A look at P.E.I. farms, the landscapes that surround them and the food they produce
Brian McInnis
September 14, 2019
Traditionally, farmers on Prince Edward Island plant their crops in the spring and begin harvesting certain crops in early summer and right through the late fall. This is especially true for potatoes. But agriculture is weather dependent so in some years the growing season can start earlier and last longer, but in other years the weather may mean a later start and an earlier finish.
Visit any roadside stand or farmers market, and fresh local produce is usually readily available beginning in July. The first crop of new potatoes can be ready to harvest in late June or early July.
Right now harvesting is in full swing and fresh P.E.I. veggies are plentiful.
The sand dunes of the P.E.I. National Park in Cavendish provide a dramatic backdrop for a crop of straw that is ready for harvest near Campbellton. Brian McInnis/CBC
An abandoned house that once sheltered early farmers near Springbrook still stands in a field of potatoes. Brian McInnis/CBC
The setting sun makes the dust from the straw being harvested sparkle as a farmer completes an early harvest. Brian McInnis/CBC
Golden oats are ripened and ready for the harvest in this farmer’s field near Dundas, P.E.I. Brian McInnis/CBC
Some potatoes usually remain after the harvesting machines have finished their work and traditionally people were allowed to enter farmers’ fields to gather up the leftovers. This practice still continues in some areas of P.E.I. Brian McInnis/CBC
All across P.E.I., development is encroaching on agricultural land as here in Park Corner, near Anne’s Lake of Shining Waters, where potato fields are planted in the same field as vacation houses that stand near the sandstone cliffs. Brian McInnis/CBC
Neat rows of potatoes are planted in this field near Wheatley River. Brian McInnis/CBC
A potato field and the historic Cape Tryon lighthouse are just a few examples of what make the Island famous and a tourist destination. Brian McInnis/CBC
Colin Hughes, left, of Calydon Farms in Lower Montague, chats with Joseph Crawford, on vacation from Calgary, Alta., as he buys some cherry tomatoes at Hughes’s booth at the Charlottetown Farmers Market recently. Brian McInnis/CBC
Some delicious-looking red bell peppers for sale at the Charlottetown Farmers Market. Brian McInnis/CBC
Cucumber, squash and zucchini on offer at the Charlottetown Farmers Market. Brian McInnis/CBC
A farmer sprays a potato field in Central Queens County in preparation of the harvest. Brian McInnis/CBC
Mustard plants are ready to help fight wireworm that are a threat to the Island’s potato crop. The plants are plowed into the soil in a crop rotation because they are toxic to the insect. Wireworms live in the ground beyond the reach of insecticides sprayed on the surface. They dig holes in potatoes as they grow, making them unfit for sale. The mustard plant produces a bio-fumigant in its roots that is toxic to the wireworm present in the soil. Brian McInnis/CBC
A crop irrigation system running near Brookfield. This summer was dry and extra water was needed. Brian McInnis/CBC
Corn ripens in a field near Fredericton, P.E.I. Corn won’t be harvested until later in the fall, but many farmers' crops were severely damaged by post-tropical storm Dorian. Brian McInnis/CBC
These clouds over a potato field near Rollo Bay offer a false promise of rain in mid-August. Brian McInnis/CBC
While other farmers were harvesting their early crops using modern machines, Kevin Taylor was demonstrating how earlier farmers planted their crops during the annual Dundas Provincial Plowing Match and Agriculture Fair in late August. His Haflinger horses are named Nick and Morgan. Brian McInnis/CBC
An early crop of freshly-cut straw. Brian McInnis/CBC
The waters of the Southwest River near New London silhouette a farmer as he sprays his potato field. Brian McInnis/CBC
Brian McInnis
Brian McInnis is a Charlottetown-based freelance photographer.
Besides CBC, he has done photo work for The Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Tourism P.E.I., City of Charlottetown, Downtown Charlottetown Inc. and many other national newspapers and magazines.
