By Angela Brown

Battlefords farmers’ market growers reporting promising year

Sep 5, 2022 | 3:21 PM

Surrounded by the vibrant hues of freshly-picked tomatoes, zucchini and beans, many farmers’ market producers say it was a pretty good year for growing fruits and vegetables in the Battlefords.

Lydia Ilnicki grows a variety of produce on her large garden plot south of Battleford.

“I have carrots, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes,” she said, adding that sales have been steady at her booth at the Battlefords and District Farmers’ Market in North Battleford Saturdays.

Ilnicki also sells Saskatoon berries, plums, pears, and earlier had some raspberries and strawberries available for purchase.

The quality of her products this year has been especially good.

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Not leaving anything to chance, Ilnicki ensures all her produce receives extra-watering whenever conditions are dry, to make sure the soil stays moist.

While this summer has seen intermittent rain early in the season, an improvement from last year, Ilnicki said it hasn’t always been ideal.

“The weather isn’t too great now because it’s too hot. It’s hard on the vegetables right now, because you have to keep [up] the soil moisture,” Ilnicki said Saturday afternoon as the temperatures soared to 32 C.

The heavy rain in the spring and earlier in the summer helped her fruits and vegetables grow. But the moisture didn’t stay long due to the hot days to follow.

“The last couple of weeks it’s just been dry, because that heat and that wind just dries everything up,” Ilnicki said.

However, overall she is still mainly pleased with conditions this year, and is glad to see promising results in her garden.

Another market vendor and producer, Rietta Romfo has a first-generation family farm called “Sturdy Stem Nursery” in the Battlefords area.

The family also make their own fresh honey.

They started out with a fruit orchard business. Then, they brought in bees for pollination. Since then, they began producing their own honey as well.

Romfo notes business has been favourable this year, and most of the bees survived the cold winter.

“The bees did really good over winter,” she said. “We didn’t lose too much. The ones that survived were strong. So we ended up producing spring honey.”

The farm also offers a wide selection of other honey varieties to suit everyone’s tastes.

Romfo said there has been a trend over the years of beekeepers reporting many of their bees dying that don’t survive the winter for various reasons, whether it be the challenges of a very long winter or a harsh one.

One year in the past her family experienced a 100 per cent loss of bees over winter, so they had to start all over again or risk not having any fruit without the help of bee pollination. Fortunately, things have gradually improved since then.

“Last winter [in 2021] it was a 30 per cent [loss]. This year I think it was about a 20 per cent loss. So it depends on the winter. We wrap them [the bee hives] and insulate them. We do what we can to help the bees.”

When the family isn’t busy with honey production, Romfo said they also produce a host of fruits and vegetables, including cabbage, beets, green onions, and various varieties of zucchini. They also make skin creams from beeswax as a niche business that has seen a positive response from the community.

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW