Impossible to find carrots from Quebec at Metro or Provigo these days. Last year’s harvest is over, that of 2024 is upon us and in the meantime, Quebecers are falling back on those that come from far away.
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“The first carrots will come out of the ground within a week,” rejoices the head of the Association of Quebec Market Gardeners, Patrice Léger Bourgoin.
It’s normal, he says, to come up against produce from elsewhere at this time of year. The refrigerators are empty and the new carrots have not yet been harvested.
Farmer’s words, 2024 will be a good year, especially if we compare it to the horror experienced in 2023. Market gardeners got a taste of it, in Quebec, last year, due to the abundant rains.
“There was just enough rain in 2024. It looks really good for root vegetables,” notes with relief the man who represents 300 farmers, for 80% of Quebec’s market gardening areas.
After the horror…
In Montérégie, it is currently the harvest. The first Nantes carrots of the season will be in grocery stores in the middle of next week, in about seven days.
“Our fields are beautiful, we had a very beautiful spring,” announces Gabriel Leclair, third generation to take care of the farm of the same name in Sherrington, near Napierville.
The 25-year-old farmer relies on 86 foreign workers to plow and harvest, he is “a lucky guy” in the Quebec agricultural sector.
The descendant of a farmer only works “60 hours a week” in order to feed Quebecers. He also grows radishes, leaf carrots, beets, cilantro, parsley and French shallots.
If you were tempted by a bunch of Quebec radishes for $1 recently, chances are excellent that it came from Fermes Leclair.
“It’s good this year, not too spicy. It will be the same for the carrots, they will be delicious,” assures the farmer.
The spokesperson for Quebec farmers is pleased to see the sector recovering. “Lettuce did very well in May-June. We’re back,” exclaims Patrice Léger Bourgoin with pride.
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