Jardin biologique Amarosia Ltée / Amarosia Organic Garden Ltd.
Located in Grande-Digue, New Brunswick, overlooking Shediac Bay, this 4-acre enterprise has become a haven for delicious and unique food varieties.
Rowena Hopkins, a former chemistry teacher and part time IOIA accredited organic inspector, and her husband Dave Méthot, who left his field of engineering to pursue farming, both work full time at Amarosia. They are true food enthusiasts and it shows when you visit their extensive market gardens. Amarosia Organic Garden offers a diverse selection of produce for a wide range of appetites. They have over 200 different varieties of vegetables growing on a mere 4 acres, and they experiment both with new varieties and old heirlooms every year. One of their treats is the wonderberry – an old relative of the tomato, this plant is also native to North America and produces small berry-like fruit that have a distinctive sweet-acid flavour. Another treat is purslane – a cultivated variety of a common weed, delicious and full of healthy omega 3 fatty acids!
Both David and Rowena came to farming in a roundabout way. A distinctive couple, the two met overseas while working in Africa as teachers with VSO. They decided to give the farm life a try in New Brunswick out of pure passion for the importance of a healthy, local, organic and sustainable food system. They received their full organic certification in 2007.
Rowena and Dave dream of making a living from their garden productions. This path to sustainable living has been difficult for them since they both left stable careers to work full-time on their farm. Between hosting and training farm apprentices, marketing, coordinating their CSA and don't forget growing and harvesting beautiful produce, their new line of work has proven to be quite demanding. But if anyone can do it successfully, it's Rowena and Dave. They are creative, flexible, caring people who burst with passion when they talk about their farm and goals tobe a sustainable food source for their local area.
Amarosia offers shares in their 'Farm Share' or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) where they deliver baskets of mixed produce to their members in exchange for their customers buying shares in the production of the food. Their food can also be found at Sequoia Natural Foods in Moncton. Their CSA has proven to be so successful that they have a waiting list for new members.
If you’re interested in learning more, visit their website: www.amarosia.com.
Visit the Amarosia Organic Garden blog:
www.amarosia.com/blog.
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