Florelia Gardens grows more than 50 varieties of organic vegetables, along with a selection of herbs and flowers used to create rustic, countryside bouquets. Their goal is to offer products that are not typically found in stores and are usually only available to gardeners who grow them themselves. By eliminating intermediaries and keeping transportation distances very short, they are able to cultivate delicate varieties and wait until they reach full maturity before harvesting and distributing them.
Florelia Gardens also contributes to protecting our environment by supporting ecological and sustainable agriculture, an approach that helps preserve the genetic diversity of vegetable crops and pollinators.
Their story:
Coming from agricultural backgrounds, Elia and Pierre have followed similar, yet unique paths.
Elia comes from a small village in Mexico where her father grew vegetables that were sold within the local community. She completed a diploma in agricultural production and processing and was about to become a beekeeping instructor when she left Mexico to settle in Quebec.
Pierre, for his part, studied horticultural agronomy at Macdonald College and later earned a degree in business administration, all while already practicing bio-intensive farming.
After agriculture, both of them turned toward the visual arts, where they met during a course on traditional oil painting techniques. A deep friendship developed and flourished over eight years before evolving into a love story. With Florelia Gardens, they have come full circle, returning to their original passion: cultivating the land and sharing its abundance with others.
"The characteristic that differentiate us from most vegetable farms, both conventional and organic, is the exclusive use of open-pollinated varieties for our crops. Hybrid varieties used in agriculture contribute to the accelerated loss of genetic diversity of food crops and increase our dependence on the agribusiness complex that owns the rights to most of these hybrids. You will not find any hybrid fruits and vegetables in your baskets. All our products come from open-pollinated open-source seeds."
Pierre Lampron, co-founder
You want to know more?
Pierre Lampron, co-founder
Florelia Gardens
1440 chemin de la Côte Georges, Mascouche, QC, Canada J0K 3H0
Visit their website: https://www.jardinsflorelia.com/