Antonio Valente is a small-scale flower farmer who grows a wide range of specialty cut flower varieties and foliage. He employs small-scale/high-output techniques which allow him to grow on nothing more than half an acre. Antonio has been an avid gardener his entire life. When he was a child Antonio’s father would set aside a small patch just for him in their one acre vegetable garden, but Antonio insisted on growing flowers there instead! As a student he worked as a gardener and landscaper, designing and planting gardens for neighbours and friends. Roughly 15 years ago, Antonio started a cutting garden of his own. He soon had requests for bouquets from neighbours, then a roadside stand, and eventually started taking his bouquets to various farmers’ markets around the Greater Toronto Area.  Today he deals exclusively in wholesale to high end floral shops in the downtown Toronto area.