NANTON, Alta. – It’s 30 C and the humidity is over 60 percent.
The sweat pours off Tony and Karen Legault as they work hour after hour, side by side in their newly outfitted tomato greenhouse at Nanton.
When they married in 1986, the promise to stick together for richer or poorer and in sickness or in health, probably did not carry the weight it does now.
“If we can survive the next couple of years, we can make it,” said Tony as he took a break from picking vine-ripened tomatoes.
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Adjusting to greenhouse work on an accelerated learning curve has been a major lifestyle change for them, said Karen.
“You can read lots of books about growing tomatoes but until you do it, it’s a different ball game,” she said.
They not only had to learn greenhouse management and the art of growing fine tomatoes, but they had to quickly discover the nuances of crop insurance, farm financing and the real impacts of soaring utility costs.
In addition to the wearying workload, Tony is still recovering from a serious car crash that damaged his knee and left him with a full leg cast just as they started their new enterprise last spring.
It is a struggle to make this farm work, but they are determined. Although they work more hours than they did as wage earners in the city, they believe they are more than compensated by the lifestyle.
Positive side
The open spaces are invigorating. The independence is alluring and they have more time with their three children ages six, three and one.
An ex-farm kid from British Columbia, Karen worked for the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede agricultural department. She was itching to get back to the farm. Tony agreed.
A former automotive mechanic with General Motors in Calgary for 20 years, Tony’s decision to farm was a major mid-life shift.
“Until October 1999, I pulled wrenches. I didn’t want to pull wrenches for 40 years,” he said.
They had an acreage near Calgary with a small flock of purebred Hampshire sheep. They wanted to expand and started looking for a larger farm.
They decided on the Nanton greenhouse. It turned out to be a handyman’s special.
The 1,115-sq. metre facility needed a new roof and other repairs but it did have a sophisticated computer system controlling fertilization and water delivery. The north wall has R20 insulation, rarely found in greenhouses.
Tony enrolled in small business courses and greenhouse studies at Olds College. The practical side of the greenhouse has been learned on the fly.
In July they planted their first crop of Rhapsody tomatoes, a beefsteak type that ripens on the vine with a garden fresh flavor.
The first flush of fruit should yield two tonnes. After that first pick, they anticipate about a tonne a week until November. The plants are pinched off at that time to give the Legaults time to work with their sheep, due to lamb in January.
The sheep produce purebred breeding stock and freezer lambs. Tony is a director with the Alberta Sheep and Wool Commission and sits on the Stampede sheep committee. These volunteer jobs provide contacts and marketing ideas.
Karen is in charge of sales and hopes to cut out the middleman as much as possible, saying, “We want to do as much direct farm marketing as we can.”
Biological control
One selling point is that the tomatoes are pesticide-free. Predator insects are released to eat the harmful bugs and bees pollinate the plants to ensure they bear fruit.
They plan to sell to local grocers and larger customers like Calgary Co-op, which supports Alberta growers by purchasing produce direct from farmers.
They have also found help from the government.
Their local municipality and Alberta Agriculture horticulturists have been indispensable when it comes to setting up the growing operation and making customer contacts.
Along with all the optimism, there are worries. While they are not afraid of hard work and feel lucky to have a diversified farm unit, the Legaults greatest challenge may be the volatility of energy prices. The farm needs some expensive electrical services installed and the cost of natural gas is a wild card.
When they wrote their business plan for their banker last year, they estimated natural gas at $3.60 per gigajoule. It is already over $5 and could cost them $16,000 this winter.
Not only are they worried about their fledgling farm, but they worry about the entire greenhouse fraternity.
“You don’t want to kill your greenhouse industry because of this,” said Tony.
