Fields to Forks: Five generations of potatoes in Azilda
It’s the "Pride of Azilda" just like it says on the bag. Don Poulin Potatoes has been a business that has seen five generations of farmers grow crops in the Greater Sudbury community of Azilda.
"At one time we were mixed farming like in the old times -- vegetables, cows and all that -- and all of a sudden, my grandpa and dad decided to go to potatoes. We used to grow 20 then 40 then 80 and now we’re up to 400 acres of potatoes," Dan Poulin said.
Poulin and his sister, Louise Mullally, took over the family business from their father. Now Poulin is currently working towards handing over the business to his son.
"So I got to pass the torch someday, so hopefully he’ll continue. He’s really involved. He’s doing a great job. So hopefully the grandsons are going to pick up after their dad," he said.
The potatoes can be found at several local restaurants and chip trucks in the Sudbury area as well as local grocery stores but they can also be found outside the nickel city.
"We go up north to Timmins, in the Sault, in Toronto. We have customers out in Toronto, Kingston, so yep they do travel all over in the Ontario region for sure, but mostly though in the Sudbury region locally," Mullally said.
The siblings said without community support and the evolution of technology, the company would not be in the position it is today. Poulin has been able to introduce GPS satellite fertilization into the operation, something he said not many farmers have, but he and his sister will never forget where it all started.
"It was all manual. We’d open a window in the basement, there’d be this wooden slide, and the employees would just slide the 75-pound jute bag in there," Mullally said.
Poulin Potatoes is currently working towards creating its own packing plant. And while Dan said he’d like to grow even more potatoes, the acres just aren’t there.
"The availability of our land is hard because there’s not too many. You need proper drainage for the potatoes, so sandy soil is the best and now it’s getting hard to purchase those lands," he said.
The family is in the midst of harvesting something they say will last until Thanksgiving, weather permitting. They will quickly fill six storage buildings and may even have to ship potatoes out right away if they run out of room. Mullally said it’s been a very successful year for the crops thanks to lots of rain over the summer months.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.