Goldfinch Farm
While
casually growing avocados, peanuts, and cacti in his greenhouses –
Henry Penner is also extremely busy producing a huge variety of mixed
vegetables. He lives firmly by his philosophy of the small
homestead business based on trust and furnished by the “friend to
friend” business system.
Henry Penner has a
deep-rooted love for healthy life – one that includes the health of the
earth. His life has been dedicated to producing quality organic
products and he has become well known for his dedication to quality.
People from all across Nova Scotia seek out his produce! When
Penner speaks about his customers at the local farmer’s market he
smiles with appreciation, “the challenge is for people to become
open-minded – to care for the earth and the environment,” he says about
his lifelong endeavour to support his family by organic farming
alone.
Growing up in farming communities, he
wasn’t exposed to chemical agriculture until later in life when he
moved from Northern Mexico to what was then British Honduras. Before
that, his family and community farmed organically by default. When he
was exposed to chemical farming, he was also exposed to a plight of
ill-health. Being an inquisitive fellow, Henry realized that the white
powdered chemical being used in excess on the vegetables he was working
to produce was seriously affecting his and his family’s health.
Concerned
for the rampant use of the chemical in Belize, Penner decided to be
radical, and in 1970, he quit using the miracle chemicals in favour of
the more natural, less invasive methods from his childhood. This was
not easy, as it was the peak transition period in favour of chemical
agricultural, and Henry was quite alone in his venture to become an
organic farm. He had to send away for books and information on organic
farming because it was such an unheard of idea.
In
1986, discouraged by the violence in Belize, Henry Penner moved to
Canada. He chose Nova Scotia because he thought it would be an ideal
place for a small, mixed farm. He also loved the scenery and welcomed
the opportunity to escape the rat race. He felt Nova Scotia was the
perfect place for this dream – quiet and peaceful, temperate, and open
to small family farm business. Nova Scotia also appealed to him because
of the existence of organic certifying bodies – something that was
still non-existent in Belize.
Henry Penner
now has roughly 10 acres of intensive, impeccably kept gardens. He has
three large green houses and three movable tunnels which he moves every
two to three years to maintain soil health. At 61 years of age, his
dream now is to slow down. During the peak months, he currently works
between twelve and thirteen hours a day, six days a week. He aspires to
take it easier than that by purchasing more equipment and becoming more
specific with his products, all the while experimenting with avocados
and peanuts!
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