Strawberry Fields Forever

As spring arrives like a breath of fresh air, families are heading to local farms to enjoy the warmer weather and fresh produce, including juicy strawberries.

Readers looking for pick-your-own strawberry farms or purchasing freshly-baked strawberry pies will appreciate you telling them about Ontario Farm Fresh Find a Farm locator. The locator is a unique, user-friendly search engine that allows you to find Ontario farms. You can search by region, produce, pick-your-own opportunities, attractions (e.g. mazes, rides, corporate functions, etc.) or simply browse through all the farms in the database. The results provide detailed information about each farm, including its location, directions, contact and hours of operation.

Juicy Story Ideas: Whether you are writing a story about how to pick the sweetest strawberries, baking the perfect strawberry pie, storing/freezing tips, making strawberry jam or what to expect on your first pick-your-own adventure, we can put you in touch with experts for interviews and quotes. For instance, for recipes and berry preparation tips, we can offer an interview with Jesse Lauzon, the food manager at Springridge Farm, a long-standing farm that is known for luscious strawberry fields and renowned strawberry-rhubarb pies.

Springridge Farm’s Golden Year

2010 is a special year for Springridge Farm as the Hughes family celebrates 50 years of farming on the Niagara Escarpment in Milton. From its beginnings as a sour cherry farm, it has grown immensely over the years to include other crops, a barn market, tours and special events. 

Surrounded by breathtaking scenery, the farm features a bakery/café with delectable fresh sandwiches, soups and baked goods made from scratch.  The food shop also boasts gourmet goodies such as marinades, relishes, dressings, preserves, tapenades and salsas. Many of these delicious fine foods are made fresh onsite and some come from the highly-coveted Dean & Deluca lines. 

The farm includes a gift shop located in a 19th-century barn, brimming with home and garden accessories and unique gifts. Visitors can find locally-made jewelry, accessories, garden statuaries/furniture and gorgeous Ontario flower baskets. In addition, Springridge is proud to support Canadian artists and brings in seasonal inventory to help with home decorating, entertaining and gift shopping throughout the year.

If you’d like to learn more about Springridge Farm and their host of events that will mark their 50th anniversary, please contact us and we’ll gladly set up an interview with Laura and John Hughes, owners of the farm.

Farmers' Markets

With the arrival of warmer weather, farmers’ markets are springing up across the province. In Toronto, Metro Hall farmers’ market opens on May 27th and Nathan Phillips Square farmers’ market opens on June 2nd.

For those that can’t wait to get a hold of fresh-from-the-farm strawberries, they can simply visit Thames River Melons Ltd. at these farmers’ market; the vendor offers some of the earliest berries in Ontario because he creates shelters for the plants in the field to help bring them along earlier.

If you’d like to learn more about Ontario farmers’ markets, please contact us and we’ll gladly set up an interview with one of our OFFMA spokespeople.

A Berry Long Growing Season

Tigchelaar Berry Farms was recently recognized with the $50,000 Minister’s Award for their novel strawberry growing system at the sixth annual Premier’s Summit on Agri-Food. The farm uses a unique production technique that expands its day-neutral strawberry operation, allowing it to provide the product for nearly a six-month window rather than three to four weeks. Ultimately, these growers are able to provide Ontario wholesalers and retailers a constant supply of fresh, local, high-quality strawberries from May until late October.

If you’d like to learn more about day-neutrals and Tigchelaar’s growing technique, please contact us and we’ll gladly set up an interview with Jeff and Dan Tigchelaar, owners of this innovative farm.

Outstanding Young Farmers of the Year

Lisa and Steve Cooper, who run Cooper's CSA Farm & Maze, were recently named ‘Outstanding Young Farmers of the Year.’ They operate a market garden, on-farm store, agri-entertainment area with a corn maze and they support 600 members in a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) program.

If you’d like to learn more about CSA’s, please contact us and we’ll gladly set up an interview with Lisa and Steve.

What's in Season?

Contact Us

For interviews, recipes/photos or if you would like to visit an OFFMA members’ farm, please contact:

Kathy Khamis / Cara Epp
Faye Clack Communications Inc.
905-206-0577 ext. 247 / 241
kkhamis@fayeclack.com / cepp@fayeclack.com