NS Organic Farmers

Farmer John’s Herbs

Farmer John's Herbs is owned and operated by John and Heather Lohr. It is located underneath the Look-off, in a community called Medford, Kings County, Nova Scotia (near Wolfville).

John's father started the farm in 1960 and John and Heather purchased it from him in 1987. John learned to farm from his father (and he is still learning from him); however, John also has a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Guelph (1985) and was awarded the Nuffield Agriculture Scholarship in 1998.

Farmer John's Herbs has 150 acres of land, including about 30 acres of woods. When John and Heather bought the property, they changed it from a farm growing potatoes, cabbage and wheat, to one that produces primarily summer savory and baby carrots. John and his father Bram make much of their machinery, and have been willing to change crops and try new things.

Farmer John's Herbs is perhaps best known for its 42 spice blends and 30 culinary organic herbs. These products are available in grocery stores throughout the Maritimes, and in giftware stores in Ontario and Eastern Canada.

Farmer John's Herbs is both certified as a producer, and as a processor. For John and Heather, organic processor certification was a process undertaken to give more distribution efficiency to their summer savory business. They distribute their savory directly to over 100 stores, and have found that adding organic herb and spice products increased their sales per visit and reduced their overhead. At Farmer John's Herbs, they purchase certified organic herbs in bulk and package them into small packages and sell them in Sobeys. "Sobeys has been very good to do business with and very helpful" says John.

Becoming certified as a processor has been extremely beneficial to John and Heather, allowing them to learn a lot about organic food processing and about the general operation of food plants. "We always learn things when the inspectors visit and this has helped us greatly," says John. He explains that the steps needed to become organic improved their entire operation, and he feels that it is important to have the opportunity to connect with the organic community and learn from each other.

Producer certification has been added recently with 7 acres now certified organic. They are currently test growing organic garlic, variety - Music, and plan to grow organic parsley and basil in the future.

Currently the savory crop is not certified as they are land trading with local farmers to lengthen their rotation. They grow 65 ( in 2011 )acres of summer savory on a 1 year in 4 rotation. John and Heather are very pleased that the sales of all their products are increasing and that they can offer these products to the marketplace.

In the future, John and Heather would like to possibly create a retail farm market, as they are currently a strictly wholesale business. With growing online sales, they would also like to expand their products across Canada and internationally.

ACORN

NS Organic Farmers

Farmer John’s Herbs

Find Local Organic Food

Grower's Database

Join ACORN