Gary and Kelly Hughes and their family are realizing a dream that many believe is unattainable. They are a 1st generation dairy farm. While the road has certainly had its share of bumps, Gary and Kelly have found plenty of rewards in their dairy farm and their market garden.
In terms of transitioning their farm to certified organic, Gary and Kelly had four great reasons to give it serious consideration: “Grace, Jamie, Katie, and their older brother Mathew”. The children all play a part in the farm too – helping Gary and Kelly plant, weed, and harvest in the garden and care for the animals. They seem to enjoy the farm life – “One of our things that we stress is that we’re a family farm and everybody has a little part in the farm.”
Although their dairy is not yet certified organic, their strawberry u-pick and mixed vegetable gardens are all certified.
It was a big challenge to make the transition, but Gary doesn’t seem to be the type to shy away from challenges. A good challenge strengthens his resolve to overcome an obstacle. “Organics is challenging. It’s a different way of thinking, but it keeps me involved and interested in everything that’s happening on the farm.”
Gary studied agriculture at the University of Guelph and immediately started working for a vegetable farmer in Ontario. After a few intense years of learning the ropes of running a vegetable farm, Gary was presented with the opportunity to purchase a part of his family’s original Prince Edward Island homestead. He didn’t hesitate. In 1986 he purchased 25 acres of land that used to belong to his great, great grandparents. Ten years later, he was able to buy another 50 acres beside the home farm. In 2006, Gary and Kelly purchased a neighbouring farm of 53 acres – bringing their total organic land to 128 acres.
Hughes Hill Farms' specialties include strawberries, free-range eggs, homemade pickles and jams, pastured poultry (available in the fall), ground beef (from animals fed a minimum of 80% organically), and a wide variety of certified organic veggies – all of which can be found at the Hughes Hill Farms stall at the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market.
Gary and Kelly hope to erect a greenhouse on their land for the expanding vegetable business and also hope to build their own farm market stand on their property in order to encourage farm visits.
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HUGHES HILL FAMILY FARM - SELL SHEET
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PRODUCT
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DESCRIPTION
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AVAILABILITY
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| Beets |
Standard varieties available as well as Golden Beets, Chioggias (red beets with white/pink swirl), and Cyndor (long obong shape like a carrot) |
Mid-July through until January/February
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| Beet Greens |
Dark red Bull's Blood beet greens and regular green tops |
End of June until Mid-November
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| Beans |
Green, Yellow and Purple - all extremely flavourful |
Late July until end of September
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| Broccoli |
Hughes Hill Farm's heavier soils seem to give their broccoli a burst of flavour - a customer favourite! |
First of August until November
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| Cabbage |
Red, Green, Early varieties and Storage varieties |
August until Christmas
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| Carrots |
An extremely popular item at the market stall, Hughes Hill Farm has a variety of different Orange-hued carrots as well as Purple, Red, White and Yellow carrots available. |
Mid-July until January
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| Baby Carrots |
Hughes Hill Farm picks their carrots in the early stages of growth for an especially flavourful and sweet tasting mini-carrot! |
July - December
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| Cauliflour |
White, Orange, Purple and Veronica |
Late August to November
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| Swiss Chard |
Rainbow Chard, Red Chard and regular white varieties |
End of June - November
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| Cucumbers |
Slicing and Pickling varieties available |
Last week of July - October
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| Leeks |
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Late August until November
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| Lettuce (leaf) |
Spicy and Mild Mixes (Mesclun) and Frilly Leaf lettuce. Hughes Hill Farm grows lettuces for colour and texture varietes and they are careful to harvest the leaf lettuce as baby lettuce. Blends are their specialty - ask them for your own personal blend! |
June - November
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| Lettuce (head) |
Romaine is the main lettuce grown, but they also have Leafy Head Lettuces, Lola Rosa, and Boston Butter lettuce varieties |
End of July until October
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| Cilantro |
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July - November
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| Dill |
Fern and seed available |
July - November
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| Parsley |
Curly and Italian flat leaf |
July - November
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| Herbs |
Sage, Chives (late May, June till July), Summer Savoury (August until September), Thyme |
June to end of September
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| Basil |
Standard Sweet Basil |
July - Frost
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| Onions |
Green bunching onions (red and white) as well as Cooking onions: Spanish, Red and Yellow cooking onions |
End of July until December
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| Sweet Corn |
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End of June and through July
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| Garlic |
Music (large cloves), Kiev (Rocambole varitey), Porcelain type (small cloves with lots of cloves per bulb) and Persian Star Purple Stripe |
August
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| Melons |
Limited availability |
Late August & September
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| Parsnips |
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September until storage lasts and occaisonally available for Spring picking
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| Peppers |
Limited availability of green, red, yellow and hot peppers depending on the season |
August until late September or early October
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| Potatoes |
Norland Red, Irish Cobblers, Superior, Fabula, Russet and Yukon Gold |
Early to mid-July until storage lasts.
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| Radish |
Several different varieties including French breakfast, Easter Egg varieties and White Icicles |
June - October (availability depends on conditions)
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| Rhubarb |
Old fashioned farmstead rhubarb standard |
May & June
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| Spinach/Baby Spinach |
Sinfully delicious spinach! Kelly's absolute favourite on the farm! They are very particular about picking the baby spinach leaves for the best texture and taste |
June to October/November (bulk Spinach available in early summer)
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| Strawberries |
3 or 4 different varieties available. Hughes Hill Farm is famous for their extremely flavourful varieties - all of them are very sweet |
July
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| Tomatoes |
Assorted cherry varieties including Orange Cherry Tomatoes (Golden Cherry), and assorted varieties of large tomatoes, mostly red varieties |
August - October
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| Summer Squash |
Zucchinni, Patty Pan, Yellow Zucchini, Papya (a pear shape tear-drop yellow) |
Mid-July until October
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| Winter Squash |
Buttercup, Butternut, Acorn, Delicata, Heart of Gold, Hubbard, Ambercup (a buttercup type), and Spaghetti |
September - Christmas
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| Peas |
Snow Peas, Snap peas and shelling peas, pea shoots |
Mid-July until September
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| Fennel |
Full Bulbs & Baby Bulbs |
August and September
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| Summer Turnip |
Creamy flesh with a radish flavour |
July & August
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| Winter Turnip (Rutabage) |
Yellowy flesh |
October - January
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| Kohlrabi |
Green and Purple Kohlrabi |
August until October
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| Pumpkins |
Pie pumpkins, Jack O'Lanters, and Mini-Pumpkins |
September/October
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| Gourds |
Decorative Gourdes (mostly mini-gourds with some birdhouse gourds available as well) |
September/October
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