Carole St-Aubin
Shawville Nov 19, 2021
It’s the end of a successfully harvested yield at Catena Farms in Clarendon. The business is owned and operated by Chris Lambert and Jennie Videto who are both originally from Ottawa.
“I grew up in the city but I had a cottage out here just outside of Campbell’s Bay at . . .
Lawless lake growing up, so that’s how I became familiar with the area. But my partner and I have always wanted to start a small scale farm and grow vegetables,” said Videto.
Videto, who worked on a few smaller farms throughout college and university, said they were looking around for a permanent spot but couldn’t find one. After they put up posters and posted on Kijiji, that’s when they were contacted by the Shawville Inn owner who offered them a little spot beside the hotel on the highway about three years ago.
“We grow over 30 different types of vegetables and we do it on one acre. We grow from May, that’s when our baskets start, until November,” said Videto.
The farm offers lots of greens including a wide variety of lettuce, some different Asian-style greens, mustard greens, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, sweet peppers, and hot peppers, according to Videto.
“We can only grow so much on an acre but we try and incorporate a new crop every year. So this past year, one thing that we did differently was we actually grew fresh ginger. And the year before that we grew fresh lemongrass, so specialty items like that we try and incorporate every year,” Videto told The Equity. “We’re pretty diversified.”
Catena farm has offered their produce for sale in farmers markets in the past, including the Lansdowne Market in Ottawa and the Old Chelsea Market during their first year of business.
“And then obviously the pandemic happened and things changed, so we switched our business model to just doing something called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) baskets,” said Videto.
“Farmers incur the cost of growing at the beginning of the season for compost, seeds, any amendments, things like that. It can be strenuous for a farmer who has to take on those costs especially if you’re just selling at farmers markets, because you never really know how much you’re going to make. Nothing is guaranteed,” Videto explained.
So the CSA model is not a new concept but it kind of fell away though it’s been regaining a little more popularity, according to Videto.
“Basically we offer food baskets to our customers who pay up front for the entire season. So before we even start growing, they pay the full amount. We have different types of shares. We do a four-week spring share. We do an 18-week main season share, and then we do a four-week fall share,” said Videto.
People can pick and choose if they want one or the other, or all three, but have to pay the full amount upfront before they receive any produce at all. Then they receive their fresh vegetables bi-weekly, that will equal that amount paid by the end of the season.
“It’s really taking off, the community that’s eating the produce and the farmers are making a bigger connection and in the process we’re showing that farming is important. In order for it to be sustainable, it takes both the consumer and the producer to make it happen,” Videto added.
Initially the couple had pickup spots and people would come to them, but when the pandemic closed everything down they had to adapt.
“So we took on deliveries. We have customers anywhere from Fort Coulonge, all the way into Ottawa. But we do have a handful or two around the Shawville area. It’s a lot more work, but has worked out quite well for us,” said Videto.
People seem to enjoy their service, they just leave a cooler outside and have their veggies dropped off, according to Videto, who said: “It’s contact-free and makes people feel safe, plus they are able to get fresh produce. It was a way of working around the pandemic.”
“We’ve sold out of our baskets pretty quickly. So yeah, we’re happy about it for sure. We have 100 CSA registered members in our program,” Videto added.
The program works the following way: Full share means people receive a basket every single week. Half share means people receive a bi-weekly basket. There are Spring and Fall share baskets available, as well as end-of-season grab bags when they have extra produce on their hands.
Videto said they had a five-year plan but their business grew much faster than they intended. They began with 15 customers and are now at 100 customers with a wait list in just three years. They have gained popularity grassroots style: by handing out postcards and putting up posters according to Videto, who says it was worth the effort.
When they started out they were the “new guys on the block,” no one knew about them, but Videto said the demand is definitely there and they have been doing well.
The field they rented was always intended to be a temporary location and being a micro farm they will never require hundreds of acres for their production. But Videto said they are looking for a permanent location to grow their produce.
“Because it’s just the two of us, we can keep our cost down. We don’t have any employees, we don’t need any heavy equipment because we do everything by hand, but we’re going to have the ability to fine-tune that as we move forward,” Videto said.
There is a certain disconnect with food, according to Videto, who said that having face-to-face interactions with their clients and being able to tell people how they grow their produce has provided a positive experience for them as well as their customers.
When asked about their future goals, Videto concluded, “we’d like to introduce some more vegetables and fruits, but any fruit takes a few years to establish, and we need a permanent area for that.
More information on the CSA programs offered by Catena Farms can be found at http://www.catenafarm.ca
