Four Seasons Farm
In 1980, Nancy and David Roberts moved to Nova Scotia and started growing their own food. Their main motivation for gardening at the time was their own passion for good food: “We wanted to eat well and weren’t satisfied with what was available in the grocery stores, so we started growing our own food”.
In 1992 Four Seasons Farm started selling at the Halifax farmers market, but organic produce was not in high demand at the time. Determined to make seasonal, organic produce recognized as the quality product it is, David turned his attention to chefs in the Halifax/Dartmouth area in 1994, offering deliveries twice per week. The chefs and restaurants must have been pleased with what was delivered, as David and Nancy’s venture has grown from a backyard garden to providing for over forty-two restaurants and hotels in Nova Scotia – which is their main clientele. Later, in 2002, they returned to the Halifax Farmers Market to serve a large customer base, which had grown out of a home delivery service. Their now six-acre intensive operation, which they claim, “expanded a little bit at a time,” includes long, outdoor beds, and nine high tunnels of specialty vegetables plus a full range of culinary herbs. Herbs are fresh-picked, cleaned and ready to flavour or garnish.
The family, with a small crew of interns, works especially hard to create the best possible salad mix. With over thirty different varieties of greens mixed into seasonal concoctions they lay claim to the most beautiful and delicious salad combinations. The extensive washing and packing facility ensures fresh, long-lasting product.
When asked “why organic?” Nancy answers that “it just seemed like the right way to do things – we didn’t even think about it that much.” But now, Four Seasons Farm, organic from the beginning, has been certified for five years.
They consistently deliver service and top quality products to their customers with, as David describes it, “enough variety to provide for your seasonal organic menu.” Innovative and experimental, they have made a great success of promoting local and organic produce in Nova Scotia. |
