
By Kathryn Stocks
Zonia Slyfield is a delightfully friendly woman who came to Canada from Jamaica in 1970. She met her husband, Calvin, here and they had three sons. Zonia worked at CP Rail for more than 30 years as a bookkeeper at Union Station. While still working full-time there she pursued a career in nursing and got her diploma from Centennial College.
“I always wanted to become a nurse,” she said. “That was something that I wanted to do and I accomplished my goal.” She switched to the night shift at CPR, went to school during the day, and took vacation days to do her clinical work.
In 2004, she worked part-time at the SARS clinic in York Region. Severe acute respiratory syndrome started in 2003, and that outbreak led to the quarantine of thousands and killed 44 people.
Zonia left CPR when there were cutbacks In 2006, and worked part-time at the Tony Stacey Centre for three years. Then she moved to Scarborough General Hospital where she started part-time and later became full-time on the medicine unit. After that she worked at Scarborough Grace.
She retired from nursing in 2019, but went back to work shifts during COVID. She said she would still go back, although cautiously, if it happens again. She was happy to go in to help, and she continues to renew her nursing licence.
Zonia and Calvin are now retired and they own The Joy of Harvest in Highland Creek, a small business where they make delicious preserves and sauces. It started as a hobby around 1996. Zonia was working at CPR at the time and would give the products away to co-workers. They were impressed and suggested she try selling them at street fairs and festivals.
A few years later, she took their advice and was one of the first vendors for the Markham Farmers Market in 2000. At that time, Zonia and Calvin used community centre kitchens to make their products, but in 2018, they decided to rent a storefront in Highland Creek to be their commercial kitchen.
They started out with three jams – strawberry, guava, and orange marmalade – as well as BBQ jerk sauce, pepper sauce and curry sauce. Next came the chutneys – mango, and pineapple and ginger. They’ve added more over the years, and right now they have 10 jams, eight sauces, four chutneys (two of them seasonal), and two types of seasoning. They also make coconut drops and rum cake.
Although she is retired, it doesn’t sound like Zonia has slowed down at all. For their sauces, she grows her own scotch bonnet and Caribbean peppers on a farm near Peterborough. She’s also a beekeeper and during vacations in Jamaica she visits the apiary she started for her community in Trelawny in 2014. She began with two hives and now has 22. She’s actively looking for a place to keep bees here as well.
Calvin works full-time making the sauces and jams, while Zonia goes out and sells them. “He’s more focused than I am,” she said. “I get to go out and meet people.” She sells their products at farmers markets, shows and festivals all over Ontario.
They sell a lot of pepper jelly and BBQ jerk sauce. Honey jerk sauce is new and it’s taking off. They freeze large quantities of Ontario strawberries to use during the year, and import tropical fruits from Jamaica.
If you’re interested in buying from this local business, check out their website at thejoyofharvest.ca