• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
In Search Of Yummy-ness
  • Recipes
  • Guides
  • Gardening
  • Subscribe
  • About
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Guides
  • Gardening
  • Subscribe
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Guides
    • Gardening
    • Subscribe
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home > Gardening

    Downey Potato Farms #LoveONTFood

    Published: Oct 9, 2014 · Modified: Feb 10, 2022 by Shareba · This post contains affiliate links.

    14 shares
    I-Love-Local-Fall

    It's Ontario Agriculture Week here in Ontario, Canada, and to celebrate I thought I'd share my experience at Downey Potato Farms.

    I visited Downey Farms for the first time last week, along with fellow food-blogger Lisa Le. This was my first time seeing commercial farming first hand, and it was actually very educational.

    Spudnik-at-Downey-Farms

    When I buy a bag of potatoes from the grocery, I never think about where they came from. It turns out that it takes a lot of time, equipment and manpower to grow enough food to meet our needs. One man who is working particularly hard to get delicious potatoes on our table is Trevor Downey.

    Trevor is a fourth generation potato farmer from Ontario, and a hard-working father of three. He is also the President of Downey Farms, Ontario's premiere local potato growing, packing and distribution company. Trevor took time out of his busy day to show Lisa and I the journey that potatoes take from the field to your fork.

    Trevor-Downey
    Photo Credit: Lisa Le

    I'm not sure why I was surprised to see so many rows of potatoes in the field... I guess I never really thought about it before. There were rows and rows of potatoes waiting to be taken away.

    Potato-Farm-shelburne

    Trevor kneeled down and dug out few potatoes with his hands. He was so excited to show us what they look like, and tell us about how they grow.

    It's sort of amazing to see those golden nuggets just hiding in the dirt. If you didn't disturb the ground, you wouldn't even know all of those were down there. My mom grew potatoes for the first time this year, and it was so satisfying to dig them up last month. We're definitely going to try that again.

    Trevor-Downey-digging-potatoes

    I was really impressed by Trevor's passion for his work. He couldn't stop talking about the potatoes, his staff and his plans to expand their line of potatoes. His enthusiasm was contagious, and I started to understand why farming is so important.

    Potatoes-from-Downey-Farms

    When we arrived at the processing and storage facility, I was shocked to see how many potatoes were there. The photo below shows one of the temperature-controlled storage rooms. This room alone can hold over 5 million pounds of potatoes. 5 MILLION POUNDS!!

    Potato-Storage-at-Downey-Farms

    I'd never seen so many potatoes in one place in my life. These potatoes will stay here until May, as older potatoes are packaged and shipped to restaurants and stores. I asked Trevor how they are able to stay in good shape for so long, and he explained that it has to do with the temperature and the ventilation in the room. There are fans that circulate the air, and the potatoes become dormant until it's time for them to come out.

    Potato-from-Downey-Farms

    Eventually, the potatoes will be moved out of storage. Then they are washed, sorted and packaged before being shipped to restaurants and groceries. Trevor's GMO-free potatoes are sold under the Bistro Fresh label, and you can read more about the brand here.

    If you're looking for information on how to select, store and cook potatoes, you'll want to check out this handy guide by Produce Made Simple.

    Now, I could continue to ramble on about potatoes, but I thought you might enjoy watching something instead. Check out this super short video:

    Disclosure:
    This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
    I attended a media tour of Downey Farms, which is how I was able to take these photos.

    More Gardening Articles

    • My Visit to Stems Flower Farm
    • Seed Haul & Garden Plan - 2021
    • How to Protect Plants from Frost
    • How to Plant Seeds (Seed Starting)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Michelle

      October 10, 2014 at 9:37 pm

      This is such an interesting and timely post, Shareba. We really need to know where out food comes from. I love the pictures, and I gasped at how many potatoes were in that barn 🙂

      Reply
      • Shareba Abdul

        October 11, 2014 at 6:50 pm

        Thanks Michelle! I couldn't believe how many were in there!

        Reply
    2. Angie @ FridayCakeNight

      October 11, 2014 at 12:21 pm

      What an awesome day! 5 million pounds!! 🙂
      Angie

      Reply
      • Shareba Abdul

        October 11, 2014 at 6:49 pm

        It was pretty cool!

        Reply
    3. Rhonda

      October 13, 2014 at 6:54 pm

      This looked like it was super fun 🙂

      Reply
      • Shareba Abdul

        October 13, 2014 at 9:45 pm

        It was pretty cool!

        Reply
    4. David Howes

      July 27, 2019 at 9:04 pm

      Trevor How come ie can’t buy a bag of large potatoes in grocery stores? Alls we can find are potatoes my mom used to use in soup small and smaller.

      Reply
      • Shareba

        August 01, 2019 at 8:08 pm

        Hi David, Trevor can't see your comment (I wrote the article on my blog about his farm). You can try contacting him at [email protected]. That being said, I'm pretty sure I've bought big bags of Downey potatoes recently... I think they were at Metro or Costco... I can't remember exactly, sorry!

        Reply

    Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment: Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Shareba Abdul, founder of In Search Of Yummy-ness.

    Hi, I'm Shareba!

    I share tasty seasonal recipes and gardening tips for beginners here on In Search Of Yummy-ness.

    Why don't you grab a cup of tea and stay a while? I appreciate you being here!

    Learn More About Me →

    Support My Work 💟 →

    Seasonal Recipes

    • Greek Yogurt Bowl with Winter Citrus
    • Pan-Fried Dumplings (Potstickers)

    Trending Recipes

    • Spiced Hot Cocoa
    • The Ultimate Guide to Roasting Chestnuts
    • Trinidad Pelau with Chicken
    • Trinidad Macaroni Pie Recipe

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Newsletter

    Click here to subscribe!

    Important Links

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Disclosures and Copyright
    • Contact Me

    Resource Links

    • Resources for Bloggers
    • Shop my Amazon storefront (affiliate)
    • Shop West Coast Seeds online (affiliate)

    This website generates income via ads, affiliate links and sponsored posts.
    Please read our privacy policy and disclosures for more information.

    Copyright © 2023 · In Search Of Yummy-ness · All Rights Reserved