Joe Whitty’s secrets to success: Hard work, a willingness to adapt, and the love of a good wife

Family that owns 13th Street Winery celebrates Whitty’s milestone birthday

Joe Whitty turned 100 last month. His father, Charles Nicholas Whitty, started Whitty Farms in 1908, and today his son Doug runs the farm and 13th Street Winery. Luke Edwards photo

By Luke Edwards

It may not be a huge surprise that a farmer like Joe Whitty enjoys the spring. After all, that’s the time of year when the soil comes back to life and the crops start growing. The world regains colour and sound as the animals come out of their winter slumbers.

But for Whitty, it’s not the sights and sounds. It’s something else.

“You can smell it,” said the St. Catharines man who recently hit a major milestone as he celebrated his 100th birthday. Whitty celebrated the achievement at 13th Street Winery, where his family continues to farm to this day.

“Spring was always nice. You’d plant in the spring and then watch it grow all summer.”

The family arrived in Niagara in the early part of the 20th century, with Joe’s dad Charles Nicholas Whitty buying his first farm in 1908. They originally came over from Ireland during the potato famine, settling in Kingston.

Charles Nicholas Whitty worked for a year in Niagara, saving up money to buy that first farm, a 13-acre plot that he called Frontenac Farms as a tribute to his Kingston roots. It later became Whitty Farms.

In what would become a familiar trait Charles was a bit of an innovator who was willing to change and adapt as needed. While the Whittys have long been connected to grapes and tender fruit, Charles raised foxes for fur and had an egg route, understanding early on the value of marketing.

Joe was born in 1925, and grew up helping his dad on the farm. There were tough times when he was growing up. He lived through the Great Depression and the Second World War. His mom contracted tuberculosis when Joe was in his teens and she went to live at the St. Catharines sanatorium.

“For two years he could just go out on a Sunday and wave to her at the window,” said Joe’s son Doug, who now runs the business with his wife Karen.

Joe eventually went to study agriculture at the University of Guelph. It was at Guelph that he met Leith, his future wife and the best thing Joe said ever happened to him. Joe and some friends had gone to a football game and they were all piling into his friend’s car afterward. With more people than seats, Leith climbed in and sat on Joe’s lap.

“I thought, well, this sounds very good,” Joe recalled with a laugh.

They married in 1954. Leith worked for a time at the research station that has since become Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, and also taught at Power Glen Public School.

“She was hardworking and very smart,” said Doug.

Joe said his only regret in life is that he didn’t have more time with Leith. She died when she was 78 years old.

“I lost my wife too soon, that’s the only sad part,” he said, though he fondly remembers yearly trips they’d take down to Florida that seemed to energize Leith.

When he started farming, Joe used horses. He can still remember the first tractor they used, an old Fordson.

“You could hear it from a mile away,” he said.

Other advancements came along too. Joe was an early adopter of cold storage and had one of the first grape harvesters.

“That was an eye opener,” he said of the harvester. What would once take a day of picking by hand could now be accomplished in under 10 minutes. But technology had its drawbacks. Horses would get tired, tractors - especially when they had lights - meant you could keep working late into the night.

Change wasn’t just new tools and technology. Farmers like the Whittys had to adjust as economic changes occurred.

“It was a sad day when they closed the canning factory,” Joe recalled. The closure of processing facilities meant farmers had to adapt.;

“The farm had to really change,” said Doug.

Joe could still be found on a tractor into his 80s, helping out on the farm. He no longer drives, a decision Joe made on his own. But he still keeps up to date, reading the news and often going out for a drive with his other son David, where Joe keeps an eye on the local farms and remembers what the area used to look like.

Adaptation continues to be a big part of the success for the Whittys, with Doug saying they’ve embraced things like agri-tourism.

Still, things aren’t easy for young farmers these days. Joe offers up a couple pieces of advice for those young people getting into farming. The first is to respect the soil.

“If you treat the soil properly, the soil will treat you. But if you abuse the soil, you’re not going to be successful,” he said. Joe’s been known to compare it to a bank account - if you only ever make withdrawals, eventually you’ll run into problems.

His second piece of advice has to do with passion. Getting into farming requires a mix of financial commitment, knowledge and work ethic.

“You’ve got to find your niche,” Joe said.