Farm to Table
At both our Farm Market and Country Bakery locations, we make it our mission to deliver the highest quality goods for you to take home to your family. For this reason, we fully embrace the term farm to table and ensure the best growing practices are upheld with every crop.
Pride in all that we do, and all that we’ve done. Believed to be the oldest family-run strawberry farm in Ontario, the Howe family has been growing strawberries in Elgin County since 1913 — over 100 years on the same land, passed down through five generations.
As a result, you can feel confident you’re providing your family the best produce and baked goods Ontario has to offer! We look forward to welcoming your family into ours through the delicious products and inviting environment.
Timeline
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Newlyweds left their home in Kent, England in 1863 on an open sailboat across the Atlantic Ocean. They travellled through the St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, the Erie Canal and landed in Port Roan on the northern shore of Lake Erie. They settled on the farm just east of our market on John Wise Line, Aylmer. They raised 3 sons, John, Alfred, and William.
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Their son Alfred married Emma and they obtained a farm across the road from the first homestead and began growing strawberries around 1913. They had a large family.
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Three of their sons, Herb, David and Mervin formed a partnership and raised a variety of crops and livestock together until the Howe Brothers partnership dissolved when their families grew older.
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Alfred and Emma’s youngest son Mervin, married Ferne Alton of Sandhills Park Farm and they stayed in this area growing strawberries and other vine crops, and tobacco, as well as milking dairy cows and raising other livestock with their 3 sons Bruce, Keith and Glenn.
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Mervin and Ferne’s sons later formed a second Howe Brothers partnership, each focusing on raising dairy cattle, growing tobacco, and growing fruits and vegetables
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Glenn and his wife Monica carried on with growing strawberries, melons, squash and pumpkins and the others branched off on their own. In 1990 they established G & M Howe and Sons Ltd. The Howe Family Farm Market was built and opened in the spring of 2010 in Aylmer.
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Sons Ryan, Rick, and Kevin are the 5th generation in this family farm history. They continue to grow strawberries and vine crops, and have expanded to growing sweet corn, raspberries, and a large market garden with a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Conservation First
We were the first in the area to use underground drip irrigation to utilize water efficiently. Our efforts were recognized by the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority and received a conservation award in 2001. Along with that, we’re also one of the first growers to sign on to the Food Safety and Traceability Initiative through the Canadian Horticultural Council and have consistently scored top marks for our food handling practices.
Presently Glenn, Monica, and sons Ryan, Rick and Kevin operate a large acreage of strawberries, watermelons, cantaloupe, squash, pumpkins, beans and garden vegetables, etc. grown for their own market and for wholesale.