Canada Day reflections
page 3
New Pelham Pride benches
page 11
Rattlesnake sighting in Fenwick?
The Voice Voice Z
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
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DEBBIE PINE SALES REPRESENTATIVE 905.892.0222 NRC Realty, Brokerage
Independently Owned & Operated
Vol.25 No.26
debbiepine@royallepage.ca
of Pelham and Central Niagara JUNE 30 2021
CANADA DAY ISSUE
page 14
Darcy Richardson, CPA, CA | Broker
DARCYRICHARDSON.CA darcy@darcyrichardson.ca 905.321.6292
Sweets are in, sours to follow Wild spring weather results in delicious crop of cherries BY DON RICKERS Voice Correspondent Bill Duffin, owner of Duffin Farms, characterized it as a “rollercoaster ride.” He’s referring to the spring weather, which featured some frost and snow in late April and early May, and placed his six acres of cherry trees in harm’s way. “The extremes [of weather] are really not compatible with tender fruit growing,” he said. “We had a wet snow covering blossoms, with two or three inches covering the whole tree. I've never seen that before in my 50 years of farming, blossoms blooming and covered with snow. Then the warmth came, and the snow melted. The blossoms didn't fall off, because they were insulated by the snow.” Bill’s wife, Kim, runs their retail store, on Rice Road south of Highway 20, while he tends to the farm, and their daughter, Sara, an architect by profession, helps out in high season by handling the pick-your-own logistics. “In farm families, everyone has to pitch in,” said Bill with a laugh. With Covid loosening its grip, business is on the upswing. Many visitors come on the weekend from Toronto. The Duffins used to have busloads of pick-your-
own tourists descend on the farm, but with social distancing still in place, the people drive as families in cars now. “We try and keep families separated by assigning each a tree,” said Bill. All of the Duffin crop is sweet cherries, but they bring in sours for their pies and other baked goods. Bill gave this city slicker the low-down on the normal schedule for crop ripening. “By my calendar, we’re about ten days ahead this year,” he said. “Rhubarb is the first to ripen, then the strawberries. Blueberries and raspberries are ready in July, along with plums, and peaches in August. Apples kick in during the first or second week of August, and the pears come later. Kim Duffin noted how sweet the cherry crop is this year. “We had that cold snap, but also some real heat that produced a lot of sugar in the fruit,” she said. Three-litre baskets of sweet cherries are $20, and take about ten minutes to hand-pick. Larger and smaller containers are available. Bill Duffin said that the trees are pruned See CHERRIES Page 13
Picker Noha Nahli and Sara Duffin display some of the sweet cherries available to pick-your-own enthusiasts at Duffin Farms. DON RICKERS
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DEBBIE PINE SALES REPRESENTATIVE 905.892.0222
NIAGARA / FONTHILL, ON
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