Some twenty years ago, I set up on a farm in Saint-Apollinaire, Québec. My girlfriend at the time and I had decided to try our luck as market gardeners, producing organic fruit and vegetables to sell in baskets in nearby Quebec City. During the long winter months, with little to do but put another log in the fire, I read a lot about small-scale organic farming. Most of these works were American or French, and therefore intended for climates a little warmer than ours. So my father “lent” me a few books by Yves Gagnon.
His books quickly became references for us, because at the time there was nothing else like them to help us in our quest to produce food ecologically in a northern climate. I still have these books, which I’ve never returned to my father, and they’re so worn I’ve had to patch them up with tape.
This year, Les Jardins du Grand-Portage, founded by Yves and his wife Diane Mackay, celebrates its 45th anniversary. That’s about my age! That’s a lifetime spent on these lands in Saint-Didace, Lanaudière. I spoke to Yves Gagnon, who told me not only his story and that of the gardens, but also that of his family and his passion for nature.
A Family Affair
His grandfather had developed a veritable shoe empire, becoming a respected figure in the business world. His grandfather’s three sons, including Yves’ father, inherited these businesses.
Yves was born in Laval-sur-le-Lac, and grew up on a large plot of land that his grandfather had divided between his seven children. He grew up surrounded by cousins, aunts and uncles, forming a close-knit family.
Because of his father’s frequent business trips, a French nanny was hired to look after him and his sister. “She was a great cook, a lady who picked dandelion and wild strawberries,” he says of her.
Yves’ mother, also an excellent cook, contributes to a rich and varied culinary ambience. She was also a passionate gardener, with numerous flowerbeds, rock gardens and a vegetable patch around the house. “From the age of 10, I used to weed her flowerbeds. I edged them with a half-moon spade. So I was immersed in horticulture from an early age.”
A Passion for Food
Cooking soon became another passion for Yves, almost on a par with horticulture. He studied at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ). However, by the end of his studies, he was disappointed by the lack of consideration given to local and organic foods in international cuisine.
“When I graduated from the ITHQ, there was no consideration for local food at all. Obviously, there was no talk of organic food, so we were in a very standardized international cuisine dynamic, dominated by European chefs for the most part, always with the idea of saving as much as possible on raw materials. No interest in the quality of fruit and vegetables. So I quickly became disgusted with the field, and that’s when I left with Diane to discover Canada.”
Beginnings in Farming
Seeking a more authentic connection with food, Yves left the culinary world and, with Diane, went to work in the Creston Valley, a small fruit-growing valley in southeastern British Columbia, near the Idaho/Alberta border.
For three years, Yves and Diane gained valuable experience on two different farms. “Those years were crucial for us,” he tells me, “they were really years when we realized that this was what we wanted to do. We wanted to live in the countryside, working the land, tending trees and growing fruit and vegetables.”
During their stay at Creston, they also became aware of the impact of pesticides and industrial farming practices. This prompted them to think about more sustainable farming methods. “At the same time, we saw all the spraying being done on the fruit trees. And that’s when we started thinking about pesticides and industrial agriculture. We were subscribers to Harrowsmith magazine, which we read avidly, to Organic Gardening too, and to 4 Saisons, the French magazine.”
These readings fueled their thinking and helped them conceive their plans for life in the country. In 1979, after their second year working in Western Canada, they bought land in Quebec for $15,000, a modest sum compared to today’s prices. “Mathieu, can you believe it? $15,000 when you see the prices today, you know it doesn’t make sense!”
Beginnings of Jardins du Grand Portage
At the start of Les Jardins du Grand-Portage, Yves and Diane’s main objective was to get into organic market gardening. After buying their land, they arrived in Saint-Didace with very few financial resources. “We had paid for our land. We got there, you know, without a penny in the bank. I was a cook, I worked as a cook in camps and things like that. Diane worked in a Jean Coutu pharmacy in Montreal.”
In 1980, they started their first garden in Saint-Didace. To establish their gardens, Yves and Diane cleared about a hectare of land using green manure techniques. Their neighbor helped them plough the land in spring, after which they planted buckwheat and rye to prepare the soil.
Despite the lack of a refrigerated warehouse and delivery vehicle, they successfully launched their vegetable production. They decided to specialize in vegetables which allowed them to avoid the problems of cold storage. “We decided to specialize in preserved vegetables. What’s interesting about preserved vegetables is that you don’t have to store them in a cold room. For example, you harvest your garlic and let it dry in the barn, you harvest your onions and put them in bags to dry. After that, you harvest your squash and put them in your barn, protected from the elements. Then in October, when you take out your carrots, beets, rutabagas, cabbages, etc., it’s time to deliver. Customers would come to us to pick up all the vegetables they were going to use over the winter.”
This approach allows them to avoid costly investments while learning the basics of organic farming, such as crop rotation, companion planting, pest control and composting. Thanks to these techniques, they developed a production method that respects the environment and is adapted to Quebec’s climatic conditions.
Seed Production
As if all this weren’t enough, Yves and Diane also began seed production, thanks to a pivotal encounter with Brother Armand Savignac, a Saint-Viateur cleric living at the Centre de réflexion chrétienne in Joliette. Founder of the Mouvement pour l’agriculture biologique (MAB) in 1974, he was passionate about gardening and organic farming. On arriving in Lanaudière, Yves became a member of MAB and soon became a regional representative, sitting on the Board of Directors from 1983.
During their long conversations about organic farming, Brother Savignac invited Yves to visit his garden. “I ended up visiting his garden one autumn, I think it was the fall of 1984. And there I discovered 200 plants of the same tomato, a pink tomato. At home, the frost had been there for a month, a month and a half, but at his place, it hadn’t frozen. The Centre de réflexion chrétienne, with its two stone wings and the meandering Assomption River, created an absolutely fabulous microclimate. He was on the plains, whereas I’m in the mountains. I was fascinated by the tomato plants. In fact, I have a photo of Brother Savignac, standing on a bucket, raising his hand and touching the top of his plants, which were 3 meters high and still full of fruit.”
“Then he let me try this tomato, which he called the Dufresne at the time. Yeah, and he always told me it was exceptionally succulent. You know, he used to say: “I’ve given up on all other tomatoes because none of them can hold a candle to the Dufresne. It’s so good I don’t want to eat any others.””
Brother Savignac had been selecting and saving the best seeds for 30 years to improve the line. Yves receives seeds of this tomato, but the species does not adapt well to Saint-Didace due to climatic differences.
Seed Production, the Continuation of a Passion
Determined, Yves began to adapt the tomato to his climate by selecting the best fruit each year. After eight years of effort, he observed significant improvements. On the death of the Savignac brother in 1994, Yves renamed this northern Dufresne line the “Savignac” in his honor.
Seeing the potential of selection to improve plant lines in a relatively short space of time, Yves extended the practice to other vegetables: “But I asked myself why I wouldn’t do the same with a bell pepper. Why not an onion? So I started with a few species at first, then I got hooked on seed production. Look, I’ve been doing this for 40 years and I still love it. It’s fascinating, it’s really an exceptional profession.”
It’s the start of Semences du Portage, which sells the seeds it and 8 other local growers produce.
The Next Chapter
Yves tells us how his daughter Catherine became involved in the family business. Passionate about the food industry, she studied at the ITHQ like him, but had to stop working in the restaurant business because of health problems. At the time, Yves spent his winters selling seeds, which prevented him from devoting himself fully to writing. So he asked Catherine to take over the marketing of the seeds, in particular by developing an online catalog to attract a younger clientele. Catherine quickly accepts and their collaboration is a success, allowing Yves to concentrate on writing while preparing Catherine to manage the gardens in the future. “You know, we work together, we have fun, we talk twice a day, it’s the greatest gift I’ve had in my life.”
Yves admits that, at 70, he is beginning to feel the strain of the physical demands of maintaining the garden. That’s why they set up an NPO to ensure the continuity of Jardins du Grand-Portage. Although he will continue to be involved, Yves is preparing the succession by training new employees to take over the management and upkeep of the gardens. He also plans to concentrate on gourmet cooking for small groups and to continue writing. The creation of the NPO was a decision taken ten years ago by Yves and Diane to ensure that the gardens would survive them and have a sustainable future.
An Artistic Spirit
However, although growing vegetables brought them much satisfaction and success, Yves felt that something was missing from his work. “But me,” he admits, “with my very artistic temperament, I wasn’t satisfied. I was doing this business, I had interesting challenges, but there was something missing in my work.”
This quest for creativity has perhaps influenced the way Jardins du Grand-Portage has evolved over the years.
More next week…!
I thoroughly enjoyed this article Mathieu! I so admire and appreciate people who make their dreams come true.
What an intriguing and inspirational life!
Very interesting article!