The Citizen, 1995-05-10, Page 21growing hobby
Greyhaven got ready for business at an open house last
weekend. The Londesboro-area market garden centre is
run by the Greydanus family, Gerry, Gladys and Derek.
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1995. PAGE 21.
Local families turn love o gardening into business
From hobby to business
A love of gardening has given the Van Amersfoorts in Blyth an idea for business. Primrose
Gardens, which opened this week, is a family run market garden centre. With mom and dad,
Joanne and Herb, are their young employees, their children, clockwise from left: Steven, 10;
April, 15; Jeremy, 12 and Kerissa, seven.
By Bonnie Gropp
As spring gets in full bloom,
there are two new businesses get-
ting underway in the Blyth area.
Primrose Gardens, located on
Hwy 4 at the north end of town is a
market garden business operated by
Joanne and Herb Van Amersfoort
and their four children, April, 15,
Jeremy, 12, Steven, 10 and Kerissa,
seven.
Joanne said the idea for the enter-
prise has been unfolding for some
time. "We had been thinking about
it for quite a few years but just
never took the steps to do it."
With a teenager considering sum-
mer employment, it was just the
push the family needed. "She might
as well be working for us," Herb
said.
Though Herb will be helping out,
the business, is primarily "Joanne's
and the kids'," he says.
For Joanne, the work is the
extenuation of a lifelong passion. "I
have always had a garden. Even
before I was married I helped my
parents in their gardens. I have
always loved it."
Joanne also brings experience to
the business having worked in mar-
Continued from page 20
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ket gardening in Hamilton, Dundas,
Burlington and Kitchener prior to
her marriage.
Once the family decided to pro-
ceed with their plans, selecting a
name was easy. "We have a lot of
evening primroses outside the
house and when they bloom in July
it just looks like a primrose gar-
den," said Joanne.
The Van Amersfoorts have rent-
ed two acres from a neighbouring
landowner on which to grow their
produce, with a potential to expand
to nine acres if the venture works
out.
They have built a roadside stand
at the front of their property near
the highway, which will be staffed
six days a week. Though they won't
be at the road all the time Joanne
says there will be someone at the
house to look after retail business
from dusk to dawn.
Primrose Gardens opened May
10 selling perennials grown by
Joanne, as well as hanging baskets
and box plants from Luke and
Shirley Boman, who own a green-
house at the south end of Blyth.
When the growing season arrives
they will offer a wide variety of
fresh vegetables from peas to
pumpkins.
gYlitiqB
Gerard and Gladys Greydanus
recently opened Greyhaven Gar-
dens, just west of Londesboro on
the road to Benmiller.
Mrs. Greydanus says her hus-
band, who is a farmer, has always
gotten enjoyment from growing
things and opening a market garden
centre was something he wanted to
give a try.
Also, it seemed a natural exten-
sion of something they've already
been doing. For several years the
couple has been selling homegrown
vegetables at market, so adding
bedding plants to the stock of
things they grew seemed simple
enough.
Mrs. Greydanus says that they
intended to have a few bedding
plants for sale this year, but jokes
that that it has become more than a
few. "He just kept adding," she
says,
Sales at the greenhouse, which
was actually built in the fall of
1993, are from "dawn to dusk"
Mrs. Greydanus says.
In addition to their own bedding
plants, Greyhaven has an assort-
ment of nursery stocks and perenni-
als. Fresh vegetables will be added
as they become available.
Greyhaven also has a wide selec-
tion of terra cotta pottery for sale,
which the Greydanuses discovered
on a trip to Mexico.
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is showing signs of Spring y
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a/..deirel-' Pa arise
TED And EMMA
(519) 482-3020
Vander Wouden
& family
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tiGoderiTh
Telephone Rd.
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And Ready
For YOU To Plant.
RR 41
Bt,J
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