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Brief Bio of the Owners of Acorn Creek: Andy and Cindy Terauds
Cindy and Andy Terauds are the owners of the Acorn Creek Garden Farm.
Each graduated with an honors degree in Agriculture from Macdonald
College of McGill University. The idea of creating and operating a garden
farm goes back to Cindy's childhood when, at the of six, she convinced
her father to invest in a little garden where she grew fruits and vegetables
and sold them to the public. Her childhood dream was to own a garden farm
growing fruits and vegetables for sale to the public. By 1976, Cindy and
Andy had married and were ready to begin building their dream farm.
Acorn Creek Garden Farm began operations in the fall
of 1978 on 100 acres near the village of Carp in the Ottawa River Valley
in Ontario, near Ottawa and Kanata. The farm was carefully selected because
of it's rich clay-loam soil and the ground fed creek running through it
year round. The heavy soil grows better tasting produce and the stream
is used to irrigate the farm.
The first crop of produce offered to the
public was strawberries. (Strawberries are still one of the most popular
crops for customers who want to pick their own fruits.) The variety (and
quality) of fruits and vegetables continued to increase as Andy and Cindy
researched and experimented with new varieties. The strawberry garden
grew to about 6 acres and the demand for vegetables has doubled each year.
Today, the farm grows 60 crops, consisting of 750 varieties of fruits
and vegetables.
Two greenhouses were added in 1986. Another
greenhouse dedicated to tomatoes was added in 1999. Still another was
added in 2001. Acorn Creek now produces a wide variety of bedding plants
including: 900 varieties of vegetables, 150 varieties of herbs (25 varieties
of basil alone), 50 varieties of melons as well as annuals and perennials
for customers who love flowers.
Acorn Creek would not have prospered without almost
constant innovation. In 1983, for example, Andy began experimenting with
growing new varieties of melons, specifically trying several scientifically
developed methods and adopting them to our northern conditions. Since
melons are a southern crop, they need a lot of heat. The best combination
of techniques developed include planting small transplants from the greenhouse
through a special plastic to give the little transplants plenty of food
and moisture. Melons which normally mature in 90 days can be ripened in
as little as 75 days. But the most important criteria for selecting among
the varieties was exceptional taste.
Andy has participated in the Carp Farmer's Market since
it was started in 1990 both as a vendor selling fruits and vegetables
on Saturdays throughout the summer as well as serving on the executive
of the Board of Carp Farmers' Market.
Andy and Cindy welcome visitors to the farm where they are greeted
by Allicat and Oscars, two very friendly cats.
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