Capital region residents are turning out in high numbers at farm stands and markets to buy locally grown and freshly picked produce.
“Our business has definitely been up,” said Don Ponchet, of Dan’s Farm and Country Market, 2030 Bear Hill Rd, who has just started selling the first of the season strawberries.
Pamela Fox of Silver Rill Berry Farm, 1490 Hovey Rd., sells blackcurrant concentrate year-round and has a variety of fresh berries now ripening.
Area farmers have been talking about the rising interest from customers, particularly since concerns about COVID-19 arrived.
Popularity of stands has “totally taken off this year,” Fox said. “It is really encouraging to have more support.”
When something is picked locally, there is little contact with other sources, Fox said. These days, shoppers are extra aware of the handling of any kind of product as they try to limit health risks.
Rather than going to markets this year, Fox is planning to have a farm stand set up on Hovey Road in mid-June when her production ramps up.
Fox, a member of a multi-generation farming family, has spearheaded special events and markets to educate and encourage locals to support the agricultural community.
Anyone interested in visiting local farms can go online to islandfarmfresh.com to track what is ripe and which farms are selling. Strawberries are always popular but the region is known for a wide range of products, including honey and corn.
Ponchet got a jump on this year’s strawberry season by relying on his 2019 plants to produce ripe berries.
Strawberry season is not in full swing yet — the first crop picked Wednesday yielded about 18 kilograms of berries.
“We sold out very quickly,” he said.
Strawberries will be sold only on Wednesdays and Saturdays until full production kicks in next month as the crop ripens and more sunny days make the berries even sweeter.
Customers are limited to two pints each.
The limit will relax once the larger crop ripens.
The cost is $6 per pint at this time but this year’s strawberry prices haven’t been finalized, he said.
Dan’s Market is selling everbearing strawberries grown on plants from last year. The more recently planted June-bearing strawberries will be ripening soon.
The June-bearing berries have “maximum sweetness” and do not keep very long. Everbearing are not typically quite as sweet but are firmer and last longer, Ponchet said. He has about seven acres planted in strawberries.
Ponchet went to Swartz Bay on Thursday to pick up the final worker he hired this year from Mexico. He has hired seven Mexicans who have worked for him in the past and has five Canadians on staff as well.
The out-of-country workers were put up by the government in a hotel for two weeks, a practice now required to combat COVID-19.
Ponchet’s farm offerings include rhubarb, lettuce, radishes and cucumbers. It is no longer selling ice cream by the scoop — only pre-packaged frozen treats.
He has realigned some of the market to comply with the new social-distancing safety rules required by the province.
At Galey Farms, 4150 Blenkinsop Rd., June-bearing strawberries from about half a million plants should be ripening at the start of next month.
“I ate my first one on Tuesday. It was amazing,” Rob Galey said.
When Galey’s market reopens, it too will be configured differently with stalls spread out more on the property.
Carrots, nugget potatoes and then corn in late June are among crops coming up.
This is also the time of year when Galey is going full-out getting new plants in the ground.
“I was planting pumpkins all day yesterday.”
He’s expecting 19 Mexican workers will be here for the season and is hiring locals as well.
The provincial government’s decision to pay for accommodation for the workers from Mexico “took a huge load off our shoulders,” he said.
