Market Gardening at Abbondanza
In 2018, Gwynne hired David Whiteside, an ambitious young farmer, as her Market Gardening Manager, and the farm's vegetable production took a great leap forward. With the help of David and intern Lucy, we expanded our production not only on Gwynne's site but on a neighbor's former hayfield down in the valley. In 2018 we successfully launched a new urban farmstand in Montreal as well as a CSA/veggie basket pilot program, also in Montreal.
Our growing techniques are inspired by the Parisian market gardeners of the 19th century, and the efforts of growers like Eliot Coleman and Jean-Martin Fortier to adapt those 19th-century techniques to 21st century realities. In fact, David worked at Les Jardins de la Grelinette, Jean-Martin's first farm (now managed by his partner Maude-Hélène Desroches) during the 2017 season, just before coming to Abbondanza.
We are non-mechanized (though we rely on our neighbor Dick and his tractor to open up new beds for us), using hand-tools and no-til techniques to build soil biology and grow happy, healthy and health-giving vegetables for the Mansonville and Montreal communities.
All of our vegetables are grown with care and love, with respect for nature and the biodiversity of the land we cultivate. We grow WITHOUT any pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We focus on growing rare and heirloom/open pollination vegetable varieties as part of Gwynne and Abbondanza's mission to preserve biodiversity, perpetuate our agricultural heritage and bring color and flavor into more people's daily lives.
In 2020 Gwynne decided to retire from production farming and concentrate more on her first loves of activism and education. It was supposed to be a year of increased workshops and educational programs but the global pandemic had other plans for us. Instead we took advantage of this imposed retreat to map out the future for the next phase of the Abbondanza Farm project.
Stay tuned. There will be many new and exciting activities ahead.
Our growing techniques are inspired by the Parisian market gardeners of the 19th century, and the efforts of growers like Eliot Coleman and Jean-Martin Fortier to adapt those 19th-century techniques to 21st century realities. In fact, David worked at Les Jardins de la Grelinette, Jean-Martin's first farm (now managed by his partner Maude-Hélène Desroches) during the 2017 season, just before coming to Abbondanza.
We are non-mechanized (though we rely on our neighbor Dick and his tractor to open up new beds for us), using hand-tools and no-til techniques to build soil biology and grow happy, healthy and health-giving vegetables for the Mansonville and Montreal communities.
All of our vegetables are grown with care and love, with respect for nature and the biodiversity of the land we cultivate. We grow WITHOUT any pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We focus on growing rare and heirloom/open pollination vegetable varieties as part of Gwynne and Abbondanza's mission to preserve biodiversity, perpetuate our agricultural heritage and bring color and flavor into more people's daily lives.
In 2020 Gwynne decided to retire from production farming and concentrate more on her first loves of activism and education. It was supposed to be a year of increased workshops and educational programs but the global pandemic had other plans for us. Instead we took advantage of this imposed retreat to map out the future for the next phase of the Abbondanza Farm project.
Stay tuned. There will be many new and exciting activities ahead.