Fairgreen Sod Farms is owned and operated by Cam Fairty, and family.The family run business began with a 350 acre farm at Steeles Avenue and Markham Road in Markham, Ontario. Howard Fairty, Cam’s father, moved to the farm from the big city when he was 14 years old.
He cleared the land and began dairy and beef farming. Upon seeing how successfully his neighbor Parkview Golf Course grew grass, he thought he’d give it a try, becoming one of the first sod growers in Ontario. After growing the sod for a period of two years it was ready to be harvested. This was a very labour intensive process. The sod was cut using a Ryan hand operated sod cutter. Then rolled and lifted onto the back of a single axle truck, which could hold 8 skids of sod. One crew could harvest 3500 rolls of sod a day under ideal conditions, if the equipment and or staff didn’t give out! Today Fairgreen Sod Farms uses two Trebro Auto Stack harvesters to harvest sod.
This state of the art equipment is capable of cutting, rolling, and stacking over 35,000 rolls of sod per day. This sod is then delivered by a fleet of 12 fork lift equipped trucks to customers throughout Ontario. Delivery is available for as little as 30 rolls of sod. We are also able to deliver large tractor trailer loads, holding up to 22 skids.
Today Fairgreen Sod Farms main farm is located at 10378 Hwy. 48 in Markham. This year Fairgreen will be growing sod on over 2000 acres of land, on 22 different farms in the Markham, Zephyr, Virginia, and Beaverton areas. These farms are equipped with the latest in irrigation technology to ensure healthy sod. In 2015 Lindsay Fairty opened up Fairgreen Sod Farms North, a new location in Oro-Medonte, which offers the same quality products for delivery to Orillia, Barrie and Muskoka Fairgreen Sod Farms employs 8 full time, and approximately 40 seasonal employees. This number is comprised of the sod cutting crew, the men who maintain the sod fields and work the land, the truck drivers and the staff in the front office. Fairgreen Sod Farms also supplies garden soil. Soil is available for pickup in 30 liter bags, by the yard, truck load, or the SOS (Sack of Soil) system. The S.O.S. is over 1 cubic yard of garden soil, in a re-sealable, reusable, environmentally friendly bag. These bags can be delivered by our forklift-equipped trucks. These specially equipped forklifts with wide turf tires, allow placement of the S.O.S. bag right where you want it.
Fairgreen Sod Farms is also a proud sponsor of many local organizations such as:
- Toy Mountain
- Markham Stouffville Hospital
- Markham Fair -St. Patrick’s Church
- Markham Football Club
- Markham Soccer Club
- Markham Hockey Club
- Markham Santa Claus Parade
- Barrie Lions Club
Drop in and visit our retail outlet at our main farm in Markham, or our Medonte location for all your garden needs such as:
- Sod
- Soil
- Mulch
- Fertilizer
- Seed
- Spreaders
Fairgreen Sod Farms continues today as a family operated business, with the youngest generation continuing the same value added traditions as their parents and grandparents before them. The original principles of growing quality sod and providing good service espoused by Howard and Muriel Fairty are still upheld today.
Our Difference
One of the most common questions that we are asked is “What is the difference between your sod and your competitors?” The easiest way to answer this question is QUALITY.
From the time the seed is planted until the time the sod is harvested, two years later, Fairgreen uses only the best products and equipment available in today’s market. Whether it is the state of the art irrigation systems that are used to water the grass, the GPS guided tractors used to apply the proper amount of fertilizer or the Trebro Auto Stack Harvesters that ensure each roll is exactly 2 feet by 4.5 feet, Fairgreen takes great pride in providing only the highest quality products and great service to you, our valued customers.
Other facts about Fairgreen that help ensure you’ll have a great experience with us:
With 60 years in the business, we’ve learned how do things right
Fairgreen is located close to major cities of the GTA, click here for location map
All delivery trucks have forklifts so we can place product exactly where you want
Fairgreen sells only # Kentucky Blue Grass sod which is ideal for the GTA area
All sod is cut fresh daily