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| Detail of painting by Robert Thomas of Hébert discussing a medicinal plant with a Micmac Indian. |
Despite exploitation by the company and absolutely no support for his beloved avocation to farm, he succeeded in acquiring the first royal title to land in old Québec (today encompassing a basilica, a seminary, and a street which bears his name), earned the respect and admiration of the indigenous people, whom he treated as peers (and spoke with in their own tongue), and became the king's attorney for the colony. Historian Ethel M. G. Bennett writes: "Hébert had achieved his cherished ambition: he had brought under his control enough of the wild land of the New World to support himself and his family in independence. The meadows along the St. Charles afforded pasture for cattle; on the higher ground he had grain fields, vegetable gardens, and an orchard planted with apple trees brought from Normandy. All this had been achieved in spite of the company's opposition. Moreover, it had been accomplished with handtools only, not even a plough."
Hébert died at the young age of 52 from a fall on the ice, leaving his wife Marie and three children, Anne, Guillemette, and Guillaume.
And what's that got to do...
with sustainable agriculture and this little consulting business?
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A 1985 Canadian postage stamp introduced at the 45th International Congress of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Montreal. |
Louis Hébert was the first settler to support himself from the land in New France, raised indigenous herbs to stock his apothecary's shelves, and earned the praise of Champlain for his land "filled with fine grain" and gardens full of "all types of plants, like...cucumbers, melons, peas, beans, and other vegetables as beautiful...as any in France." Like the organic growers of today, he was in all senses a courageous pioneer.
Mark Boudreau, the owner and president of Hebert Green Agroecology, is proud to be his direct descendent.
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Hebert Green Agroecology, Inc.