The benefits of sea buckthorn
Table of Contents: The Fruit with a Thousand and One Virtues. Sea buckthorn is an emerging shrub in Quebec that is gaining popularity. Our first sea buckthorn harvest dates back to 2013....
It's crazy when you think about it. A tiny idea from a young man barely 20 years old who just wanted to create a summer job. That young man got completely taken in! His project wouldn't just be a small project, but would quickly evolve into a life project… This story, my story, do you know it?
In 2007, I was studying computer science at Cégep. As I liked to say, for me, computers were a hobby. I didn't want to make it my career later, but it was the field I was studying while I figured out what I wanted to do. It was also in 2007 that my father bought the land in Pointe-Fortune to plan for his retirement. He wanted to plant sea buckthorn to keep himself busy in his old age (phew, he won't like my expression!). At that time, I had one desire: to find a summer job on the farm so I could stop working in downtown Montreal.
Through my research and reading, I discovered beekeeping. Intrigued, I began to delve into the subject. I discovered a complex world that struck me as truly beautiful. A world that deserved to be explored. The spark had ignited. I no longer wanted it to be just a summer job, but a lifelong career! While searching for training programs, I found several short courses lasting a few days, but nothing that met my expectations. I wasn't going to embark on a project like that without proper training. Finally, I found a course at Cégep d'Alma that was scheduled to begin at the end of January 2008 and last one year. There weren't enough students, so the course was going to be delayed, with the start date yet to be determined (one month, six months, a year—nobody knew). I was truly disappointed, but I was going to be patient. Finally, two days before the deadline to cancel our CEGEP courses, the phone rang: the beekeeping course starts on February 18th, next Monday! I quickly canceled my CEGEP courses to prepare for my studies at CEGEP d'Alma. My mother and I left for Alma. A short two-day stay awaited us to find a place for me to live. Leaving for a year is great, but you have to live somewhere! We found a place fairly quickly.
Classes begin. There are barely 17 or 18 of us students. Within a month, we're down to about ten, and only 5 or 6 of us will graduate. Many have been disillusioned with beekeeping; it's not an easy profession. I still hadn't seen a bee and I still didn't know if I was allergic to these little creatures, but I knew it was what I wanted to do more than ever.
Summer 2008, my first encounter with bees: I did an internship with a beekeeper. A producer of bulk honey, queen bees, and nucs (baby hives sold to other beekeepers), this internship allowed me to learn everything about beekeeping. Theory is good, but practice is even better! By the end of the summer, I was truly hooked.
Summer 2011, the start of the farmers' markets. From the beginning, Ferme Les Petites Écores has been present at three markets in the region: Rigaud, Saint-Lazare, and Île-Perrot. Over the years, we have expanded to several other markets: Pointe-des-Cascades, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Ville Saint-Laurent, Concordia, and McGill. It has always been very important to have direct contact with you, our valued customers. This is why we have long prioritized farmers' markets. Even back then, I had created several honey-based products: Cinnamon Honey, chocolate honey and honey caramel.
Then came 2013, the year of BIG changes. It was in 2013 that my parents joined the business with the sea buckthorn plantation. That same year, we began construction of the honey house. But that wasn't the only major change that happened in 2013. I met Hélène, my wife, who would join the adventure, as she too had a very specific life plan. We'll come back to that later.
In 2014, nearly 401 bees died… We had to buy more hives to make up for our losses. It was a heavy loss and it was truly sad. Despite everything, I was so happy: we had a new honey house, had managed to increase our number of hives to 212 during the summer, my sweetheart was by my side, and, for the first time, we were offering our pollination services in the blueberry fields of Lac-Saint-Jean.
Little anecdote We transported 120 beehives to the blueberry fields over two nights. We left Pointe-Fortune at almost 10 p.m. Loading was long and arduous. We couldn't get the hives properly secured. We had to try three times before everything was safe. Our lack of experience was obvious... I made the first trip with Hélène. Near Trois-Rivières, the gas tank was still a little over half full. So I decided to keep going and fill up when I got to La Tuque. Oof, bad choice! When I got to Shawinigan, I noticed my gas gauge was dropping... fast. It was past midnight. Not a single gas station was open along Route 155. It was getting... risky! I pulled over to the side of the road and started knocking on doors for gas at 1 a.m. After going to more than 6 or 7 houses, someone finally answered. I bought a large jerrycan of gas (20-30 liters) and that allowed us to get to Joliette. It cost us 1381 TP4T... Anyway, there was less than a liter left in the truck!!! Phew, that was a close call!
2015 marked the year Hélène started Jardins Les Petites Écores. A wonderful addition to the farm! Working land where rocks are so prevalent isn't easy. Hélène had the gardens cleared of rocks and then prepared the raised beds on which she would grow her vegetables. She began producing vegetables that would soon be certified organic. She also started... organic vegetable baskets which are a success! I was really happy for her.
I contacted one beekeeper: all sold out… I then contacted a friend who had a lot of hives. I explained my situation to him. He told me to call him back the next day. When I called, he told me what he had to offer: «What would you say if I lent you 100 hives? You give me 50 next year and 50 in two years. No fees.» I didn't understand what had just happened. For me, it represented much more than a “mere” 100 hives: It meant not going bankrupt and continuing to do what I loved. And yes, we came very close to not continuing. I will be eternally grateful to him.
While discussing the bee deaths with this producer, he offered a hypothesis about the cause (which I still didn't know). In the summer of 2016, I ran some tests. All my hives were tagged. This way, we ensured impeccable monitoring and were able to confirm the source of the problem. By checking with the producer who supplied our queens, we were able to confirm that the problem was indeed the queens from his apiary. We always received our queens in the third week of June, and these queens had problems. Not just with us, but with other beekeepers as well. This discovery allowed me to get back on my feet. Finally, light at the end of the tunnel. And it was. The springs of 2017, 2018, and 2019 went well! I was starting to feel better again.
I want to give a special mention to the entire DéveloppementVS (DEV) team. I love my DEV team. They've helped me since I started my business, and they're still there for me today. They're highly qualified and passionate people who do extremely professional and valuable work for the economic and social development of Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
If you're an entrepreneur, whether starting a business or already established, in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region and you have questions, go see them. They're the best, they're there for you.
What does the future hold? We can't say, but we can guarantee that we have several projects in the works. Farming isn't easy; we're at the mercy of nature, but oh, how we love what we do! And that's partly thanks to you, our valued customers, friends, and family, who have supported us for so long. You give us the strength to continually innovate and offer you even more.
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