Ferme Giroflée is the largest highbush blueberry farm in the Montérégie region, as well as a certified organic market garden and fruit farm, a sustainable agrotourism site, and a living laboratory for socio-environmental transition. This year, it is celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
Ferme Giroflée’s fruit-growing experiments allowed it to have the first litres of blueberries available for sale on June 15 this summer, which is almost a month before they were projected to be ready. But the biggest experiment this summer involves strawberries.
Mariklôde Tardi, the administration assistant, communications coordinator, and social innovation project manager at the farm, says, “This year we developed a project for strawberry production that will help us offer strawberries to the clients for the first time. It’s an experiment to see if the techniques we use work well.” The strawberries are grown in a tunnel, on posts, so they aren’t directly on the ground. Though the team still has to take care of them, they are more self-sufficient and require less upkeep. They are also more visually pleasing for the guests. So far, it has been successful.
On top of these experiments, the folks at Ferme Giroflée have added new produce this year. For one, they’ve started growing black raspberries. These will be available at the U-Pick, along with regular raspberries. They’ve also added three kinds of zucchinis: green, mini green, and yellow. Plus, they still have the mini-aubergines, cucamelons, various species of peppers, cherry tomatoes, and hot peppers as usual.
Tardi explains that they’ve also added tomatillos this year, which are quite a specialized product; they are closely related to ground cherries but are very acidic and used to make salsa verde. The goal is to offer unique and rare products that may not be available elsewhere in the Valley. “We want to develop our palettes,” she says.
To celebrate the 10-year anniversary, the farm held a small “5 à 7” in May with some invited guests from their community. It was kept small, with friends, family, neighbours, and people who have helped it thrive over the past 10 years. “Giroflée wouldn’t be where it is today without them,” Tardi says. For the farm, 10 years is just the beginning. There are big plans, including the renovation of the kiosk. Tardi adds, “For us, a 10-year anniversary is a time to show our clientele we’re still growing and developing.”
At the farm, kiosk sales have recently moved to a self-serve model. The prices for each product are listed there; however, the payment works on the honour system. Tardi explains that this has worked really well so far, especially as people are already saving by not buying produce at a grocery store. She says it “lets people in the community feel that we’re reinforcing our trust in them.” Plus, it means they can have one less person working at the kiosk. That being said, there is always someone around to answer questions.
The U-Pick is now open for the summer, on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Guests are encouraged to check Ferme Giroflée on Facebook for daily updates before visiting, as sometimes the fields empty earlier in the day.