Christine and Jason D’Hulster of Son-in-Law Produce Ltd near Otterville love to share the story of how their farm got its name. The tale includes close-knit families, good food, hard work and lots of happiness about farming.
It begins with their childhoods, in which they both grew up in tobacco farming families of Belgian descent.
Christine’s paternal grandparents, Alphonse and Kathleen Godelie, and her maternal grandparents, Camiel and Alice Bossy, entered tobacco as share-growers before settling on their own farms.
Christine’s parents, Gary and Blanche Godelie, managed a farm near Tillsonburg prior to settling on their own tobacco farm at the corner of the Otterville Road and Highway 59 in 1981.
Similarly, Jason’s parents, Roger and Annie, share-grew on several farms throughout the tobacco belt, “including one very close to here.”
“That’s what all Belgian and other immigrant families of that time did – they grew tobacco through and through,” said Jason.
Families spent weekends socializing, often through the former Belgian Hall in Delhi, with friendships and marriages uniting families. Jason and Christine met through these tobacco community bonds, marrying in 2004.
Meanwhile, the turbulence affecting the tobacco industry in the early 2000s prompted the Godelies to transition out of tobacco. They pivoted to growing fresh produce, focusing on potatoes and sweet corn. They erected a cabin-like, roadside farm store as part of their marketing.
After graduating from high school in the early 2000s, Jason assisted his family on their farm. With their encouragement, he built a greenhouse from scratch to produce flowers as a sideline. He then managed a ginseng farm near Milldale for 14 years; meanwhile, Christine became a teacher.
But the couple felt the pull of their farm-centred upbringing, pleasures, hard labour and all. Therefore, in 2016, Jason accepted an invitation from Gary to farm as a paid employee. Jason explained that he “wanted to try it for one year in order to get a feel of the operation.” He enjoyed working alongside of his father-in-law so much that they became partners in 2017, as Jason D’Hulster and G & B Godelie Inc.
That’s when he publicly became known as “the son-in-law”. “When he (Gary) introduced me to customers, he referred to me as his ‘son-in-law’, not by name,” said Jason.
When the Godelies retired around 2020, the D’Hulsters bought the farm. They chose the name, “Son-in-Law Produce” because of Jason’s connection to the Godelies when they took over in 2021.
The D’Hulsters view their farm as a large family garden, just like the ones of their childhood.
“It was a big part of our lives,” said Christine. “Everyone maintained large gardens to feed their families with seasonal, fresh greens. They canned fruit and vegetables and stored root vegetables for winter consumption. If it wasn’t in season, they wouldn’t eat it.”
“Back then, that was what was done to feed the family, not like now with massive farms growing crops,” said Jason. “This is the key to why we farm – want to produce ‘produce from our garden’.”
It’s a big “garden” on sandy loam with approximately 20 different crops, including potatoes, sweet corn, peas, beans, leeks, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, raspberries and strawberries, grown on 380 acres of owned and rented land. They only grow produce, their overall diversity permitting the D’Hulsters to rotate out, although Jason plants rye as a green crop.
“We expanded what Dad did. We love the seasonality of the garden --one crop transitions into another --they flow into each other,” said Christine. “I keep going back to the image of the garden.”
Jason manages the crops, while Christine, who teaches at a Simcoe secondary school, handles the marketing and paperwork on evenings, weekends and during summer holidays.
Their marketing is threefold. They retained the family’s roadside store, which closes in late October; sell wholesale to fresh markets and grocers; and attend five farmers’ markets in the Greater Toronto Area.
Son-in-Law Produce relies upon 21 employees during the heart of the season, including two full time employees, a designated market crew; and especially their veteran Jamaican off-shore workers whom Christina said sometimes actually provide guidance.
“Their (Jamaicans’) expertise is reliable,” said Jason, adding that they remember past problem spots in the fields and report new issues.
The D’Hulsters supplement their product with food produced from local farms, such as honey, maple syrup, asparagus, cider, meat and prepared meals because, said Jason, “We can’t grow it all here.”
“It supports other growers -- and people like to pick up burgers when they come here for produce,” added Christine.
Family involvement includes Audrey, 16, who shows an interest in retail and the social aspect of marketing, said Christine. Ashton, 13, cuts the lawn, but “wants to transfer into more tractor work.” The Godelie parents help with some marketing, while Roger D’Hulster sometimes assists with the trucking, including the farm’s three vans.
Christine uses her horticultural and agricultural experience to exhibit agrarian opportunities to students at a “Green Industries” course she teaches. In one recent class, she brought five different potato varieties from their farm, with plans to teach the youth how to cook mashed potatoes in a subsequent class – which she said delighted those students who love to eat them.
“I do it just to develop an understanding of Ontario agriculture,” said Christine. “If I can just get a couple of students to develop a passion for local food, I’ll be happy. This understanding is what we need.”
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