VFM20: Poplar Grove Arbour
Until this spring, when Peter & Elizabeth Andres of Poplar Grove Arbour declared retirement from the hazelnut trade due to the Eastern Filbert Blight, they had sold organic hazelnuts at the markets since 1997.
“I think our first day was… Thanksgiving weekend. We had no signs, no tent etc., ” said Peter, whose hazelnut farm is located in Agassiz, BC. “We came with a pickup truck loaded with 25 and 50 lb liquor boxes filled with inshell nuts.”
Poplar Grove started with the raw nuts and over the years expanded their product line to include hazelnut oil, protein powder, nut butters, and even a hazelnut oil based skin cream. Their delicious hazelnuts were popular with both market shoppers and local chefs, and the Andres sold out each season.
Poplar Grove fans were sad to learn back in 2012 that the blight, currently decimating hazelnut farms throughout the Lower Mainland, had reached their farm and they were forced to clear their land of the trees. Peter & Elizabeth have since replanted with blight-resistant trees, and are hoping one day to return to the markets with hazelnuts again.
We wish them all the best with the new trees, and hope to have them back soon!
