Atlantic Canadian farmers open their doors to the public for the 24th annual Open Farm Day

The gates were wide open and buckets were ready at Big Sky Ventures in Chipman N.B., Sunday as the organic Sea Buckthorn Orchard and Winery welcomed the public to see behind the scenes.

Beth Fowler, and her partner Clay Bartlett, first started the local farm in 2010, with trees being planted in 2012 before growing into the operation that it is today.

“Sea Buckthorn is a berry. It’s the first citrus, non-citrus fruit to be grown in the province. It’s got 190 bioactive, it is the most studied fruit on the planet,” said Fowler.

To help put it into perspective, she said it has 15 to 30 times more Vitamin C than an orange.

“[Clay] started doing research on what would help his daughter with her diabetes because he has a farm science background and I was doing business plans, kind of side hustle. So, I took a look at the fruit and I’ve got history and high blood pressure and fibromyalgia runs in parts of our family and arthritis is pretty interesting so let’s dig a little deeper,” said Fowler.

The duo has spent the last several years researching the fruit, finding a way to grow it in New Brunswick and creating different locally made products.

On Sunday, as part of Open Farm Day, which took place in all four Atlantic Canada provinces, they opened their farm to share their knowledge with the general public.

“They really want to know where their fruit comes from, where their food comes from, how it’s manufactured, how it’s produced, how they put it into their diet, and we’ve got people coming, maybe their on a cancer journey or they’ve got diabetes or arthritis, then we’ve got a little place inside where we can discuss all that stuff,” said Fowler.

Open Farm Day first started in 2000 as an opportunity for people to experience farms and understand where their food comes from.

This year in New Brunswick, 20 farms are participating including berry farms, orchards and livestock farms.

“We just want people to be able to come out and make that connection and learn more about what’s going on in the agriculture community to create transparency and to see the hard work that all these producers are putting in on a daily bases,” said Dylan LeBlanc, the co-ordinator of the event this year with the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick.

“It allows consumers to make educated decisions on how they’re getting their food and where it comes from and it creates a connection between the farmers and the consumer.”

Big Sky Ventures has been participating in Open Farm Day for several years.

People visiting her farm Sunday had the option to pick their own berries and participate in a few demonstrations and tastings.

“They’re getting a little more knowledge on what to do with sea buckthorn and that it’s actually here, it’s in New Brunswick and we grow very good varieties. We’re very lucky that the varieties that are doing well, we’ve got nine varieties on trial, three do well, and the biggest variety that we have is the most nutritious,” she said.

The Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick says Open Farm Day is an important step towards breaking down barriers and misconceptions about the provinces agricultural industry.

It’s also designed to promote a sustainable and thriving agricultural industry in all of Atlantic Canada.

“I think buying locally right now is more important than ever. Just with how the economy is going and really agriculture is a huge part of New Brunswick economy and our GDP, so it really kind of pushes it forward by buying locally,” said LeBlanc.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.