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The Common-Tater

Winter Education

4/29/2023

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As we spring into our brand new season here at the farm, I wanted to update you on how we spent this past winter.  Aside from our usual packing and delivering to local restaurants and grocery store, we all upgraded our skills in different ways by attending a variety of courses and conventions.
 
Curtis spent two months at Humber College at a driving course and has now acquired his AZ driver’s licence.  John & RJ attended the Ontario Potato Board’s annual convention where they learned many new ideas for growing our potatoes and looking after our land.  Christina and myself joined a two day zoom conference where we learned all about the important topic of food safety and certification.  RJ went to the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Grower’s Association Annual General Meeting in Niagara Falls where he networked with vegetable growers in Ontario. 
 
As usual, we all remain committed to this lifestyle of farming and serving you fresh produce! You can visit “Our Story” to learn a little more about who we are and where we came from.

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International Women's Day 2023

3/8/2023

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“Thank you for calling Thompson Potato Farm.  Christina speaking.” Today we celebrate the woman behind the voice on the phone.  Although Christina doesn’t drive the tractors (yet) and she self-admittedly can kill a plant just by looking at it, she is an integral part of our team here at the farm.
 
She is the first contact all our customers have at the farm but she is so much more than a friendly and helpful voice on the phone.  She is our Health & Safety representative, holds a valid First Aid Certificate and works hard to keep our 19 first aid boxes fully stocked.  She helps with all aspects of the accounting, deals with copious amounts of paperwork for food safety and our temporary foreign workers, and is always willing to learn and try new things.
 
Christina is a cooking enthusiast who makes a wicked cheesecake and offers valuable ideas when I have her taste test new recipes for the website.  She is a capable driver helping out whenever we need to get vehicles in for servicing.  She is the default IT department for all our iPhones.  She remade all our sweet corn and pumpkins signs using her crafty side.  And most importantly, she keeps us organized with constant reminders of all the things we asked her to remind us we are supposed to be doing!
 
Christina is valued every day by all of here at the farm, not just on International Women’s Day.  If you would like to see more about women in agriculture, you can visit “International Women’s Day 2021”.
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The Harvest Team

12/1/2022

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Picture
This photo of our harvest team was taken on a gorgeous October day shortly after the potato harvest was finished.  It’s easy to tell by the smiles on all of our faces how happy we were to finish the important job of putting the potatoes in the storage for the winter.  All of us worked incredibly long hours to complete this crucial task. 
 
We all have a role to play as we work on harvesting our crops.  While we are working on the potato harvest, we are also picking sweet corn, pumpkins and a variety of squash.  Once the potato harvest is complete, we turn our attention to combining the soybeans and grain corn. We don’t stop until every last field is harvested, picked or combined. 
 
I’d like to introduce you to everyone who worked here this season:
 
Back row from left to right:
RJ, Miguel, Eduardo, Abelardo, Roberto, Jose, Cornelio, John
 
Front row seated from left to right:
Curtis, Darren, BJ
 
You can visit “The Faces Of Our Farm Part I” to learn a little more about Don Thompson, the man who started this business back in 1943.

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Team Thompson

11/20/2022

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It’s the end of a season and a beginning of a new era here at Thompson Potato Farm.  We are very excited to announce the launching of a brand new partnership.  We have become one family and four proud owners of this farm as is indicated by our new road sign.  It has always taken all four of us to operate and manage the many moving pieces of our business.  Today we put together our experience, our expertise, our visions and our passion for our farm bring all of you the best that we can offer!  You can visit “Our Story” to learn more about who we are and where we came from.
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International Women’s Day 2021

3/8/2021

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Celebrating women today and every day.  Christina and myself wear many hats at the farm.  Our jobs entail customer service, organizing daily delivery routes to restaurants, health & safety, food safety, accounting, payroll, general bookkeeping and data management, maintaining our website, updating our social media…..and yes I can go on! 
 
Here are a few great photos of us in action: the good old days when we used to work in the same office before COVID interrupted us; myself hanging banners and signage at our self-serve produce stand and Christina enjoying a view from a tractor on a rare field trip out of the office.
 
One thing we know for certain – we are appreciated here since we deal with all the papers so the guys can be out in the fields where they truly want to be. You can see my role as spokesperson for our farm by listening to my radio interview at “BJ’s Radio Interview’” or watching a promotional video for Snapd magazine at “BJ’s Acting Debut.”

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Happy Family Day!

2/15/2021

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Happy Family Day! Here are some photos of our potato farming family over the years.  There is a rather strong family resemblance so I imagine you will have no problem picking out who is who!
 
Photo 1 Don Thompson’s family in 1969 (generation 1 & 2)
 
Photo 2 John Thompson’s family in 1990 (generation 2 & 3)
 
Photo 3 RJ Thompson’s family in 2007 (generation 3 & 4)
 
Photo 4 RJ Thompson’s family in 2021 (generation 3 & 4)
 
You can visit “Our Story” to find out more about who we are and where we came from.

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Over 8 Decades

2/14/2021

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Over 8 decades of growing in Holt.   To learn a little bit about who we are and where we came from you can visit The Common-Tater category called “The Faces Of Our Farm.”
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The Faces Of Our Farm Part V

8/30/2019

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What better way to celebrate the Labour Day long weekend than with a closer look at all the dedicated and hardworking people who work at our farm?  From picking sweet corn to packing potatoes to stocking the sweet corn stand to delivering our product, we wouldn’t be where we are today without their help.  And don’t forget about our stall at the Ontario Food Terminal, the office staff, the field work involved in growing our crop and Murray our dog who oversees everything! You can visit “The Faces Of Our Farm Part I” to read more about Don Thompson who is the man responsible for starting this entire operation way back in 1943.  Happy Labour Day everyone!
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The Faces Of Our Farm: Part IV By RJ Thompson

3/17/2019

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I have more Irish relatives to mention on this St Patrick's Day. William J Montgomery was born in Dromore, Down Co., Ireland (similar to last year’s post, he was another Norty). Edward Brethour was born in Limerick Co., Ireland (not a Norty). Both moved to Canada by about 1840 and raised families in Ontario Co (now Durham Region). Unfortunately I do not have a photo of them, but instead their granddaughters.
 
In photo one (1919) L. M. Montgomery (my great-grandmother) is on the right with her two young children Edna and Don. In the second (1937), she is in the centre, with her sisters Alley and Jenny.  This L. M. Montgomery is not be the one who wrote the popular Canadian novels. She more commonly responded to the name Lillie. When she married Fred Thompson in Leaskdale, 1914, the presiding minister was Ewen Macdonald. The first signed witness, on the marriage certificate is L. M. Macdonald, otherwise known as Lucy Maud Montgomery.
 
To learn more about the people who founded our farm you can click on the section in The Common-Tater called “The Faces Of Our Farm.”

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The Faces Of Our Farm: Part III By RJ Thompson

3/17/2018

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Picture
I wanted to share some information about my Irish heritage to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. This photo, of the Gibney side of my family, was taken between 1914 and 1918 at 4557 Mount Albert Rd., Holt.  From left to right, are Florence, Minnie, James III and Milton.  Milton was my great grandfather and James III was my great great grandfather.

In about 1848, James I & Isabella Gibney collected up their entire family which included seven children, their spouses and the first of many grandchildren. They vacated Tyrone County Ireland, and crossed the Atlantic.  Their new home was a settlement at Lot 21 Concession 7, East Gwillimbury, just two miles north of my current home.

According to the Canadian Census of 1851, James I and his son James II had 20 acres of crops under cultivation that year.  Ten acres of that were wheat which produced a total of 200 bushels. Today, that same 10 acres would produce approximately 900 bushels. James III was one of their first grandchildren to be born in Canada.  He was also the first to leave the farm at a very young age to train to become a blacksmith.

In a small town, you are not forgotten, if you have influenced one of your surviving peers.  Out of the blue one day in the early 1980's, our neighbour Al Hopkins gave dad and I an old hewing axe.  He said "I swiped that from the blacksmith when I was a kid.  I was afraid to give it back.  Jimmy had a quick Irish temper.  He would get mad at Milt and raise his hammer over his head.  Milt would start running and Jimmy would throw the hammer...in the opposite direction!"

That's one side of my Irish family history.  They spelled it Gibney, but possibly pronounced it Gibbonney.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  To learn more about the people who founded our farm you can click on the section in The Common-Tater called “The Faces Of Our Farm.”

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    The Common-Tater

    Thompson Potato Farm

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