CARMAN, Man. – When Jack Vanderveen arrived in Canada, he had only a dream, a suitcase and $60.
His dream was to farm in Canada. That ambition drew him away from Holland and the dairy farm that his father owned there.
Vanderveen arrived in 1953, choosing to live at Carman because his girlfriend lived there. Other Dutch immigrants had also settled there, creating a close-knit congregation of people of the same religious denomination.
With little money and no assets, Vanderveen began working toward his goal of owning a farm. Much of that work was with sugar beet growers in the region.
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He married in 1954 and visited Holland two years later. His father wanted him to stay and take over the family farm, but for Vanderveen, Holland seemed foreign. After six months, he returned to Canada.
“We had no house, no furniture, no car, nothing, just a few dollars,” he says, remembering the state of his financial affairs in 1957.
He worked at various jobs to support his family and earn money to buy land.
In the beginning
In 1964, he and his wife, Louwina, bought a house and five acres of land at Carman. They started a market garden and added a small greenhouse.
It wasn’t enough to support a family, but it helped pay the bills.
The Vanderveens kept adding to the greenhouse, offering more bedding plants and then expanding into potted plants for florists.
The greenhouse did what almost nothing else could. It distracted Vanderveen from the notion of one day owning a farm.
“I still liked farming,” he says, “but we made a good living.”
The couple raised 11 children while building up their greenhouse venture.
Among those sharing in the work were Les and Kelvin Vanderveen, who became partners with their father about 20 years ago.
“We learned how to work,” says Kelvin. “There was no doubt about that. In hindsight, it was good for us.”
Today, Vander-veen’s Greenhouses employs 15 full-time staff and up to 80 seasonal workers during the peak months of March, April and May.
They supply potted and bedding plants to buyers in Manitoba and neighboring provinces. Their greenhouses cover eight acres.
The Vanderveens say they emphasize quality while keeping abreast of gardening trends. Their greenhouses are built for efficiency, reducing the work needed to tend the plants and to load them for shipment.
“You always have to look for ways to produce more efficiently,” says Kelvin. “The factor of competition is there.”
During a mid-June visit, their greenhouses held a spartan supply of bedding plants. Most had already been shipped to buyers.
Seasonal sales
The next task is to seed poinsettias, which will mature in time for the Christmas season.
“There’s not a week of the year when we’re not planting,” Kelvin says. “It’s a big challenge. You can never sit still.”
Jack lives a short stroll from the large assembly of greenhouses. He helps seed during two of the busiest months, but likes to go south for the winter.
He harbors no regrets about moving to Canada. And although his family might have saved on freight costs by moving the greenhouses to a city, Jack is content knowing the business has flourished at Carman.
“We love it here and we make a good living. We employ a lot of people and it works fine.”
