![]() We start with different varieties, some fields we grow strictly jumbo size. What do you have to do in a year in order to get that end product? We are aiming for straight, beautiful carrots, 7 to 10 inches (18 to 25 cm) long and anywhere from three quarters of an inch to two inches (2 to 5 cm) in shoulder diameter. What makes a good carrot? As a carrot farmer, what are you aiming to get? This field was the first field planted, so it should be close to being ready now in early September, but I suspect it will be towards the end of September before I can harvest it as a marketable product because they’re just not sizing up. Now this is what? Probably eight weeks before you’re going to harvest? Can we pull a few carrots and see what they look like at this time of year. They go into survival mode and then they have to go back into producing mode. We had a lot of rain in the spring and this field was actually underwater for a bit and it just takes them a little time to recover. They’ve been struggling with the weather. Also, these carrots aren’t really growing as fast as usual so they are smaller. ![]() This year won’t be quite as productive because of the weather that we’ve had. Quite a few! This field is 14 acres, so in a regular year, we get about 60 boxes of carrots to the acre. How many carrots would grow in a field like this? There are over 40 different crops that are grown out here in the Holland Marsh. On our farm specifically we grow carrots and onions but in the Holland Marsh there are farms growing lettuce, root celery, beets, parsnips. We are with Bill and Avia, third generation farmers. We are here in the Holland Marsh area, which is between Toronto and Barrie. ![]() ![]() That’s why we thought we’d better visit with the Holland Marsh’s biggest fan, Avia, and learn about how her family grows carrots and how the Holland Marsh as a region came to be. The dozens of farm families that call this place home work in somewhat of a fishbowl with the thousands of commuters driving by, likely unaware of just how significant a place this is. This little valley is only about 7000 acres in size, smaller than some individual farms you’d find in Western Canada, but its black soil is so rich, it can produce enough carrots for every Canadian, along with onions, lettuce, beets, parsnips and as many of 40 different crops. Then suddenly, you’ll crest over a hill at King Township and find yourself in the middle of one of one of the most productive areas of farmland in the country with the busy 400 slicing right through the centre of it. If you ever head north out of the city of Toronto on the busy Highway 400, you’ll pass commercial and industrial, residential and retail areas through what seems to be a never-ending city. ![]()
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