Quinn Farm
By Student Journalist
February 02, 2012
A focus on agricultural entertainment and education has led to success for young farmers Phil Quinn, 29, and Steph Maynard, 29, of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, a suburban community just west of the Island of Montreal.
This focus is apparent from the moment you step out of the parking lot at Quinn Farm. A sign in the window of the farm store says “If you ate today, thank a farmer”.
Quinn Farm sells much of their market garden produce direct to consumers at the store, alongside baked-goods that come fresh out of the on-site bakery. They complement their asparagus, small fruits, sweet corn, apples, pumpkins and Christmas tree sales with other local products such as goat cheese and honey from other farms in the area. They also travel to local farmers’ markets to sell these products as well as their own.
The focus on entertainment and agriculture is evident inside and out. In the converted barn that is now the store, there’s a play area for children and agriculture-themed toys for sale, like tractor shaped puzzles. Birthday parties are also held upstairs, where party-goers have a view of the entire farm out the window.
As you leave the store, there’s even an activity book, filled with Quinn Farm-themed educational activities for children, like mazes and word games. Right beside the activity books is a guestbook with testimonials from visitors to the farm.
One guest commented on the educational aspects of the farm, “A great place so close to the city – should help to provide an appreciation of where food comes from.”
There’s even more for customers beyond the store. Wagon rides take school groups around the farm and bring customers to certain crops which are available for U-Pick. The farm also has a barn, which was built in 2006 also through a traditional barn-raising activity, the focal point for educational activities with various farm animals.
Phil Quinn’s father, Elwood Quinn, is a director for Rare Breeds Canada and all of the animals at Quinn Farm are rare breeds. “We are working to build up the Hampshire pig population numbers. We do breed them and sell some of the registered purebred Hampshire pigs.” Maynard explained.
Phil Quinn and Steph Maynard don’t actually live on Quinn Farm, but on another farm in nearby Godmanchester. Besides providing Quinn and Maynard with an hour-long commute every day, the farm also provides hay and woods as well as a pasture for the four draft horses that are used for sleigh rides in the winter.
In terms of responsibilities, Quinn takes care of the field work and Maynard is in charge of accounting, marketing, staffing, the bakery, the store, inventory, and communications, among other things. The farm also has a staff that peaks at about 35 people in the summer months and on big week-ends like Thanksgiving.
Quinn grew up on the farm, but Maynard’s journey to farming was not so straightforward. Her parents weren’t farmers, but Maynard was interested in farming from an early age. “In grade 6, my science fair project was on low tillage, because at that time not a lot of people were doing low tillage.” Maynard recalled. She won first prize for the project.
Later on, Quinn was attending the Macdonald Campus of McGill University and where Maynard was working the executive director for Quebec 4H. The two met and eventually married in 2004.
As successful as they’ve been in the early going, it’s never easy. Quinn and Maynard now have a two-year-old son, Keith Quinn, and are expecting their second child in early 2012. Juggling the different responsibilities of parenting, farming and managing up to 3,000 visitors on a busy week-end with three-dozen employees can be “strenuous”, Quinn says.
Another challenge Maynard and Quinn faced was achieving an agreement on the succession of the farm, which used to belong to Quinn’s parents, a process completed in 2010 after nearly seven years of work.
“That was really hard, because [Quinn’s parents] would get scared that they wouldn’t have enough for retirement and we would get scared that it was going to be too much for us to pay and we wouldn’t be able to afford it if we had a bad year.” Maynard continued.
Despite the challenges, Quinn and Maynard had a successful first year in 2010 and are happy with where they are now. “At the end of last year, Phil and I were really proud, because it was the first time we had run the farm for a full 12 months and we were able to increase revenues 40% over our best year ever.” Maynard said.
“One of the greatest moments on the farm was being able to pull through everything.” Quinn said. “And having my wife beside me the whole time, that’s awesome.”
The Stats
Quinn Farm - 110 acres total
- 5 acres of asparagus
- 6 acres of strawberries (expanding)
- 2 acres of raspberries
- 2 acres of blueberries
- A couple of rows of gooseberries, red currants, and black currants
- 20 acres of corn
- 20 acres of pumpkins
- 30 acres of Christmas trees
- 12 acres of apple orchard
- 3-4 acres of cherries to come in 2013
- 6 acres of parking lot
- 3 acres of entertainment (corn maze, playground)
- 35 pigs (variable)
- 1 donkey
- 2 rabbits
- 20 chickens (variable)
- 4 draft horses (kept at home farm, but used as draft horses during sleigh ride season)
Godmanchester Farm – 150 acres total
- 110 acres bush
- 40 acres of hay
Funded in part by the
