NS Organic Farmers

Casson Family Farm

“I’m making my living without taking anything from anyone, and I’m leaving a small footprint,” says Marcus Casson, of Casson Family Farms.

Marcus has been farming commercially for 10 years, four of which have been at his current location in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. His 60-acre property, which is located on top of “a mountain and a gravel pit”, includes three greenhouses and six acres of field gardens.

“I grow almost all vegetables, except potatoes,” says Marcus, “11 varieties of peppers, 9 kinds of tomatoes, 6 types of squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, spinach, and beet greens!” His products are sold at the farm and at the Truro Farmers Market, along with some independent grocery stores and restaurants.

Casson Family Farms has been certified by Maritime Certified Organic Growers for about three years.

In his earlier years of farming, Marcus had a small customer base that knew he farmed organically; therefore, he didn’t find it necessary to certify. When Marcus wanted to expand this base, he decided that it would be beneficial to obtain the organic certification. At the present time, he still sells a lot of his products as conventional, but he is hoping that in the future, as people develop a greater awareness of the benefits of local organic produce, being organically certified will become more profitable.

Growing vegetables has always been a passion for Marcus, who started his first garden in high school, and when he decided to grow commercially, he knew it would be using organic standards. “There was never any doubt in my mind about farming organically,” states Marcus. He says he has seen too many instances of pesticide use gone wrong and does not want to use chemicals on his products.

Marcus currently sees many challenges in the farming industry. Public support for farmers is weak, and it is difficult to get long-term, hired farm help (Marcus’ father, who is a graduate of the Agricultural College, some friends, and WWOOFers currently provide much the labour for Casson Family Farms). The weather has also proven to be a challenge this year, as it has been extremely rainy in Nova Scotia, “and this means that our prices must increase.”

Yet, Marcus Casson remains optimistic. In the future, he’d like to produce “a larger volume of better products,” build sales, and create a farm that will continue for generations to come. In Marcus’ mind, organic agriculture is “a way for a little guy to get back into the market”.

Casson Family Farm

Product
Description
Availability
Beans green and yellow seeds are selected for taste - fresh beans
late July - Thanksgiving
Beets golden beet: orange flesh on the inside - mild, sweet tasting beet, chioggia: spirals, regular table beets and carrot shaped beets - tenderbeet
mid July - end of season
Broccoli extremely flavourful variety
early July - end of November
Cabbages red & green, mini and large
early July - end of November
Carrots different varieties
late July - end of December
Joi Choi giant bok choi - mild flavour
mid-June - November
Cauliflower  
late July -end of October
Corn organic sweet corn
august
Cucumbers american slice and field cucumbers
late July  - end of September
Leeks sweet and large
mid- august through December
Lettuce Available upon request
seasonal
Icebox Watermelon smaller and sweeter, orange fleshed
august/September
Cantaloupe aromatic and sweet with intense melon flavour
august/September
Garlic hard neck elephant: large cloves, northern German: pink skin hot and spicy garlic
august -December
Onions snow white Spanish - very sweet - great salad onion and red Spanish onion
august-November
Green Onions  
throughout season
Parsley  
 
Snow Peas  
July - September
Shelling Peas  
July - September
Peppers 4 different varieties of edible and hot ornamental peppers in 8 inch pots - available by potted plant
august - Christmas last for 3&1/2 years - continual harvest
Bell Peppers green, yellow, orange  and red sweet bell pepper
late July  - end of November
Hot Thai Chillies  
august - November
Jalapenos large variety - Green House and field
august - November
Hot Banana Peppers banana shaped yellow peppers
august - November
Sweet Peppers Romanian heirloom - when fired they caramelize and sweeten - not the prettiest, but very tasty and great for stir fries
august - November
Pumpkins for Seed kakai (Austrian) - used for green pumpkin  seeds - cashew flavour when roasted, excellent addition to salads, flesh makes great soups.
mid-September - Christmas
Radishes red table radish, French breakfast salad radish, watermelon radish:  sweetest and mildest of all radishes-large and bulky, black Spanish radish:  very hot and spicy, Mediterranean radish:  large - great for long term storage
all season
Baby-leaf Greenhouse Spinach baby spinach
mid-April till end of June; September to April
Swiss Chard baby-sized and full-sized - excellent addition to salads - very colourful rainbow variety.
all season
Summer Squash green and yellow zucchinis - 2 sizes - 4-6 inch and then 6-8 inch
early July -end of season
Patty Pan inch and a half yellow.
early July -end of season
Spaghetti Squash  
august till end of season
Winter Squash butternut, buttercup, amber cup, sweet dumpling
end of august, till end of season
Tomatoes Green House tomatoes many different varieties, heritage varieties, 8-9 ounce steak type - good shelf life and very sweet
late June - late November
Cherry tomatoes mixed variety - up to  8 different tomatoes in a colourful mix
late June - late November
Roma Tomatoes available bulk
late august - till en of October
Green Tomatoes  
available from July  first onward-till November
Field-grown Beefsteak green and field tomatoes
July - October
Tomatillo GREAT  for salsa or Texas-style chilli
July - October
Summer Turnip white Japanese summer turnip - mildest of all summer turnips, red summer turnip - medium flavoured, white globe purple top summer turnip - strongest flavoured of the three
mid- July onward
Basil sweet basil late July -first frost