The Family
Millen Farms is a family farm that was started from just a few strawberry plants. Today this farm business grows 200 acres of strawberries and 1200 acres of wild blueberries. Ann and Curtis are the owners of this operation, but they couldn’t do it alone. They have four sons, two who help run the farm with their own families. Millen Farms also has 250 employees at peak season. They hire both local and temporary foreign workers. Many of the temporary foreign workers have been farming at Millen’s for years now, and mainly travel to Nova Scotia from Mexico and Jamaica. The farm is located in the Great Village Area.
Their Products
The Millen’s hand rake all their wild blueberries for their fresh pack line. They do this to ensure their blueberries are as fresh and undamaged as possible. They also freeze their wild blueberries so they are available year-round.
During strawberry season, which now runs from June to late September, the berries are picked fresh each day. Deliveries to their buyers usually occur directly from the field. Their products can be purchased at Masstown Market, Sobeys, and other small markets throughout the province. In addition to these products, the imperfect fruits are purchased by local companies and used for juices and concentrates.
Their Pride
This family loves farming because there is no better feeling than getting to see harvest. Seeing something you started from a tiny plant become food, makes the hard work and overtime hours’ worth it.”