Originally published by Watershed Magazine in the Fall 2019 Issue.
Words by Signe Langford. Photos by Johnny C.Y. Lam
Bruce Weir grew up on a farm in Creemore, but as many farm kids do, he left to forge his own successful and stressful 35-year career in photo and video production. And stressful it was. When flying home from a business trip – he’d been in Calgary shooting footage for Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame – he suffered a heart attack at 30,000 feet.
It was a wakeup call. Time to walk away from his fast-paced lifestyle, and get back to his roots. So, in 2013 he and wife, Jill Proudfoot, started farming in earnest, producing heirloom vegetables and keeping 14 bee hives on one and a quarter acres just outside Warkworth.
Today, at 63, life is slower for Bruce, “But,” he says, “I still work really hard, it’s just a different kind of hard. It’s physical, it’s good; I’ve lost weight and feel healthy; I feel way stronger and younger than when I was producing and editing.”
Along with produce and honey, they’re ramping up their line of tasty things in jars – jams, chutneys, pickles. “This is really Jill’s baby. Right now we’re using the certified kitchen at the Masonic Hall in Warkworth, but we’d love to have our own on-site kitchen one day.”
Watershed Magazine celebrates life in Northumberland, Quinte and Prince Edward County with page after page of award-winning editorial and design. Find out more at watershedmagazine.com
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