A look at our midsummer field trips and incoming bumper crops.

If the locavore knows one thing, it's that July is never a month to miss. There are new arrivals nearly every week and it's peak just about everything. From bright berries to regal roots to big brassicas and beyond - it's incredible. Just like all good things, the local field season will come to an end sooner than we would like so it’s time to make the most of summer's bounty!

We recently visited Bio-Saveur, Les Jardins Glenorra, Ô Saine Terre, and more to see how the summer is going and get a glimpse of upcoming harvests and bumper crops (a.k.a. an overflow of field veg).

Bio-Saveur - Laval & Mascouche, QC

It all started with onions. Karl’s farms are a product of self-taught ag. When he first got going, he had never grown a vegetable and learned the ropes of organic farming through trial and error with a first bumper crop of onions.

Loads of corn, garlic, and sweet potatoes followed. Karl (pictured above with his beloved garlic) reserves most of his harvests just for us and grows a crazy amount of vegetable varieties, rotating the crops to fortify the soil and help keep the harvests bountiful all summer long.

This year, he’s trying his hand at strawberries, cucamelons, and sweet potato leaves. Without forgetting celery, which Fred, our purchasing director is taste testing above. They’ll be joining his tried and true peas, young garlic, yellow, purple, and green beans, and corn hitting the Marketplace by the end of the month.

Purdélys - Saint-Isidore-de-Laprairie, QC

The DesGroseilliers brothers' farming roots stretch back eight generations. The family lineage may trace to a certain famous coureur des bois but the five siblings behind Purdélys now carry on the family's organic agricultural heritage.

They've worked hard to create a balanced ecosystem within their fields. Having integrated the right crops and insects, the DesGroseilliers and their team save time and energy, only intervening when the pests and weeds need a little extra taming.

Able to return on time this year, their team of seasonal workers are pictured above harvesting this year's lettuce bumper crop. Next up they'll be taking care of kale, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower.

Jardins Glenorra - Ormstown, QC

Growing fresh, local, responsible veggies for nearly a decade. Julie (above) and Ian were one of our earliest partners and have grown along with us - from their family (their five kids are often there to meet us when we go visit) to their land (they've just recently doubled in size!), to their ever-growing inventory of organic veggies (30 and counting).

Double the land to grow even more veggies. Ian and Julie were finally able to rent more land from their neighbour after having to let the land fallow for 3 years (a necessary timeline when awaiting organic certification). They're using the extra space to test out celery and grow more carrots and roots.

Snow peas, scapes, and kale are just the beginning. Their 45 acres are filled with zucchini, radishes, tomatillos (arriving soon), kohlrabi, and carrots - a favourite of both Julie and her kids (including Emerick, pictured harvesting a bunch above).

Jardins d’Ambroise - Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare, QC

Six years ago,  Julie and Sébastien wanted to find a way to make their work more meaningful. Both agronomists by trade, the clear decision was to leave their old jobs behind to set up their own organic farm where their two daughters could have more room to play.

Their number one priority is preserving the biodiversity of their acreage. And it all comes down to growing their veggies in a polyculture setting and rotating the crops for healthy, more pest-resistant harvests.

Especially bountiful this time of year is zucchini which is flooding fields and farmers’ markets alike. Including Julie who's mastered the art of growing her green and yellow varieties alongside her partner, Sébastien (on her right) and her two daughters (on her left). She does it so well that our team (like Troy pictured above), has dubbed her the zucchini queen! Joining their bumper crop are twenty other varieties of oh-so-good veggies like kale, pattypan squash, and beans.

Potager montréalais - Sainte-Clotilde-de-Châteauguay, QC

At Potager montréalais, the secret is in the seed. The Laffitte family is going on four generations of farming, with Louis (pictured above on the left), alongside his two sons, Antoine and Étienne (on the right) tending to the stretches of green fields. It was Louis and his dad who experimented and were able to find three top-secret varieties of spinach that could last through Quebec's colder climate, without using synthetic pesticides.

There's no better place for greens than Montérégie. Thanks to the dark and nutrient-rich soil the team is able to stretch the growing season from May to September. This, combined with crop rotations and perfectly timed irrigation, means their spinach and lettuces can better resist pests and harvests are more plentiful.

The sea of green gives us near endless harvests. Many die-hard spinach fans know the Laffittes' daily harvested bouquets are hard to beat but the avalanche of red and green curly lettuce that's here all season long shouldn't be missed.

Ô Saine Terre - L’Assomption, QC

Benoît gets by with a little help from his friends. Well mostly his family and team of 12 who helps out on his 40 acres of certified organic field and forest where preserving the natural biodiversity of the soil comes first.

Crop rotation and pollinators are where it's at. Benoît grows his plants in rotation to strengthen the soil and houses a bee colony onsite to encourage pollination. Taking it one step further, he plans to reintroduce wild garlic and ginger into his forests to reintroduce these once overharvested varieties back into the province.

Fifty organic varieties of fruits, veggies, and herbs. Including pattypan squash, kale, zucchini, radishes, and yellow, red, and black raspberries.