Pfenning’s has had growing pains since the very beginning… and we’re not complaining! As Wolfgang says, it’s “a good problem to have”. We are proud to have been able to increase our capacity to serve our growing customer base and community in so many different ways over the past 40 years.

Humble Beginnings

When the Pfenning farm first came to be in New Hamburg in 1981, Wilhelm, Barnhild and their four children were the entire farming team. With one plot of 150 acres they set out on their organic farming mission. For the first growing season of 1982 it was just the 6 of them. They grew a small amount of vegetables that they sold at the Kitchener farmers...

For us this year, spring has been slow coming.  Here we are at the end of May and sunny days have been few and far between.  Lots of rain has prevented us from being in the fields as much as we would like. But this week, we've been very happy to harvest a good amount of overwintered spinach!

The team harvesting overwintered spinach. You may be wondering what does that mean, "overwintered?" 

The outer leaves have borne the brunt of the winter, but the core of the plant is healthy. The spinach was planted in the fall, and were...

One of our fields quietly sleeping on a cold, Canadian winter's day.

Right now here in New Hamburg, it is winter, and our fields are quietly sleeping.  But unlike our fields, we do not slow down in the winter months.  Rather, it's more of a shifting of gears, as we focus more on the importing side of the business.  Farming is seasonal work, but many of our employees work year-round - this includes office, warehouse and production teams.  This way, we are able to offer our customers a complete line of produce year-round.

Ekk and Wolfgang Pfenning.

Hello 2018.  We are looking forward to seeing what you will bring; in the meantime, we're taking a look back at 2017 with all its ups and downs. Spring always brings new hope.  As the frozen earth awakens, there is renewed energy in us too.  You can see it in all of us, but it is most noticeable in Wolfgang, who seems like a kid on Christmas morning when it's time to get out in the fields again.  Those of you who have met him will know that twinkle he gets! The implementation of all the careful planning made in...