Happy Thursday evening, all! I hope you’ve been enjoying this delightfully warm weather we’ve been having. It’s funny, I’ve been waiting all summer for this kind of weather, and it finally shows up right as we’re heading into fall. Go figure!
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’re probably familiar with my love of local farm markets. Well, today I’ve got an especially fabulous farm market find to share with you: Howe Family Farm Market in Aylmer, Ontario.
This family-run business has a long and storied history. The Howe family has been farming in Elgin County since 1861, when farmer William Howe and his wife immigrated from Kent, England and bought a plot of farmland in Aylmer. In 1915, William’s son and daughter-in-law bought a farm just across the road and started growing strawberries – a practice that their children and grandchildren have continued for over a century. Howe’s says that as far as they know, they are the oldest family-run strawberry farm in all of Ontario – now that’s something to be proud of! The Howe family also takes pride in their environmentally friendly farming practices: they were one of the first farms in the area to use sustainable watering technology, which earned them an award from the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority in 2001.
In 2012, the Howes opened a store – Howe Family Farm Market, located on John Wise Line in Aylmer – in which to sell their own produce, along with other locally grown produce from neighbouring farms. In 2018, the Howes purchased Salt Creek Market & Bakery in St. Thomas, renovated the space to improve accessibility (e.g. by adding a wheelchair ramp) and renamed it Howe’s Farm Market & Country Bakery. The location Tania and I recently visited (the one I’ll share photos of below) is their original store in Aylmer: Howe Family Farm Market.
Stepping inside the market feels like taking a trip back in time! Its rustic pine walls are adorned with antique farming tools and black-and-white photographs of the Howe family picking strawberries back in the day. Out in front of the store, there’s a couple of red Muskoka chairs where visitors can relax and enjoy a treat from the bakery.
The market is fully stocked with local, farm-fresh produce: peaches, apples, watermelon, sweet corn, and berries (including, naturally, the strawberries they’re famous for.) You’ll also find seasonal plants and flowers – when we visited last week, there was a cheerfully bright display of potted mums.
Howe’s also sells small-batch canned and bottled goods (honey, jams and jellies, salad dressings) and a yummy variety of baked goods, fresh from their on-site bakery. We were immediately intrigued by their “pie pockets” (i.e. hand pies) which they sell in a variety of flavours: strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, cherry, peach, blueberry, raspberry and lemon. The pie pockets are sold in containers of six for $13 – we picked up a package of the blueberry, and they were seriously so good! I love pie, but when there’s not an occasion to warrant baking an entire pie (or enough people around to eat it) these individual servings are the perfect solution. I recommend heating them up in a toaster oven and topping with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate sweet treat. Blueberry is both mine and Tania’s favourite pie filling so that was an obvious choice for us, but Howe’s also sell variety packs so you can sample a few different flavours of pie pockets.
Speaking of single-serve desserts, I also spotted these delightfully pink strawberry cheesecake cups in the refrigerated section. I haven’t tried them yet, but plan to pick some up on my next visit! These would be the cutest dessert for a bridal shower, baby shower or birthday party for any Barbie girl, young or old.
After shopping at the market, we took a walk around outside. A sign in the adjacent field invites visitors to “take a stroll through Kevin’s Garden”, which I can only assume is named after operations manager Kevin Howe. The gardens are filled with the most beautiful flowers in a dazzling array of colours – the dahlias are especially gorgeous!
I look forward to returning to Howe Family Farm Market in the fall, when they turn into a pumpkin–filled paradise! I’m also adding their second location (Howe’s Farm Market & Country Bakery) to my list for the next time I’m in the St. Thomas area.
Do you love local farm markets as much as I do? If there are any great ones I should know about, please let me know in the comments or send me an email – I’d love to hear your recommendations!