Springwillow Farms
Have you heard of Island Sunshine potatoes?
If you happen to be a potato connoisseur in Prince Edward Island you probably have. That is because twin brothers Gerrit and Evert Loo began a potato breeding program in the 1970s with the goal of developing new varieties of flavourful and disease resist potatoes. Island Sunshine is the best known of their varieties. When they passed away, Gerrit’s son Raymond took over their potato breeding efforts.
These days Raymond Loo manages the 250 acre family farm in Springfield PEI, with his brother Ricky. Springwillow Farms is owned by their mother Joyce, whose family have lived on the original farm since it was homesteaded in 1841. When Gerrit emigrated from the Netherlands in 1953 he bought the adjacent farm and married Joyce, the girl next door.
Springwillow Farms is truly a mixed farm, with an array of animals and vegetable crops. There is a herd of certified organic Aberdeen Angus cattle, poultry of all sorts, and during the summer a few young pigs being raised for market. There is the customary orchard with apples, plums, cherries and pears, as well as a range of small fruit including currants, gooseberries and raspberries. Not to forget a large market garden, and of course, lots of varieties of potatoes.
Raymond is an avid nature lover. This is reflected in all aspects of his farming decisions: Hay cutting has to wait until the small birds have fledged from nests in his fields. A pond in the back of the farm, dug many years ago for watering cattle, has turned into a wildlife haven. To enhance this pond, a corridor of tall grass is left between it and the woods nearby so that small animals can safely reach the pond. Windbreaks are being replanted in order to slow the wind and provide shelter and nesting habitat. And in his fields, Raymond watches the plants for insects, knowing that the beneficial insects must be protected and encouraged.
Animal husbandry is based on creating as natural an environment as possible on Springwillow Farms. The cattle can always choose between being outside or seeking shelter in cold stormy weather. During the summer months, the pasture rotation allows them to walk from the farm buildings back to the edge of the woods each day. That means that they get a good deal of exercise.
“We have very few health problems, and although the cattle are very comfortable around people they are also quite independent,” Raymond says.
The poultry are also free range and fencing is erected to keep them out of key areas rather than containing them. Even the pigs get the chance to go outside and use their noses to root up everything in their path.
Virtually all marketing is directly to the customer, through two farmer’s markets and restaurant sales. In order to provide customers with the greatest range of products, and to develop expertise in growing certain crops, Raymond and Ricky work with two of their sisters, Joyce and Margie, who also have certified organic farms.
Although potatoes have been a major focus of Springwillow Farms' operation for many years, the acreage in potato production has never been large.
“My interest is in the specialty market,” says Raymond, “and in finding cultivars especially suited to organic production in our Maritime climate.”
This is no small feat with the cool humid summers common on PEI creating perfect conditions for the development of fungal diseases, such as potato blight. Add to that the abundance of potatoes growing in the area, which greatly increases the likelihood of blight finding a foothold, and you have challenging conditions for organic production.
“This year I have saved tubers from 100 new varieties”, states Raymond. “I have to grow them for several years in order to judge how they will react to different types of growing conditions such as a wet or dry summer. Then there is the taste test. No matter how exceptional the potato is in the field, if it doesn’t stand out in the kitchen it’s done. I have a number of new varieties I have been growing for a while that I am excited about, most are yellow fleshed and several are fingerling types.”
Although there have been modest returns from Island Sunshine, Raymond isn’t motivated by the monetary potential.
“Potato breeding is not a lucrative endeavour, it is a passion. And it fits with the goal I have in farming. I want to provide a livelihood for my family, while respecting the environment and making the smallest ecological footprint possible,” says Raymond.
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