We grow quinoa

We first became interested in growing quinoa on our farm because of our strong interest in local food and our connection to Peru - Alexandra is originally from Lima, Peru where Ryan and Alexandra met in 2004. We initially tried growing quinoa on our farm in 2009, but only harvested our first crop in 2014. For the last several years, we have grown 20 acres of a "nutty brown" quinoa. When cooked, our quinoa has an "al dente" texture, nutty flavour, and darker colour much like brown rice. Its texture and flavour distinguish it from the common white and red varieties.

​

Organic practices

From 2014 - 2017, we transitioned 1/4 of our farm to certified organic, and we harvested our first organic quinoa in the fall of 2018 (our 2017 was very poor). Our currently available quinoa is certified organic. We have used green manures, organic amendments, and our pigs to improve soil health.

Ongoing experimentation

We continue to experiment with other varieties, including white, red and black quinoa varieties. Some varieties of quinoa seem to be well suited to our parkland region and local climate, where we have a shorter, cooler growing season than other parts of Manitoba.