Ahh! Dreaming about spring makes most of us smile and sigh, and I got to do both recently. I drove to Hanna Road to interview Karen Breukelman of My Blooming Business, and we talked about what operating a greenhouse entails. When I asked her about when she begins to prepare for the growing season, she informed me that she never stops. It’s an all year process and is always on her mind. Karen is constantly taking notes as she observes plants, listens to her customers ideas and suggestions and researches plants
for our Thunder Bay zone which is 3-4.
The order for the plants and the plugs is completed by October 1st, and the seed orders are made in January. From mid-February until the end of the month, many of the seeds are planted. They begin in Karen’s basement under grow lights and are moved to the greenhouse in April. There are 1000’s of plants, and Karen’s description of this time is, “We work like mad!”. She and her husband Gerald, along with a few friends who pitch in, engage in a hectic time of transporting and transplanting. Timing is important for all of these steps. To keep the plants full and strong for customers gardens, Karen and Gerald spend hours pinching leaves and performing all kinds of organized maintenance to ensure that each plant is compact and healthy when purchased. There is a strict schedule for this whole process that Karen has refined over the years.
Thunder Bay’s growing season is short, and because of this, Karen is very selective about what she orders. She chooses vegetables that are proven to grow in the North, selecting small varieties of eggplants and watermelons that can come to fruition in our zone.
This time of year, Karen doesn’t experience much loss. She is extremely vigilant about pests, dealing with them as naturally as possible. For example, she uses lady bugs to help her keep her greenhouse pest free.
In June the planning begins for the following year. Once her greenhouse is closed at the end of June, Karen can get out to the lake and start dreaming about what the next growing season will look like. Looking over her notes, using feedback from customers, and poring over seed catalogues, she starts to make her selections. Some people will put in orders ahead of time for tried and true choices to make sure that these selections are in good supply for next year’s garden.
The splendour of Karen’s greenhouse will always include annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, hanging baskets, containers, succulents and ornamental grasses. Just reading over that list makes me smile and sigh once more.
With her maiden name being Vanderwees, Karen’s passion for growing is in her blood. She showed me three beautifully framed photos of her grandfather standing by his fantastic greenhouses in Holland and one photo with a fabulous looking crop of cucumbers. She has two uncles who have greenhouses as well. Her mom was a great gardener, and Karen spent a lot of her childhood in the greenhouse. As she said, “It is part of who I am.” She and her husband Gerald eventually bought the greenhouse, and they are very happy with its size and features. Karen has always felt that as a smaller business, she is approachable. There’s time to talk with her customers and exchange lots of ideas and advice.
Of course, I was eager to hear some hot tips from Karen for all the eager gardeners out there. For seed starting, the advice is to not start too early. The last frost date is usually the first week in June, I’m sorry to say. So count back five weeks from that point for starting seeds. Karen starts her tomatoes in April. Provide some resistance for your growing plants by using air movement like wind or a fan. This makes the plant grow stronger and shorter. Provide lots of light and not too much warmth. It may seem obvious, but read the seed packages carefully and make sure the seeds are suitable for our area. And finally, give those plants some growing space by not planting them too close together.