The Accidental Apple Grower
Chris Hedges didn’t grow up on a farm, nor did he plan to be a farmer. But when his parents purchased a farm in Norfolk County, he became intrigued by...
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Growing a Prince of an apple
The Red Prince is an apple like no other - a natural cross between a Golden Delicious and a Red Jonathan with a deep red colour. Like a fine wine,...
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Reconnecting Ontarians with the apple orchard
A visit to Brantwood Farms has become a tradition for many families in southern Ontario who enjoy spending time at the pick-your-own orchard on the outskirts of Brantford. Kara Pate...
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Algoma Orchards a sustainability leader in Ontario’s apple industry
For more than 50 years, the Gibson and Kemp families have been growing apples at Algoma Orchards near Newcastle in Durham Region. Their apple roots go back much further than...
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How new apple varieties come to our local markets
An Ontario apple farmer tells us how he picks what apples he’ll be growing next. Photo credit: CropLife Canada Over 7,500 apple varieties are grown around the world. Not all of these...
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On the lookout for new technologies, techniques and ways of doing things
Photo credit: Glenn Lowson for The Grower Tom Ferri’s lifelong passion is growing things. He’s a third generation apple grower carrying on a family business first started in the 1930s. Today his...
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A helping hand for new apple growers
The learning curve is steep and the sheer volume of things you don’t know can seem overwhelming when you’re starting into something new – and apple growing is no different. To...
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Canadas most southerly orchard is at the forefront of new fruit varieties
By Lilian Schaer Harrow – There’s an orchard on the shores of Lake Erie where you can get apple varieties that aren’t readily available anywhere else. Doug Balsillie and Leslie Huffman Balsillie...
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Connecting consumers, kids and apples
Sharing their passion for apples with consumers and young people is central to marketing and outreach activities at Great Lakes Farms. Since 2008, MaryAnne and Joe Van De Gevel have been...
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Meet a lifelong Ontario apple grower
When Hector Delanghe first started farming, Louis St. Laurent was Prime Minister of Canada, the Yonge subway line in Toronto was newly opened, and construction had just begun on the...
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Family apple business expands into value-added processing
In early November, Martin’s Family Fruit Farm received word that they had just been awarded a grant to adapt their apple chip-making equipment to handle fresh vegetables too. That’s just the...
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When growing apples is in your blood
Growing good quality apples, peaches, pears and plums while ensuring consumer and environmental safety, is a passion for Bill Medel and his family in Ruthven, Ontario. Medel is a second generation...
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Innovations protect fruit crops against weather and predator damage
Damaging weather and predators can mean the difference between a good year and a bad one on the farm. No one knows that better than Charles Stevens, who grows apples...
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Ontario cider pioneer leading craft apple cider renaissance
The light, refreshing taste of Ontario craft ciders is in hot demand across the province – and Ontario apple and cider producers are working to quench that consumer thirst just...
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For the love of apples
A summer job for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food during university led to a life-long love and a diverse business for Cathy McKay. The summer after completing her undergraduate...
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Quality fruit and service are key to family fruit farm
(Fenwick) – Thirty years ago, Leo DeVries, a full-time carpenter, and his wife Margaret bought a small fruit farm in Fenwick, Ontario – a move that fulfilled a lifelong dream...
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Future looks bright for young Ontario apple farmer
He’s young, he’s educated and he’s optimistic about his future in the apple business. Brett Schuyler farms near Simcoe in Norfolk County with his dad, uncle and brother, where they also...
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A Royal apple success story
Heidi and Patrick Behan clearly know a thing or two about growing great apples. The Cobourg-area apple farmers have won the Ontario Apple Grower trophy for commercial production at the Royal...
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New owners at popular Goldsmith's Orchard Market
The name Goldsmith’s Orchard Market is well-known in the Georgian Bay area. Now, the popular market is under new ownership – and new owners Brad, Teresa and Kyle Oakley are...
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Family business started with apples, pies and a little red wagon
According to the Lambe family of Meaford, their story begins with an apple orchard, a well-used pie recipe and a little red wagon. In the 1940’s, dairy farmers Mabel and Hartley...
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