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JIM. SHE-E HAN jeiaeoy Oe Cjtaacy a> The Spinach Guy | Contrary to popular belief, Jim “The Spinach Guy” really does have a last name. His full moniker is Jim Sheehan and he and his family operate a unique, state of the art hydroponic spinach farm on the outskirts of Port Perry. The Sheehan family moved to this area in 1999 from Uxbridge, by way of Pickering, where they landed after leaving Quebec in the 1970s. They sold their family busi- ness in 2008 and began the process of becoming farmers. “Why spinach farming?,” I asked, as it occurred to me that I had never met anyone who grew any amount of spinach, let alone the quantities that the Sheehan’s now produce. It seems that spinach chose Jim. He recounts say- ing, “I wanted to farm and my criterion was I wanted something that was year round, something that could be offered locally and finally a product that was family oriented.” Jim literally haunted the produce aisles of grocery stores near and far, watching, asking questions and generally, as he says, making a nuisance of himself. His persistent vigilance led him to notice that it was lettuce and spinach that moved the fastest, and that spinach was constantly being refilled. Through many discussions with produce managers he also learned that franchise stores were able to make buying decisions on the local level, a very important fact when considering he wanted a product that could fill a local need. Jim and his family actually started the process of their current operation four years ago. The research that has gone into their spinach operation has been lengthy and intense, for several reasons. It turns out that spinach is 04. APRIL 2012.82 finalindd 3 one of the most difficult plants to grow. It is suscep- tible to a wide spread root disease called pythium. Pythium is not harmful to humans but it retards the growth of plants like tomatoes and spinach and can wipe out whole crops of field grown spinach. Spinach is a sensitive plant, it does not like hot temperatures, it does not like cold, it does not like many of the condi- tions that Mother Nature throws around on a regular basis. The research mounted and Jim and his family, with the help and input of many, many local farm- ers, conceived and built what stands today, a small but state of the art greenhouse that uses “floating raft technology” to grow, in rotation, four floating pools of spinach, each with an approximate four week growing cycle. In layman’s terms this is what you see when you walk into Jim’s immaculate greenhouse; four large rectangular ponds, each pond is a field of spinach at varying levels of maturity. The temperature is perfect, warm for you and I, but just perfect for the spinach. The light is also perfect, made so by endless experimentation. The smell is fresh and green and when a leaf is pulled to taste, it is absolutely sweet, unlike any store bought spinach I have ever tasted. Jim comments, “We are the only people in North America who are commercially growing hydroponic spinach. It has been a long, interesting road to travel but we are very proud to have figured out how to grow totally disease free spinach using absolutely no pesticides or chemicals.” Please turn to page 4 FOCUS - APRIL 2012 3 120049 920m |