Every once in a while, you meet someone
who you consider extraordinary! Sam McLean is one of those people! It’s not
that he is an outwardly figure. Actually, he’s not. If fact, he seems to be low
key and unassuming (at least to me) However, he exudes a quiet confidence, especially
when he talks about his farm and his family.
Sam was a cabinet maker, but not anymore. Now he
is a “full fledged” farmer and a successful entrepreneur! Although Sam wasn’t raised as a farmer, he
has farming in his blood. Both his grandfather and father were farmers, but not
the young Sam. Sam was raised in Peterborough,
but moved to Alberta
as a young man. He and his wife Jane live there for a number of years. Sam
liked it there, but Jane “convinced” him to move back home, Ontario
and Peterborough.
Once they had settled back in the area, Sam traded his cabinet making tools for
farm implements. The McLean Berry Farm and the climb for survival were born!
Sam and Jane purchased a neglected berry farm located between Lakefield and
Buckhorn. There with their two children, daughter Erin and son Ben, they
started to build their future. A mere mortal would have been happy just
building a successful berry farm, but not our “hero” Sam! Yes, it all started
with berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries), but then it grew! More
varieties of produce were added, sweet corn, peas, beans, potatoes. Eventually
he out grew his own 25 acres and started to look for more. Today he now farms
100 acres (75 acres leased).
(To be continued in part 2)
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