell our products”
Fabienne is proud to see the products they work so hard to produce served at great restaurants in the region.”
The help they have received from people along the way is at the core of the advice she has for people thinking of starting out in the industry.
“Don’t do it alone. Find a good group of people to work with. It’s an added bonus if you work with ‘morning people’. You’ll want to avoid the afternoon heat!”
Burrel Farm – Dain Burrel
https://www.facebook.com/dain.burrell
613-608-4061
After working at a mushroom farm in Osgoode, Dain began his own operation in 2012 with a small half-acre of land. While this was his first operation in Canada, Dain was not new to farming. Dain describes farming as a “family thing”. Starting at the age of seven, Dain was taught by his father in Jamaica. He grew up eating fresh foods daily.
In Jamaica, they grew all kinds of vegetables but specialized in growing peanuts.
Burrell Farms has now expanded to 10 acres. It specializes in growing beans – Black, red kidney, black turtle, pinto, romano, white navy, and more. Despite being originally dissuaded from bean farming, Dain mentions that the process has been extremely fruitful.
Being the only large-scale bean farmer in the Ottawa area, Dain has benefitted from an increasing demand for vegetarian and vegan alternatives. Being a vegan himself, Dain is happy to be an integral part of the movement.
Aside from beans, Burrell Farm also grows a variety of vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, beets, as well as scotch bonnet, a Caribbean staple used in Jamaican jerk recipes.
Dain has been happily surprised by the level of support he receives from his community. Another surprise has been the quality of soil which produces yields far better than land in Jamaica.
Dain is proud of being able to eat healthy food he himself has grown. His belief that “food should be medicine” contributes to the pride he feels as he’s able to share his quality products with his community.
Little Green Farm
TheLittleGreenFarm@hotmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/TLGFarm/
https://www.instagram.com/the.little.green.farm/
Little Green Farm was started in 2017on a small plot of rented land in Lowe. In 2018 it continued on its own land in Saint-Sixte.
The first year they grew a wide variety of salad greens — Kale, arugula, spinach, tatsoi and so on. However, after that experience they decided to avoid having a specialty and now grow over 75 varieties of flowers and vegetables.
There are many ways to grow produce; organic vs non organic, tractor or no tractor, in the soil or hydroponically. Their goal is to maximize the sustainability of their growing methods.
One of the proudest moments so far was to hold a piece of home-grown ginger. Normally a crop grown in tropical climates it was a triumph to make it happy all the way up at our latitude.
Based on their experience thus far, they offer two pieces of advice for those thinking of starting a farm
First, forget about the plants and focus on the soil. It’s all you really have. Learn about soil biology, physics and chemistry and focus on creating the most biologically active soil you can.
Second, learn from as many different farmers as you can. You never know who will have an ultra creative processing strategy or a seemingly insignificant harvesting tip that ends up saving you tens of hours over the season.