Doctor’s Inn and Organic Gardens
In 1980, in the small western PEI village of Tyne Valley, Paul and Jean Offer were disillusioned with the North American food production system.
In response, the Offers purchased a 50-acre plot of land a few miles from their home to focus on growing healthy food. However, it soon became apparent that living away from the gardens would not work, so they rented land from a next-door neighbour. Paul and Jean also opened a two-bedroom bed and breakfast in their 1860s heritage home, to complement their vision of sustainability.
Twenty-five years later, the Doctor’s Inn and Organic Gardens consists of a two-acre organic market garden and a 2000 square foot heated greenhouse. At the peak of summer the gardens are a beautiful sight, producing a great array of vegetables, along with the free-range hens and ducks raised for meat and eggs. Guests of the B&B are encouraged to walk the gardens, visit the birds, and enjoy the farm experience.
At the Inn, the Offers also provide year round, private dining. Meals are prepared for groups of two to six people per night, by reservation only. During the summer months reservations are made for almost every evening, only slowing down during the winter. The Inn’s meals are gourmet fare, noted in publications such as Canadian Living, Atlantic Insight, Atlantic Advocate, “Where to Eat in Canada”, Maritime Food & Beverage, and Wine Tidings magazines.
This acclaim is predominately a result of the Offer’s passion for good food. All vegetable and fruit ingredients used in the Inn’s meals are from the gardens, with the beef and fish sourced as locally as possible. Since the food is all made fresh - from grinding the flour, to making the pasta, sauces, and desserts - preparation time for the evening meal takes about three hours.
This thought and care translates into a memorable dining experience. For example, when tomatoes are in season, guests are offered a platter of seven or eight heirloom varieties. Most diners have never seen so many different types of tomatoes before, let alone tasted food straight from the garden.
Paul and Jean love to wow their costumers with beautiful, full-flavoured foods. Dinner guests also provide great feedback on what vegetables to grow. If varieties do not get a positive response they are eliminated. When they first started, the Offers found it difficult to find seeds for the range of vegetable varieties that they wanted. For instance, in the mid-80s, Vessey’s Seeds only carried three types of lettuce. Today, the Doctor’s Inn boasts over two-dozen varieties of lettuce.
Rather than specializing in a few crops, the Doctor’s Inn Organic Gardens is filled with vegetables especially chosen for flavour. With a restricted land base, the focus is on quality rather than quantity. High-volume, low-return vegetables such as corn and white potatoes are not grown. Rather, the focus is on specialty items that command a premium price. Today, approximately 50 basic vegetables are produced, with many varieties of each vegetable. Whether fingerling potatoes, Nantes carrots, or fillet beans, each vegetable has to have the best flavour possible.
The Offers have also been deeply involved in PEI’s organic community. They helped to form the first PEI Organic Growers Association in 1983, with which they were initially certified. Paul has also maintained a booth at the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market for the past 21 years, a 90-minute drive from his home.
Several years ago, after being certified organic for over a decade, the Offers opted not to renew their organic certification. They felt overwhelmed by the paperwork and did not feel that the cost and time commitments were necessary, with so many loyal customers from their many years in business who trusted them to produce healthy food. However, this summer an organic inspector will be back, and by fall the garden will be certified by the Maritime Certified Organic Growers Co-op (MCOG).
This decision was sparked by the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market board policy change, asking all vendors making organic claims to provide an organic certificate. The risk that a vendor might make false organic claims to customers is something that Paul has fought against throughout his time at the market. Although the paperwork is time consuming, Paul understands the importance of having vendors certified and will abide by the wishes of the Farmer’s Market. A provincial agriculture program that reimburses 66% of certification fees to PEI certified organic growers is also very helpful to the Offers.
For Paul and Jean, the years have been full of long hours of hard work, but they are proud of what they have accomplished. The Offers still feel passionately about what they do and the impact they have on their customers, teaching people to think about and appreciate food in a whole new way.
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