South Bruce ‘Super Berry’ – A Tourist Experience that Promotes Sustainable Living

The Healing Arc Golden Orchard lies on beautiful rolling South Bruce farmland and is the first fruit-producing Sea Buckthorn orchard in Ontario. Sea Buckthorn is a berry rich in essential nutrients. It contains high concentrations of Vitamin C, fatty acids as well as phytochemicals that are known to have strong antioxidant activity.

Owner Marlene Wynnyk began the Healing Arc as a research-based company with the goal of finding plants that can be grown on marginal land in Ontario. Her research led her to collaboration with a chemist from the University of Guelph and the import of Sea Buckthorn plants from Latvia.

Wynnyk has been researching Sea Buckthorn for 22 years and considers the berry to be a value chain crop with growing reputation as a ‘super berry’. Her Sea Buckthorn research has determined that the plant is valuable for sustainability due to its ability to regenerate the soil, lack of waste from the plant, and its health benefits.

The Healing Arc is a business that exemplifies a goal of the Municipality to incorporate environmentally sustainable practices, and commitment to environmental stewardship throughout the community.

Wynnyk recognizes a growing culture that promotes sustainability and healthy living has more people interested in Sea Buckthorn. From late July until early October the orchard in Southwest South Bruce is teeming with the bright orange of Sea Buckthorn berries. During the annual open house, the colourful landscape draws people to experience the harvest of Sea Buckthorn and taste the berries fresh from the tree.

“We have on an average, through our harvest… 1000 people come. We make it an event. People come and bring their children and have a picnic,” said Wynnyk. “We have people coming from Kingston, [and] Ottawa. It’s not primarily locals, it’s tourists, and I will say my local clientele has increased. It’s unique.”

Berries from the harvest can be frozen to be eaten at a later date and are used in various products. Juice is made using 100% Sea Buckthorn berries. Other Healing Arc Sea Buckthorn-made products include creams, lip balm and soaps are made using Sea Buckthorn oil, which according to Wynnyk, has pharmaceutical properties that diminishes inflammation, disinfects bacteria, relieves pain and promotes the regeneration of tissues.

Peter Poulton demonstrating the process of trimming Sea Buckthorn plant branches

In addition to products developed and sold by The Healing Arc, Wynnyk has partnerships with other businesses who have their own products using the berry.

“We supply places like Drink Juice Co., 100km Foods group, Spring Distillery makes a gin with them,” said Wynnyk. “[It’s] diversified…restaurants, beverage makers, a chocolatier in Barrie won an award for Sea Buckthorn chocolate.”
As Sea Buckthorn continues to become more popular, The Healing Arc has also branched out the marketing, informational content and webservices for the business.

The Spruce the Bruce Business Pivot/Adaptation Grant and the Dreams Become Reality digital marketing vendor assisted The Healing Arc in developing the business online. The Digital Main Street program provided supports for computer literacy.

“I think just creating our [online] presence, our existence, was very important, because unless you’re a huge corporation [it’s hard],” said Wynnyk. “I spend a lot [of time] on social media and on my website and I’m very fortunate that my nephew, Paul, has a company called Dreams Become Reality, and he does a lot of posts for me.”

Visit The Healing Arc at 166 Sideroad 25 S, Teeswater, during the 2024 open house to experience the Sea Buckthorn harvest. To learn more about Sea Buckthorn, the properties of the berry and The Healing Arc line of products, visit thehealingarc.com. More information on Dreams Become Reality is available at available at dbrmarketing.ca and more info on Digital Main Street programs are available at digitalmainstreet.ca. Available Spruce the Bruce and Municipal grants can be found at southbruce.ca/grants.

This article is part of an ongoing Community Revitalization series initiated by the Municipality of South Bruce.