The Garden of Quebec is a key vegetable growing region in North America and the season has just kicked off. Last week, on June 8, harvest of Romaine lettuce, as well as green leaf lettuce and field Boston lettuce started. "Usually, we start the weekend before June 15, but unusual warm weather has given us a head start of about five to seven days," says Arthur Patenaude with Centre Maraîcher Eugène Guinois Jr. The region was faced with a late ground frost in April, but most growers waited for that frost to pass and started planting afterwards. From then on, weather conditions have been very favorable.
Field Boston lettuce.
Iceberg lettuce will be game changer
In season, CME Guinois harvests up to 15,000 cartons of different lettuce varieties daily, but it is also a grower of celery, herbs, spinach, green onions, and jumbo carrots. Harvest of iceberg lettuce will start right before this coming weekend. "This will be a game changer for our customers as this volume item helps them fill their truckloads," Patenaude shared. "We do full truckloads only and customers need volume items like iceberg lettuce and Romaine hearts to fill the trucks. In the first ten days of July, harvest of celery will start, another volume item. By mid-July, Patenaude expects one truck will no longer be able to meet the needs of one customer, but multiple trucks will be needed instead. In addition to these items, harvest of green onions is about seven to ten days away and after that, Asian vegetables will come on. Jumbo carrots won't be available until the end of August. "We wait as long as we can to get really large carrots," Patenaude said.
Overlooking a field with iceberg lettuce.
Transition to Quebec
"Mother Nature took really good care of us this spring," he commented. The earlier start of the season is very positive as demand is strong this time of year. "People are eager to buy Quebec-grown product as it just tastes so well." It also means the Eastern part of North America is no longer dependent on the West for its vegetably supply. It is an opportunity for many retailers and wholesalers to transition from the West to Quebec for the next 3.5 months. "We will have all those greens available until the end of October." CME Guinois supplies the large majority of Canada, almost as far as Vancouver. In the U.S., it distributes east of the Mississippi and as far south as Florida. "We are closer to Florida than California is," Patenaude said.
Quebec is not the only eastern region in production as the U.S. also have some vegetable growing regions on the East coast. However, some states, like Florida and the Carolinas, have already finished harvest. New Jersey is expected to finish up before July 4 due to the heat and by that time, many customers switch to Quebec until the frost comes in October, signifying the end of the season.
For more information:
Arthur Patenaude
Centre Maraîcher Eugène Guinois Jr.
Tel: +1 450-826-3207
[email protected]
www.cmeguinois.com