A client of ours is currently looking for land in the Hawkesbury/Vankleek Hill area. Please let us know if you have or know of any land available for sale.

Hello Everyone,

It has been a while since we last wrote a newsletter. The last few months have flown by and the new season is already under way.

First I’d like to announce the winners of the “Easy as Win Two Trees” contest. Congratulations to Tony Muro and Sylvie Brousseau of Montreal. Their entry was interesting because the seven year old tree in question was thriving when they were forced to move it because they were building a pool. They transplanted the tree which made a great comeback once it survived the initial shock of being moved. It shows that trees are more resilient than we think. Tony and Sylvie win two trees of their choice this spring. Click here to read the testimonial and see the winning pictures

Many new orchardists where born this fall. I’d like to congratulate the Hildebrands for their project in Cornwall. Bryan Hildebrand even worked for us for a few weeks to learn the ropes before we installed his very own orchard together. In the picture below you can see Bryan and Adrian planting blueberries for Routes des Gerbes d’Angelica which installed a diversified small fruit ‘u pick’ in 2 acres of permanent plastic.

Bryan & Adrian planting blueberries for Route des Gerbes d’Angelica

For over 30 years we have been challenging conventional farming and fruit growing. One of the most significant factors that sets us apart from the rest, is that we grow unexpected fruits and nuts in a cold climate. I’ve heard all kinds of reasons for this; my favourite being that our “micro climate” enables us to do so. Two years ago it was -37°C (without wind chill) in our “micro climate”. That same summer the following trees produced for us, pecans, peaches, heartnuts, mulberries, pears, Asian pears, quince and I could go on and on. We have also sold trees that are thriving in areas as cold as zone 2. We use many techniques and obviously in many cases we have developed our own hardier varieties. A very important aspect of tree growing that is often overlooked is acclimatization. It’s quite simple; a tree has two primary weak spots, the graft and the new growth. So I’m going to say something that will go against common accepted practice. Are you ready?

• BURY THE GRAFT. Everyone has been told that you shouldn’t bury the graft. We say, do it. You can either bury it when planting or plant to just below the graft and mound earth over the graft point and if you want, remove the earth in the spring and put it back in the fall. The reasoning behind not burying it is that it could sucker from above the graft (self root). Very rarely will the trunk overtake the rootstock and even if it does, in colder climates it is beneficial. The tree or trunk will be more vigorous and productive and in cold climates most trees never get as big as they are suppose to anyways.
• As far as new growth goes, that’s a little trickier but we say don’t prune for the first year or two and let the tree make as many branches as possible. This will slow the trees progress allowing for new growth to become stronger. Any pruning promotes new growth which is the most susceptible to winter cold. Once the tree settles in, it might burn back a little each year but that doesn’t hurt the tree, it makes it stronger. It’s a sign of acclimatization.

So if you are in a colder area and think growing fruit is impossible, you might want to think again.

Click here to watch some videos of our newest products/projects. In the second video Ken talks about growing an almond tree in Montreal, it’s a good example of acclimatization.

We have re-vamped our tropical and indoor section on the website and will be selling all indoor plants as of the first week of March.   We now have a showroom at 2083 chemin Saint-Louis, Saint-Lazare, Quebec. Open to public from March 14^th on. Click here to see our indoor products

Buddha’s Hand Citron

We have also updated our outdoor section to include more descriptions for each tree variety as well as availability for each. Click here to see our outdoor products

We will be holding a few seminars and workshops this spring. It’s a good chance to be entertained and informed by the one and only Ken Taylor. Some of the topics include indoor plants, edible landscaping and last but not least, a tree and plant propagation course. Click here for more information on our seminars and workshops. If you or a group of people would like to set up a seminar, email me and maybe we’ll be able to work with you to make it happen.

Following in Ken’s footsteps his son and my brother Nicholas, became part of Concordia Food Systems Project, a group of professors, students and former students trying to make their University more sustainable. They did a great job. It’s nice to see a group taking a different approach. Nick will be doing the landscape and orchard plans for the Green Barn this year.

Click here to see the biographies.
Click here to download the presentation.

The Green Barn has branched out into the organic food business. The new venture is called Straw Hat Organic Foods. We will be processing (mainly drying to start) a large variety of healthy snacks for children and adults alike. The website will be up in late February and a limited amount of product should be available in late spring. We will have dried pears, apples, mulberries, Asian pears, sweet and sour cherries, raisins and much more.

What this means is that we can do what we have always wanted to do, which is to make a difference on how Canadians farm and what we eat. The biggest trouble we are having at Straw Hat is that we can’t find organic fruit grown in Canada (surprise, surprise). So there is opportunity for those who want to become a supplier to our new business. We will buy all fruit from you as long as you are or get “certified organic” as well as plant the fruit varieties we need. We will be giving priority to Green Barn customers. Feel free to email me should you be interested in getting started.

After 2 years we are still waiting for government approval on the new building. I’m told we’ll know in just a few short weeks. If that happens we should start construction on the new nursery building in the spring. Thanks and happy planting.

Have a great new year!

Steve and the Green Barn Team

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