ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – He dreamed of his own greenhouse someday; that was in 1991. Today Pieter deBruin and his wife Anita are young farmers of the year for British Columbia and the
Yukon.
After a stint managing a greenhouse in Richmond, B.C., Pieter salvaged a plastic facility and rebuilt it on a corner of 20 acres in Chilliwack, B.C.
“We learned a lot about the industry in Chilliwack; about the importance of level ground and how to manage a business,” said Anita.
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“In Chilliwack we had a lot of extra land, so we rented that to a potato farmer.”
The couple eventually sold the land and greenhouse with intentions of building a new operation on Vancouver Island, near Victoria.
After nearly a year of looking for an affordable piece of property near the B.C. capital, they were approaching a point where federal tax rules would consume a large portion of their capital gain on the land sale in Chilliwack.
“We found a small farm near Abbotsford, along the Fraser Highway. We did some car counts and found it had 18,000 a day, enough for a good retail business,” she said.
However, Abbotsford has tough retail competition, something they didn’t have to contend with in Chilliwack.
“We knew we’d have to be more efficient, larger and have a wholesale part of the business if we were going to make it in Abbotsford,” said Anita.
Pieter said five years after the move downstream toward Vancouver, Devan Greenhouse’s business is one third retail, one third wholesale and one third propagation for other horticulture businesses.
From December to February they are busy planting. March through May is retail sales season, while wholesale trade keeps them active through the fall.
The dead of summer is their quiet time, but during the busy season the couple now employs 30 to 50 workers.
Staying out of perennials and shrubs, the couple concentrates on annuals , hanging baskets and propagation, where the margins are better. The couple also uses the United Flower Growers auction to market some of their production.
To be competitive they have automated much of their business. Ebb and flow watering floods the heated floors of the greenhouse. The house itself is state of the art, the only fully opening roof, glass greenhouse in the province.
Robotic machines handle plug planting and a forklift device ensures that each plant pot on the greenhouse floors is exactly the same distance apart for even access to light, water and nutrients.
Hanging baskets circulate on long rails past stations that apply just the right amount of water and fertilizer to each.
Devan doubled its size in 2003 to 3.5 acres under glass and uses Russian technology to create biologically active nutrient solutions for the plants.
All water in the greenhouse not absorbed by plants is recycled and rainwater that lands on the facility is captured.
With climbing natural gas costs pushing their heating bills higher, the deBruins moved from natural gas to wood pellet heating with a 250 horsepower boiler that is carbon dioxide emission neutral and Kyoto Accord compliant.
High quality potting peat is imported from the Baltics and the couple maintains high human biosecurity in the facility to keep disease problems to a minimum. Water captured in the retail areas is handled separately from that in the greenhouses.
“We don’t take any chances. There are high value crops,” said Anita.
Pieter handles human resources, while Anita does the books in the evenings. An office staff person works the phones and organizes billing and other office work.
The couple’s seven children begin helping in the greenhouse from an early age, but having 15 acres of farmland gives the kids opportunity to keep a chicken flock, from which they market eggs locally, and enjoy pets such as horses, rabbits, goats and sheep.
“We don’t really separate family time from farm time. It’s all family time and it’s all work. Families can work and have fun and learn together,” said Anita, who home-schools their children.
“We stay busy, but that’s the way we like it.”
