By Joanne Dorr
The Haldimand Press
Follow the Grand River through Dunnville to where Haldimand Road 17 meets Highway 3 and you will come across River’s Edge Haven of Hope Farm. This large family farm features a livestock barn and a very distinct set of greenhouses. Owned and operated by the Feenstra family, this farm is the home of a one-on-one mentoring ministry that is supported by a unique greenhouse growing operation.
River’s Edge Haven of Hope Farm started their greenhouse growing by growing flowers. Around this time, Ed Feenstra took a trip to Holland where he toured farms to learn more about the Dutch style of farming. Feenstra explains, “The Dutch are known for their flowers and being on the cutting edge of automation and all those sorts of things.”
While in Holland, Feenstra learned about the “tabletop growing system.” This growing system cultivates plants in troughs placed in gutters and sitting at chest height. Feenstra adds, “We went through an area in Holland where they were growing strawberries and that system was already there. And I thought someday I would love to do that.”
Feenstra later sold his flower greenhouse to do just that. In 2021, River’s Edge Haven of Hope Farm built a nearly two-acre tabletop growing system and filled it with 50,000 day neutral strawberry plants. Feenstra explains day neutral strawberry plants “are not sensitive to the length of day and can grow all year around.” This means strawberries can be harvested here from June through to October.
With one year of tabletop strawberry farming under their belt, Feenstra admits, “We had some challenges the first year and we tried to overcome them by cutting back quite dramatically and also we ended up trying some different products this year.”
In cutting back on strawberries Feenstra was able to diversify his crops and harvest a greater variety of produce. This year Feenstra’s tabletop growing system was successful in growing strawberries and a variety of vegetables and herbs such as tomatoes, lettuce, beans, peppers, beets, parsley, and cabbage. Feenstra advises, “Anything that isn’t a vine type plant does well in the raised beds.”
Feenstra says a critical factor is for staff to constantly monitor the growing conditions.
Other crops grown at River’s Edge Farm include beets, tomatoes, and bell peppers. —Haldimand Press photos by Joanne Dorr.
However, he is finding the shortage of labour to be one of his biggest challenges in 2022. He says it has been very difficult to recruit employees with the commitment and rigor required to work on a farm. Feenstra also observes that employees are hard to retain and that the current job market volatility makes staffing his farm temporary at best: “The demand for labour is huge and if it doesn’t suit them, they can go somewhere else.”
Despite these challenges, tabletop growing has provided various benefits compared to ground crops. This includes ease of picking, greater control of weeds, and suppressing the damage done by birds and ground pests. Feenstra adds, “We have little hoop houses over top that protect the berries and the plants from the rains. This also helps against some of the diseases that would otherwise pop up with the wet and humid conditions.”
In addition to this, tabletop growing features “more controls in feeding the crop with the right nutrition they need. It (the plant) is in a small area where their roots are growing, but we have little drippers that feed them exactly what they require.”
River’s Edge Haven of Hope Farm partners with Richardson’s Farm and Market, with Feenstra providing Richardson’s with additional produce to sell at their market. This allows Feenstra to spend more time growing his farm and honing the craft of tabletop farming.
“We have done a fair bit of working with them,” says Feenstra. “They’re just a fantastic family farm to work with.”
Ultimately, the most satisfying part of his work is seeing people enjoy the produce he grows. Feenstra says, “I love being able to walk down the rows and see the produce growing and being able to provide people with great produce.”
To learn more about River’s Edge Haven of Hope Farm visit riversedge.ca.
