By Pamela Pearson - AgriNews Staff Writer

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BEARBROOK - Walter and Inge Henn, owners of Bearbrook Game Meats Inc., have been farming since the early seventy’s. Immigrant’s from Germany, Henn and his family bought land near the village of Bearbrook, on Russell Road in 1973, later to become known as Bearbrook Farm. The family have raised, slaughtered and sold exotic game meat over the years and expanded to include a bed and breakfast, a dining hall, conferences facilities, a large party pavilion, and petting zoo.

The Henn’s have s recently retired from the large-scale tourist business and his daughter Heidi has now taken over the scaled-down wild game and deli business. The family business also has a new location at 5396 Dunning Road, south-east of Navan, and offers a variety of meat products from beef and pork to buffalo, elk and wild boar; from chicken and duck to goose and pheasant. Sausages, ground meat, pepperettes, cipalle and tourtieres are a few of the items also available.

Henn himself loves to cook and has begun a line of pre-made main course dinners aptly named "Wild Game to Go". Buffalo stew with black currant sauce or emu meatballs are cooked on site, vacuum sealed and then frozen, as are the majority of their products.

Longtime employee Sharen Armstrong gave Agri-News a tour of the farm and explained that products are hormone and filler free. Animals which can been seen from afar include 55 buffalo –five with calves, 75 elk, 50 turkey’s, over 100 chickens, ducks, peacocks and fallow deer. All tours are free.

The business also ships in other exotic meats such as alligator, eel and kangaroo. Some of these are processed on site as well into pre-made items such as sausages.

Henn is also on the Ottawa Farmer’s Market Board of Directors and Bearbrook is a regular vendor at its market held on Sundays until November in Brewer’s Park, across from Carleton University. The shop on the go can also be found at various others farmer’­­­s markets such as Orleans, St. Laurent, Bayshore, Main Street Kanata, Carp and Cumberland.

The store and tours are open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Online orders can be made via their website. or call the store (613) 835-7575 for more information.

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