Measured approach to growing leeks made Canning Produce Ontario’s largest producer

Bob and Mary Jane Davis (left) still help out Emily and Corey Davis, who are posing with two of their three children, Adley and Riker.

By Diane Baltaz

You could say that Corey Davis of Canning Produce, Paris, was born into growing one of the world’s oldest and nutritional foods.

In 1988, just prior to his birth, Davis’s parents, Bob and Mary Jane, assumed a retiring farmer’s contract to grow leeks for a local wholesaler.

Although human beings consumed leeks since the Bronze Age (4,000 BC) and while building the Egyptian Pyramids, they were still a minor and seasonal niche crop in Ontario in the late 1980s. Most retailers relied on importing most of this allium from Mexico and the United States.

Intrigued by its possibilities, the Davis family took the contract on a trial basis, growing a small acreage on their farm, located between Canning and the Brant-Oxford County Line. It took only a week to harvest, and, despite its labour intensity and high input costs, they loved it.

Today, Canning Produce is Ontario’s largest producer of leeks, producing approximately 84 acres annually, and supplies three large grocery chains from late July through to March.

Corey joined the farm full time after graduating from university in 2012 and now manages the crop. His wife, Emily, handles office duties and finances. Bob and Mary Jane continue to help out.

“My goal is to provide leeks to customers year round,” said Davis.

Their varieties fall into three categories: spring leeks, which mature early with pale green leaves; fall leeks, which are darker in colour and hold well in the fields; and winter leeks, characterized by dark, blue leaves.

These categories permit a staggered production for earlier plantings and a longer growing season than most growers produce. The first seedlings are planted in the farm’s seven, propane-heated greenhouses in early February, are ready for field planting shortly after April 20. The final planting generally ends by mid-June.

First harvest happens around July 20, said Davis; after washing, trimming and packaging in bundles of three, go directly to market on the following day. The second harvest occurs in October, allowing the Davises to extend their sales into the winter.

The family originally grew sweet corn, which Davis’s grandparents specialized in after purchasing the farm in 1943. Bob and Mary Jane took over the farm in 1984 and purchased it in 1998, while raising their four children, of which Corey was the youngest.

The Davis family gradually extended their leek acreage when market demand allowed it. They visited growers’ farms in Europe and in Canada to glean new ideas. In order to increase efficiencies, the farm added a wash line, and Bob rebuilt an old peanut harvester to harvest leeks.

Corn production ceased by 2001, the same year that the farm incorporated as Canning Produce, Inc. The family also transformed their barn into a pack house and extended their storage facilities. The seven greenhouses were added in 2004, said Davis. By 2007, Canning Produce hired 10 skilled temporary foreign workers from Jamaica to handle their increasing field work and processing.

“It got big in 2008,” said Davis. That was when his father took a box of leeks to the headquarters of Loblaw Corporation, with a pitch about their extended market season.

“They talked, but it was still a year before they bought from us,” he added.

Presently, Sobeys and Metro also ordered their produce, with each bundle bearing the farm name and location on the tag.

Seed stock comes from Nunham’s, a Netherlands seed company which Davis said sets the industry standard.

“There are tons of different varieties of leeks,” he said. “I am continuously trying their latest and greatest releases to see how they grow.”

Growing leeks once they get into the field provides a “balancing act” said Davis. “They’re a thirsty crop; otherwise, the plants just sit there, not growing. Yet they don’t like being wet.”

Davis irrigates at night in order to optimize water efficiency, drawing water from an on-farm pond as well as from the Nith River.

“Although that means working during the day and then being up nights to irrigate!” he added.

Diseases are few, and the leek moth has yet to seriously threaten the crop, but times of excessive moisture keeps Davis vigilant against fungus.

Leek fields are rotated in alternate years with oat-clover plantings. The crop also demands several fertilizer applications throughout the season.

Weed control is mainly done manually. They carefully time the crop’s cultivation, waiting until the leaves are tall enough to inhibit sand from splashing into the plants’ upper leaves.

Emily handles the farm’s promotions such as posting crop updates and recipes on the farm’s social media when she’s not dealing with pay roll, orders and spreadsheets.

“The most asked question I get about leeks is ‘What do you do with them?’” she said. Less pungent than onions, she said that the entire plant is edible, nutritious and versatile, braises well and makes excellent soup stocks – especially as leek-potato soup.

“Braised leeks make a great side dish,” said Davis. “Use them as a stuffing, or adding to roasts, grilled meats, quiche, and grilled cheese sandwiches. If you use the whole plant, cut the leaves off.”

The family’s favourite recipe is leek bruschetta, which a Quebec leek grower shared. Frying the medallions in soy sauce is another Davis delicacy; so does air frying them to create leek chips, which their three children, Adley, Riker and Kashton, enjoy. 