Filipina vegetable farmer thrives in New Brunswick, Canada

Rezel Rossignol grew up in a small farming village in Palimbang Sultan Kudarat, Philippines. Her parents imbued her with a “love for plants” and gardening. FACEBOOK

A Filipina and her husband in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada has a thriving farm that has come in handy for their community’s need for healthful and affordable vegetables amid rising prices.

Rezel Rossignol grew up in a small farming village in Palimbang Sultan Kudarat, Philippines. Her parents imbued her with a “love for plants” and gardening. She also wants to help provide food security for her community, she says.

Many New Brunswickers have taken to growing food on their own land to cope with inflation, but the Rossignols are doing it on a bigger scale.

Now, Rezel and her husband Camille own Hearn Farm in Grand Falls, N.B. where they produce some 50 varieties of vegetables. They married in 2017. Camille still works as a biochemist.

Rezel Rossignol and her, husband Camille, own Hearn Farm in Grand Falls, N.B. where they produce some 50 varieties of vegetables. FACEBOOK

Their two greenhouses nurture starters of Chinese cabbage, peanuts, gourd, butternut squash, onions, garlic, bitter melon, Saskatoon berries and more, to be transplanted in small plots.

“I love watching them grow,” she told CBC. “From the seeds that you put in the dirt, until they bloom and produce, it is really satisfying to see.”

Rezel grows vegetables in the controlled climate of her greenhouse. The vegetables are planted in small pots early in the year, which ensures early harvests and high yields.

Camille told CBC that Reza amazes him with her raw instincts about farming. “Me being a biochemist, I just analyze the soil, and she just goes through it and will tell me ‘Oh, I don’t think that will fit’ and she’s mostly right, just by the texture of the soil.”