Founded in 2014 by Leslie and Heather Martin, Martin’s Sweet Farm covers 100 acres near the village of Campbellville, nestled in the heart of Halton Region.
High school sweethearts from Listowel, the couple decided to start farming after spending more than a decade in the corporate world. After a long search they settled on the perfect property and took possession of in May 2014.
The farm is over 165 years old, and Heather and Les are lovingly restoring it to its former glory to support and sustain their bees. It took a lot of hard work and a large investment, but they feel it has been worth it.
Bees and trees = honey and maple
Every year, Les and Heather tap 1,000 maple trees over 30 acres and manage 120 bee hives that house between 40,000-50,000 bees.
True to the name, this sweet farm produces 100% pure and natural honey and maple syrup. They also blend their honey and maple syrup together making their signature maple honey which is used to sweeten a number of other products.
Their honey is never pasteurized and doesn’t need to be because honey is naturally antibacterial.
Along with the maple trees and beehives, Heather and Les grow hay and clover for the bees and do a complete crop rotation regularly to rejuvenate the soil. These hard-working farmers have also planted a few hundred fruit trees on their property.
Martin’s Sweet Farm specialities:
In addition to their many exciting honeys, you can purchase other goodies from The Sweet Farm. You can buy their locally made products at various locations around Ontario, or direct from their website.
How much honey are we talking here?
Typically, each hive will produce about 100 pounds of honey, but half is left for the bees to survive the winter, so roughly 50 pounds is harvested from each hive. Last year, honey production was down because of the overly wet summer. Fingers crossed for a warmer, drier season this year!
Why buying local matters to Heather & Les
“There are the obvious environmental reasons to buying local; you aren’t contributing to wider global issues with trucking and shipping.
It’s fresh, which might be less of a concern with something like honey than produce, but it’s also from someone you can know, someone you can visit, allowing you to understand what goes into making and producing the product. And any time you are buying local food products, you are contributing to a more sustainable food supply system.
Buying from local farms keeps farmers producing which means we all have a better chance of preserving and protecting our local food sources for when we need them.”
At Love Local Food, we couldn’t agree more!
