Customers come from near and far

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/07/2018 (2827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The location of a business can make or break it, and The Little Red Barn has a great one.
Situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, a few kilometres west of the turnoff to Oakville, The

Little Red Barn stands next to a field of bright yellow canola. In the morning of July 3, the small parking lot contains cars with Manitoba and Ontario licence plates, but drivers from across Canada and the U.S. have made stops at the small building that sells locally-grown produce and made-in-Manitoba foods such as jams, pickles, honey and pork sausage.

The business is run by Pam and Darren Frank, but it was originally started by Pam’s mother, Shirley. Frank said her mother began selling the vegetables she grew at a small roadside stand close to where The Little Red Barn is now located. Shirley had the main part of the current building constructed in 1996, with a front deck area added more recently. A cooler at the back is used to keep the sausage, made from Berkshire pigs and wild boar, frozen.

Pam, Darren and their oldest son Taylor now grow much of the produce sold at their business. Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are ready early in the season thanks to warm conditions in their greenhouse.

“This year we opened up a little earlier because we had products ready.” Frank said, adding that the business usually opens in mid-May.

Baskets of juicy red strawberries and dark purple Saskatoon berries grown by local farmers were also on display. Frank said she’s often approached by local fruit and vegetable growers looking for a place that will help them sell their products.

The shelves hold bags of pasta and wild rice, and jars of honey, jams, jellies and pickles. The honey is produced by Iris Jones and her husband Rob, who together operate Rawbee Honey on their property a few kilometres north of Portage la Prairie. Jones was at The Little Red Barn, dropping off more of the unpasteurized honey made primarily from pollen their bees collect in canola fields.

Frank said the family used to travel to farmers markets to sell their produce but travelling became too time-consuming, so they now just sell from The Little Red Barn.

“We’re too busy here.”

Many regular customers stop in on their way to and from Winnipeg, but others are travelling while on holiday or business. Frank said a man and his daughter stopped in the previous evening and the man said the last time he was at The Little Red Barn was 20 years ago, but he recalled its location and wanted to bring his daughter there.

Frank said she collects customers’ stories in scribblers.

While the Franks have no intention of moving, they would like to expand their building to include a commercial kitchen which they could use for baking products that incorporate fresh fruit.

They have also used the Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie to test out processing beans and strawberries with the goal of expanding their sales line.

The Little Red Barn stays open until mid-September with daily hours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. It’s open seven days a week unless there is a major storm.

Later in the summer, customers can expect to see radishes, dill, beets, zucchini, cucumbers, field tomatoes, potatoes and corn.

For more information, see The Little Red Barn on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/The-Little-Red-Barn-523621611148034/