Springwillow Farm Profile

Springfield
Prince Edward Island

By Kate Punnett

Raymond Loo is an organic farmer from Springwillow Farm, a beautiful, richly diverse farm located in Springfield on Prince Edward Island. The farm is surrounded by nostalgic memories of Raymond’s father, Gerritt, who bought the farm back in 1951. There are fruit trees and bushes, vegetable gardens and patches, flowers and animals spread out amongst the property which surrounds the homestead.

Gerritt was an architect of the land, and Raymond has inherited his father’s ability to manage the land while emphasizing its natural cycles of beauty. This beauty is seen everywhere with sights of raspberry bushes flowing out behind an old hay mower, daffodils blooming underneath trees, pumpkin hills mounded beside the family garden patch, fragrant basil growing in the moist greenhouses, and ducks, geese and chickens freely running about.

Raymond is passionately involved in farming. His viewpoints on soil fertility, land management, livestock and marketing are all deeply rooted in his respect for the environment and the community members that he is providing for.

Raymond Loo began working on his family farm at a very young age. One of his earliest farming memories consists of standing beside pallet boxes and stretching high above to pack in the fresh picked broccoli, destined for the frozen food plant. He would work aside his large family, helping his father, grow and harvest 10acres of broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. After growing up on the farm, Raymond left for 7 years beginning in 1983, and then returned to the farm to work in an environment that he had grown to love.

Raymond inherited his interest in farming organically from his father, who was very involved with community social activism and the environment. He admits that his interest in growing organic food was not bred from a desire to make money, but from a “good feeling” associated with working on the land in a harmonious way. Raymond believes in providing as much food as he can from his land but, in so doing, making as small an environmental footprint as possible.

Raymond’s farming philosophy begins at the soil level. He believes that year after year, he is getting increased production and higher productivity from his soil. He is quick to admit that it is not him, but the health of his soil, that is to be rewarded.

Livestock manure from his Aberdeen Angus beef cattle is used to increase soil fertility but he is cautious not to over-fertilize his fields. Raymond cautions that many farmers, conventional and organic alike, are using too much fertilizer on their land in fear of a lack of available nitrogen. He has confidence that the soil in his vegetable garden has plenty of residual nitrogen from the manure spread 3 seasons ago and, therefore, did not spread any manure this year. Also, he believes that by not over-fertilizing, and therefore growing food a bit slower, a more “natural” grown food that has more flavour will result. By "natural", he means not using as much ammonium nitrates and fertilizers as the conventional farmers.

Although it is hard to measure flavour objectively, Raymond admits that “some people come in to buy Kennebec’s and say that they taste better than other Kennebec’s, even though they are the same variety of potato. Maybe it is in the production or in the perception. It could be that people just think they are better because they are paying more for them.”. Even so, he adheres to growing food slowly so as to attain a product of the earth that is a bit closer to what would be growing if it was in its native culture.

Growing food slowly and more “naturally” is also achieved through Raymond’s long crop- rotation schedule. He uses a 6-year rotation to gradually create the conditions that the soil needs to grow quality food. The rotation begins with pasture, which is plowed down. It then consists of potatoes, following by grain and legumes, which are both underseeded. The following year consists of milling wheat, which is under seeded, followed by hay for two or three years. Within each year of his rotation, he will leave a section aside for the vegetable garden. Some of his fields that have been in pasture since 1992 have been frost seeded a few times with clover: a practice he admits will work very well to very poorly from one year to the next.

Adding to its rich diversity, Springwillow Farm is home to many farm animals. Raymond says that, “the livestock are firmly convinced they own the farm" and he and his family are "just the tenants”. His mainly Black (and a few red), old fashioned Angus beef cattle are grass- fed. This breed is very independent, has a strong mothering ability, is easy to raise and is quick to fatten up with grass feeding. His customers are mainly those who are concerned about imported feed.

Raymond is hoping to expand his chicken production. He projects that a soon-to-be chicken marketing co-op will allow farms to get involved in different aspects of production, from milling feed to hatching chicks. He says that “any small operation can get 100 chickens without much infrastructure”. He prefers the potential of chicken production over pig production. He has pigs on his farm and will continue raising a few of them every year, unless there is a future increase in customer demand.

Raymond also has free ranging ducks and geese. The geese began as his father’s pets. He calculates that it costs $5.00 more to raise a duck than what he sells them for. Raymond says “People have fish, people have dogs and cats, but we have ducks”. He says that they may have an unknown role to play in the ecosystem of his farm, such as gobbling up earwigs.

Basically, Raymond wants to market locally the most that he can from his land. He sells his produce at two farmers' markets on the Island, one in Charlottetown and one in Kensington. He tries to sell as much directly and locally. His marketing strategy is not cut in stone; it changes as the conditions change. He does not believe that pricing has to be higher because it is organic, but that it should be priced higher according to what a farmer needs to make money.

One of the problems he has with high pricing for organic food is that, as a society, we sell the most nutritious foods to the people who already have access to good nutrition. Down the road he wants to see some type of program where he donates a portion of his land for low income people to grow organic food. He feels that there is a moral responsibility for him to help out those who are not able to help themselves. It is these types of concerns that Raymond addresses that make him not only an exceptional farmer, but an important role-model within the community.

The fields of Springwillow Farms have been nurtured and cared for by a farmer who has developed great respect towards the land and the animals that graze it. The organic products that are harvested are a result of the hard work and skill of Raymond and many volunteers and family members who help out with different aspects of the farm's daily operations.