The Citizen, 2000-05-10, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2000.
Home & Garden 2000
Woman’s ‘babysitting’ blooms into business
days a week until the first of June.
After that it’s by appointment or
chance. It is located on the Currie
Line, north east of Blyth, or phone
523-9407.
C'O/VSTR UCT
• Renovations • New Homes
• Sales & Installation of
Windows & Doors
Nurturing
Gay Datema tends to her ‘babies’ in the greenhouse of Wetsinge Farm Flowers, her new busi-
Call Ken
519-887-9857
ness venture at RR3, Blyth.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
Raising a child takes a lot of time.
We see to their needs, we care for
them, feed them, nurture them. The
satisfaction is in watching them grow
and blossom.
It is that mindset that Gay Datema
takes with her into her gardens and
greenhouse. Having recently opened
Wetsinge Fann Flowers at her RR 3,
Blyth property, Datema has been an
enthusiastic ‘caregiver’ for as long as
she remember.
However, working full-time limit
ed the amount of hours she could
give to her babies. That changed with
her recent retirement, and the green
house which had been purchased
three years earlier was finally erected
last fall.
“I thought at first it would just be a
hobby, but with a hobby comes
expenses,” says Datema. And with
“more perennials than I can count”, it
made sense to try and make that
hobby a little more lucrative.
Actually, flowers have been sold
from the farm for the past six years,
with their son tending about one acre
of perennials which are sold in
Toronto.
“It was a natural step to start my
own small business,” says Datema.
Looking at the well-maintained
beds, at the rows and rows of
planters and boxes in the 20’x50’
greenhouse, she can’t help wonder
ing where she ever found the time to
care for them in earlier years, though
she admits it’s relaxing work.
Wetsinge Farm Flowers offers
perennials and box plants this year
though Datema has left room for
expansion. “The first year I think is
hit and miss as to what people want.
But even the established greenhouse
owners all say it can change from
one year to the next. I guess you just
play it by ear.”
Wetsinge Farm Flowers is open six
SHOWCASE
Spring’s planting time and we have
everything you’ll need to make your
landscape beautiful at
j ^Greyhaven
>? Gardens
I
Ranger
& Company
King Street Blyth
Services provided include:
Granular, Slow Release Fertilization,
Broadleaf Weed & Crabgrass
Control, Chinch Bug and Grub
Control, Total Growth
Eradication
(fence line, driveway, tree base, etc.)
Lawn Aeration
Grass Cutting & Trimming
Jeff & Janice Peters
(519) 523-4366
jpeters@tcc.on.ca
7
& large selection of hanging baskets in brilliant colours including
moss baskets ~ 15" fibre pots & 10" plastic pots.
& flowering hanging bags container planters
& window boxes $8 perennials
& annuals accent plants
& nursery stock
Plus soil, mulches & fertilizers
Londesboro
Cty. Rd. 25
’Carlow
Goderich Cty. Rd. 15
Benmlller
Greyhaven
Garden
^\Centre
500 yds. West of
Londesboro on
County Rd. #15
Clinton
X. Seaforth
N
W~|~E
Blyth S
- \
L tyfte J\ /
3?
0
Londesboro 523-9781
| Open dawn - dusk Mon. ~ Sat. '