Fraise d'Hiver (Winter Farm) is inaugurating its first industrial unit in Vaureuil in partnership with Les Serres Vaudreuil to become the largest controlled-environment vertical strawberry farm in Canada. This is an important milestone for the company to deploy its technology on a large scale while working together with local produce growers. Winter Farm plans to grow over 180,000 kilograms of strawberries between October and June of every year. This is equivalent of production yielded by more than 2 hectares of traditional greenhouse area.
What is a winter farm?
A winter farm is a 100% controlled environment growing space for produce. By using cutting-edge engineering systems to reproduce perfect sunlight, rain and wind conditions, risks to crops are minimized, and the quality of produce is maximized, without using chemical pesticides. A winter farm maximizes the profitability of the off-season production for market gardeners.
Fraise d'Hiver shares an overview of the equipment and techniques used to successfully grow their strawberries in a vertical controlled-environment and without chemical pesticides.
- Special lighting provides the benefits of natural sunlight and the optimum amount of energy
- An automated irrigation system to supply water accordingly
- Reusing drainage water
- Constant ventilation filtering and purifying the air
- UV lamps to control pathogen spores and reduce the risk of pathogen propagation
- Pollination of the plants is ensured
"The Winter Farm solution is a 100% made in Quebec innovation and a powerful lever to stimulate local off-season production,” states Alain Brisebois, President and Chief Executive Officer of Winter Farm.
“In addition to increasing the production capacity of market gardeners, our units emit no GHGs and significantly reduce those emitted by greenhouses. This first industrial installation is another step towards our food autonomy."