For Ramzy Kassouf, it was a leap of faith that many of his friends didn’t believe in at all.
“Everybody thought, ‘You are a crazy man, Ramzy.’ But I fell in love,” he told Global News on Tuesday morning.
A little less than a decade ago, Kassouf left a career in finance to run Les Jardins Carya.
Now he and co-owner Alex Flores oversee the production of 40 varieties of organic produce, plus organic eggs.
Farming is labour-intensive, and this has been a tough year, Flores said. “Lots of insects coming through, lots of pests and stuff.”
READ MORE: Delivering crop from farm to table, a Quebec family affair since 1940
But Flores added that demand remains high for their high-quality produce.
The farm is also a sort of training ground for McGill University agriculture students, who earn credit while working there during the summer.
“It was difficult actually,” McGill graduate Cesarée Morier said about starting to work at Carya.
“The first two weeks, my back was hurting so much,” she said, smiling.
READ MORE: Quebec farmers hoping for rain after drought, heat wave threaten crops
Despite the work, Morier said she planned on pursuing farming in some context as she pursues her career in the future.