Fonthill Family Fruit Farm

Fonthill Family Fruit Farm Est. 2022, we are dedicated to growing the best
local produce for our community :)
🍎 CLOSED FOR THE SEASON!
📍1724 Pelham St., Fonthill, ON

04/12/2026

Planted a bunch of amazing nut tree seedlings yesterday, Pecans, Hazelnuts, Butternuts, and Buartnuts from ! This particular spot in the orchard is well suited for these trees to be able to grow into some of the biggest trees within the orchard. As mentioned, the spacing is inspired by the surrounding forests where century old massive nut trees have grown in close proximity and become tree buds for life!

During the winter I meticulously plan spring planting, making sure to find the ideal locations for each tree, considering drainage, light, wind flow, and also esthetic elements.

The Fonthill Family Fruit Farm's Fantastic Food Forest will be a sight to behold as well as being productive.

I hope our artchard will inspire others to grow as well!

Let's GROW!!!!

04/07/2026

Stuffed a few treebies (my trees babies) into the ground yesterday at the back of the orchard, put in so pawpaws, American Persimmons, and a couple goumi.

The pest pressure is extra high in this area with the forest just meters away so I'm hoping these little mini cages provide enough protection for these seedlings to get established. They'll likely need more protection as they grow, however, this should give them a limb up in this integral time of their growth.

The Prok x Suzukis seedlings supposedly are more likely to grow into females that produce fruit at a rate of greater than 60% so in planting them of groups of 3 it should guarantee a fruit producing tree per "spot."

This incredible fruit, similar to pawpaws in their underrecognition, is also overdue in being pursued as a viable and valuable fruit producer for home growers, and commercial growers alike.

Hybrid Asian and American Persimmons also hold great potential in this area, with "pollination- consistent-non-astringent" fruit being the pinnacle of breeding goals.

Also, they're stunningly gorgeous trees, and the hues of their leaves are exquisite.

Let's GROW!!!!

04/04/2026

Potting some super sweet and cold hardy Pawpaw seeds sourced from Quebec's powerhouse Pawpaw populizer; founder of the Farnham Pawpaw festival; Vincent Renaud!

Happy to have some of his hand selected superior fruit genetics represented here for the Fonthill Family Fruit Farm's New Fruit Development Initiative in hopes that this incredible under recognized fruit can regain its place as a seasonal natively growing.

Although woefully ignored by the agricultural industry due to pawpaws slow growth, short shelf life, and transportation sensitivity, the fruit is not really more delicate than peaches, and the trees can live longer and produce with less attention once established.

We're still a long ways off from getting a crop of fruit from our FFFFarm Pawpaws, but we'll have some seedlings for sale this fall, and fantastic locally sourced pawpaws.

A couple things I forgot to mention in the vid...
Don't let the seeds dry out! You can put a plastic bag over the pot to to prevent evaporation, and/or just monitor your pot to maintain dampness with drowning your seeds.

Also, if your getting seeds from different sources it's worthwhile labeling the pots so you can keep track of development if inclined.

Let's GROW!!!!


04/02/2026

Fonthill Family Fruit Farm's New Fruit Development Initiative going into its 3rd year with lots of open pollinated apples and a few directed hand pollinated apples as well as some pears, lots of currants, pawpaw, and Persimmons.

These goldrush x pixirosso have the potential for ornamental appeal, with deep hued leaves and potentially bright pink flowers inherited from Pixirosso as well as very likely amazingly flavored fruit, and hopefully some of the disease resistant traits of the Goldrush, which is also fantastically delicious.

Let's GROW!!!





03/31/2026

Planted four seedling apples in the back "deer corner" orchard, the first to go in the ground for 2026!

These are from seeds of open pollinated red-fleshed apples that were rescue grafted onto an old Red Delicious tree. With a Russet, a Paula Red, Cortland, Northern Spy, and Honeycrisp near by, they could be really interesting, and have high potential for producing good fruit.

Although Red Delicious are hardly anyone's favourite apples anymore, these 50+ year old trees produce more consistently than any other variety in our orchard, and they actually do taste delicious. Most people don't actually know what Red Delicious are supposed to taste like because conventional orchards pick them as soon as their red (but green on the inside). Jim Williams taught me to leave em till they look black, at which point the flesh takes on a light amber-ish hue, and even the skin contributes to the powerfully sweet flavour.

Im hoping to create our own "FFFF'n Delicious," and/or "Bloody Delicious" from the results of these and other "outback redflesh" seedlings.

Let's GROW!!!!

03/27/2026

A quick walk through a freshly planted section of Fonthill Family Fruit Farm's Fantastic Food Forest..

In this area we planted some hazelnut seedlings and named cultivar Heartnuts, as well as 40 Pawpaws started from local seeds (I was told the ones on the slope were from a variety called "Strawberry Kiwi" which Ive never been able to find anything about and they're likely just random seedlings, however, they were notably better than many others I'd had at that point), as well as some American Persimmon seedlings (im calling them Amps, with LAmps being from Lehman seeds, CAmps from Cliff England, and TRAmps from Torrie Warner), and 2 sets of HyPers; Hybrid American/Asian Persimmons- one from Lehman seeds and the other set from England's.

A few Pawpaw got deer trampled, and/or chewed, but most are still growing. There's really not much to see yet from all that we've planted. 3 years in and most of the seedlings are hardly more than twigs, although they should show some growth this season - if it rains this summer.

The HyPers on the ridge grew remarkably well last season, seems like a good spot for them, the deer seem to prefer them over the Amps, which they also enjoy..

Very excited to see the nut trees start growing this season, the deer took some significant chunks off a few of the saplings last year but our protection techniques are getting better, they're at the size where I'll give them their own little fenced in area with chicken wire. While the Pawpaws and Persimmons have their small rodent protection wire mesh "cages" and some haphazard black raspberry protection that should work for now.

Let's GROW!!!!

03/25/2026

Continuing to embrace the STUN method out here; Strategic Total Utter Neglect.

I wrote a bunch of stuff that disappeared..
Social media sucks. Engage in real life.

When a tree is set up to survive in an ideal location and it dies it wasn't meant to grow there.

Trees should be able to survive on their own in good locations.

I'm never spraying again.

Let's GROW!!!!


03/23/2026

Trying out some productive protection for the 3rd year seedling Pawpaws. The wild black raspberries on the edge of the orchard seem to be providing effective protection unintentionally to the Pawpaws planted in that area so I'm trying to expand the practice. The wire mesh cages have prevented rodent damage around the stems but some are getting nibbled as soon as they peank out the top by what appear to be deer (fom the hoof prints)

We'll see what unintended consequences arise in the future but hopefully nothing unmanageable l!

Lets GROW!!!!


02/11/2026

Goldrush Apples are great! The flavour within the first few examples grown at FFFF was exceptional, and we're excited to be growing more as the years progress. It is such a good apple it has become a focus for our New Fruit Development Initiative, and directed red flesh crosses will continue next year!

Let's GROW!!!!

#

02/11/2026

Unpacking some stratified "Outback Redflesh" apples, which came from the re-grafted remains of the mouse eaten first trees we planted at Fonthill Family Fruit Farm !

The labels were lost from most of the young trees but I know they were all red fleshed varieties, and one was definitely a Rubaiyat, which when (likely) pollinated with the 60+ yr old Red Delicious it was grafted onto, has a high potential for incredible flavour, and consistent production.

Red Delicious apples aren't many peoples favourite apples anymore, but they do produce consistently here, and they actually taste REALLY good when picked and eaten ripe (you probably won't find good examples at big chain grocery stores because they pick them as soon as they're red, but not ready).

I'm hoping these next generation "FFFF'n Delicious" apples will be good enough to keep around for another 60 years!

Let's Grow!!!!

01/29/2026

Macarena in the snow and some birds.

There are a lot of trees in steep decline since we stopped spraying here a couple years ago. It's hard to watch the beings that made me fall in love with this place succumb to the ravages of time but their decaying bodies are also providing homes and food for a growing population of birds, which are great to see.

This year we saw a Northern Flicker on site for the first time, there is a least one pair of Pilliated Woodpeckers, and during the summer there were Orioles, Bluebirds, Indigo Bunting, and more Hummingbirds than ever.

Longterm I'm trying to expand the forest edge out with what will hopefully one day be massive and productive nut trees (pawpaw growing in the understory), thereby increasing the potential benefits of this space beyond capital gains for humans alone and reinvigorate the true value of the area as a mutually beneficial space for the natural biome that once existed here in harmony with past humans, before the land was managed with conventional industrialized farming processes.

We're amidst a big transition here, it's slow, and it has to be, as the nuances of the site reveal themselves while the land speaks aloud, albeit in whispers, what it wants and needs. I'm still learning how to listen.

I'm also trying to figure out how to use this physical space, and this virtual space, to encourage people to start growing on their own. I truly feel that growing your own food, having a direct involvement in the process, and direct connection with the beings that provide for us is intrinsically valuable and rewarding, and that the more people that are compelled to such experiences the better for the planet.

Growing is great! Sometimes, growth involves letting things die naturally.



Address

1724 Pelham Street N
Fonthill, ON
L0S1E6

Opening Hours

Monday 12pm - 6pm
Tuesday 12pm - 6pm
Thursday 12pm - 6pm
Friday 12pm - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 12am - 4pm

Telephone

+19058925811

Website

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