Richard Favreau
In this episode
Richard Favreau and his partner Monique grow vegetables and seeds at Val-aux-Vents Farm in the Saint-Valérien region of Quebec. In this French language episode, Richard talks about his many years of work selecting and evaluating alliums -- including leeks and French shallots -- as well as sharing about his experience so far dehybridizing his favourite tomato variety. Richard shares generously his successes and challenges, step-by-step descriptions of his projects, and some pro tips for those thinking about getting deeper into seed work.
Richard’s bio:
Richard holds diplomas in Geography (B. Sc.) and Regional Development (M.A.). He has worked in various fields, including public transport, salmonid development, phytocide alternatives in forestry, land-use planning, and international cooperation. He has been very active within national and regional organisations. He started Val-aux-Vents Farm in 1996 with his partner Monique Michaud, and the farm was certified organic from 2000 et 2016. It is a very small and diversified farm, whose clientele is split evenly between Community-Sustained Agriculture (CSA) subscribers and regional fine dining restaurants. The couple was awarded Le Renaud-Cyr recognition for artisan-producer in 2006.
For 10 years now, he has been selecting and selling the leek and shallot “Val-aux-Vents’’ seeds, initially for amateur gardeners and more and more for commercial vegetable growers. This occupies a lot of his time since his progressive pre-retirement in 2017. He is also working to stabilise an OP Italian tomato, the hybrid version no longer being on the market.
