Mshati Productions
888 Barrick Rd., Port Colborne, Ont.
Asking Price: $2,650,000
Taxes: $8,046.93 (2022)
Land Size: 26.7 acres
Agents: Paul Maranger and Christian Vermast, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
The backstory
It was the promise of a fly-fishing adventure on the Restigouche River that first lured Nicolas Secord into the fiddlehead business in the early 1970s.
Young Nick grew up fishing and foraging for fiddleheads in and around Saint John. A friend who ran the local Dominion store needed a supply of the seasonal delicacy for his customers. In return for a bounty of fresh greens, the grocer would include him on a fishing trip aboard his boat.
Mr. Secord tramped through nearby woods and wetlands, collecting the curled shoots of young fern plants for diners to savour during the short window between the plants poking up through the soil and unfurling their fronds.
After Mr. Secord had secured his spot on the fishing boat, other grocers began calling him, hoping to place an order. Mr. Secord’s entrepreneurial instincts kicked in and he launched his own business.
At the time, most Canadians had little familiarity with the vegetable so popular in Quebec and the Maritimes. Over the years, Mr. Secord began to push to the west.
The great room, with its vaulted ceiling, fireplace and open kitchen and dining areas, has hosted many casual gatherings.Mshati Productions
Nick and Nina Secord met in 2003, and gradually Ms. Secord became more involved in her husband’s business. In 2007, they purchased a 26.7-acre plot of agricultural land outside her hometown of Port Colborne, Ont.
“It was a total bog, really, when we purchased it,” recalls Ms. Secord.
But that moisture is essential for cultivating ferns.
As their business expanded in Canada and beyond, the couple set out to establish the first fiddlehead farm in North America.
The farm today
The Secords began by excavating the wetlands and using the soil to build a road into the property. That effort created six man-made ponds, including one for swimming.
In the late fall, they had 300,000 dormant fern plants harvested on the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec and packed into jute bags to be transported to the farm by truck.
“There is no manual or book on how to plant or take care of fiddleheads,” Ms. Secord says.
888 Barrick Rd., Port Colborne, Ont.Mshati Productions
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The couple paid local workers by the sack to replant the ferns. Most of the workers dug rows, as they would for growing tomatoes or potatoes.
But one worker figured he would get more money for less work if he dug larger holes and dumped the plants in by the sackful.
As it turned out, those were the ferns that thrived.
“What we discovered is that fiddleheads like to be together,” Ms. Secord says.
The plants, which spread by underground rhizomes, caught extremely well and pop up again each spring, Ms. Secord says.
The couple had the plants spread out around the ponds and created pathways through the low-lying areas to reach them.
During that time, the Secords began work on a house, which they set on a high point of land.
The bungalow, which took two years to build, has 4,465 square feet of living space on two levels.
Ms. Secord says she and her husband designed the house to accommodate large groups of friends and family. Her aim was to create a comfortable setting for relaxing.
Many casual gatherings have taken place in the great room, with a vaulted ceiling 15-feet high. A fireplace with stone surround faces the kitchen and dining area.
Outside, there’s a large terrace overlooking the pond, with space for dining al fresco under a pergola.
The primary bedroom has an ensuite bathroom with an air jet tub and a shower. There’s also a door leading to a private balcony overlooking the pond.
The lower level has a home office, a recreation room and a sauna. There’s also a walkout to the garden.
A 519-square-foot guest house attached to the main building can be used as a groundskeeper’s residence or an apartment for extended family.
Outside, the couple created walking trails and planted willow trees around the ponds.
Over the years, Ms. Secord has held many events on the farm, including award presentations for the winners of culinary contests.
In order to educated home cooks about the preparation of fiddleheads, the Secords invited chefs from culinary schools to create their own recipes and enter them into competition.
Ms. Secord recruited well-known chefs as judges and invited the finalists to the farm for a cook-off. One year, the entrant from a culinary school in New York won with his Jamaican take on fiddlehead greens.
The beauty and tranquility of the farm setting is the property's best feature with ferns surrounding the ponds swaying in the breeze, and birds and wildlife passing by.Mshati Productions
Over the years, Ms. Secord has seen the vegetable turned into soups, smoothies, pate, quiches, pizza and ice cream.
Ms. Secord is retiring and her daughter is taking over the business under the new brand name of Forage Girl. While some of the ferns planted on the Ontario farm remain in the landscape, Forage Girl has a plant in Quebec for cleaning and packaging the fiddleheads – 99 per cent of which are collected in that province.
The farm is located in a rural area with the Wainfleet Bog Conservation Area and hiking and cycling trails nearby.
Port Colborne sits on the north shore of Lake Erie at the upper entrance of the Welland Ship Canal.
Niagara Falls and the wineries of the Niagara region are a short drive away.
The U.S. city of Buffalo is about 30 minutes away by car.
The best feature
Ms. Secord enjoys the tranquility of the farm. The ferns surrounding the ponds sway in the breeze, and birds and wildlife pass by.
“It’s a beautiful property for children,” she says. “They swim the ponds. They fish the ponds.”
Ms. Secord says the fiddleheads are the first green shoots to appear each year.
“You always know it’s spring when the fiddleheads pop. It makes the property even more beautiful.”
Carolyn Ireland