In 2005, with the business growing, we turned to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) for the first time. It had become increasingly difficult to find enough skilled workers who would be willing to return each season. The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), a division of the TFWP, filled that gap. Some of the first group of migrant workers from Jamaica are still employed by the farm today! Their skills and knowledge of the farm are extensive and they lead our local seasonal teams each year.

The original family farmstead is now a busy hive of almost constant activity – people and trucks coming and going at all hours. The days begin in the wee hours as our small fleet of trucks get loaded with the day’s deliveries. The drivers are usually on the road by 5:30am, and make their way across Southern Ontario to our network of customers. The field teams, which consist of locals, Jamaican migrant workers, and students, gather at 7am to learn where their efforts are needed that day, and they disperse from there. The office and warehouse crews start to arrive at 8am. Throughout the day we have trucks delivering and picking up products, tractors and other farm vehicles coming and going, and customers picking up their orders. The field work usually wraps up around 5pm, but sometimes the days go long. Office and warehouse crews aren’t too far behind. Then the evenings are quieter; cooking smells, conversations and laughter fill the air.