Farming in Labrador: An archival special from Land & Sea

Back in the early 1990s, there were many who said farming couldn't be done in Labrador.

It was too cold, the soil was too poor, the cost of shipping would be prohibitive.

Yetthere were tenacious farmers proving those naysayers wrong.

In 1994, Land & Sea host Pauline Thornhill went to Happy Valley-Goose Bay to talk to some of the farmers there.

What she found were hard-working people finding success in their fields.

Ches Cull was one of the people Thornhill interviewed. Cull was originally from Comfort Cove. He'd farmed there and he wanted to give it a go in Labrador.

With 160 acres, Cull had plenty of room to experiment.

"I'd spent several winters here and I knew back in the turn of the century, Dr. [Wilfred] Grenfell's day, they operated farms here. People grew root crops here. Almost everyone in the valley had gardens, so I know it could be done," said Cull.

Cull focused on sheep. While some advised him that Labrador winters would be too cold for the animals, Cull persevered.

"I've had lamb born here at 20 below and survive no problems here in the barn. The cold doesn't present a problem at all," he explained.

There were others who warned there wouldn't be enough sunlight in Goose Bay for farming.

In fact, Goose Bay gets about the same number of sunlight hours as the Humber Valley.

Pioneers in organic farming

All that sunshine gave a boost to crops raised by Joyce and Frank Pye.

Back in 1994 they were experimenting with peas, parsley and strawberries.

The Pyes were also growing everything on their farm organically, using chicken manure as fertilizer.

"I'd much prefer an apple that has a blemish on it than this picture-perfect thing that is full of preservatives and dye and chemicals and goodness knows what," said Joyce Pye.

In the 1994 Land & Sea show, Pye complained about the lack of support from government officials.

"They put stumbling blocks in your path rather than helping you along and encouraging it. And I don't understand why, because when everything is shipped in, you would think that it would be good to have locally produced crops," she said.

Pye wondered then, as many farmers do today, why food security isn't more of a priority in Newfoundland and Labrador.

To see the episode, click the video player at the top of the story.

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