WHAT WE GROW
and when you can find it at the market
availablilty may vary by plus or minus 10 days depending on growing conditions
march lettuce april lettuce may lettuce |
june lettuce |
july lettuce |
august lettuce |
september lettuce |
october lettuce |
At Kangro Gardening, our goal is to produce fresh, pesticide free, high quality, great tasting produce and make it available through local Farmer's Markets selling direct to you, our customer. To find out how it all began, along with why we choose to grow pesticide and herbicide free produce, click here.
Taste the difference of fresh picked produce.
Regards,
Bob Purton
Owner
How did it all start?
About eleven years ago I was thinking of what I would do in my retirement. I am the type of person that cannot sit around being inactive for very long. I had always enjoyed gardening, especially vegetable gardening. I grew a vegetable garden for many years prior to starting this business and many, many years ago I had worked for a large commercial market garden during school vacations. I love the satisfaction generated from growing a product from seed to harvest, something I never grow tired of doing.
During the winter of 2000 I decided to take the plunge with the goal of producing a high quality pesticide free produce.
I had done some research and found that the University of Saskatchewan was researching the benefits of High Tunnels, greenhouses with no heat and roll up sides for ventilation, it looked promising. I bought two High Tunnels, 14ft x 96ft, with the idea of growing tomatoes and cantaloupes and bringing them to market earlier than field grown product. Although this worked quite well the timing was still not the best. So during the second year I put furnaces into the High Tunnels and made them into mini greenhouses. I then switched crops to tomatoes and cucumbers, ready for market by the beginning of June.
I didn't grow potatoes for the first two years because of the Colorado Beetle, being pesticide free controlling pests is always an issue. However, since year three I have grown potatoes every year and with a structured bug picking program it is possible to keep them down to an acceptable level. Any pest control I use is either manual, parasitic bugs, or a registered organic product. There are no chemical controls used at all. Similarly I have grown cabbage and broccoli since year three and again I only use registered organic controls for cabbage worms.
In year five I expanded the greenhouses once more by adding a larger 24ft x 96 ft and raising the smaller greenhouses to a better working height from 8 ft to 12 ft. I also added a connecting building between the two smaller greenhouses to allow for easier access during bad weather.
Sales continued to grow and so it made sense to connect all the greenhouses together. In year seven, an addition was added to the extension and all three greenhouses were connected. At the same time I decided to develop the lettuce market. I had bad experiences with wire worms killing lettuce plants in the field, so I thought growing it in the greenhouse would be easier, cleaner and available much sooner. Since then the lettuce market has grown consistently every year with fresh lettuce available in early March right through to September.
By year nine, product was selling well and I could not keep up with greenhouse cucumber sales. So do I expand again? Ideally, if I was servicing another market, an expansion would be justified. So application forms were sent to Regina Farmers Market where I was accepted.
Year nine was a challenge trying to provide enough product for all markets. This definitely justified an expansion in the greenhouses. In the fall of 2009 my son and I built a 30ft x 96 ft greenhouse complete with an adjoining header house connected to the other three greenhouses. The idea was to expand the mini cucumber production significantly and give more room for hanging baskets.
Greenhouse product is available to purchase from early March (lettuce), mid March (cucumbers), late April (hanging baskets) and mid May (tomatoes). All greenhouse products are available through to the end of September.
Field crops have also expanded and changed over the years including the addition of an irrigation system for consistent yields. The potato crop is significant and I supply both the gourmet and regular potato throughout the summer months and into fall. Cabbage, carrots, beets, onions, and, of course, sweet corn are also popular veggies.
I am always looking at different varieties of vegetables and pursue ones that produce the best taste. After all in the end that's what it is all about -
fresh, pesticide free, great tasting produce.
General Contact Info
email: gardening@kangro.ca
phone: 306.782.0701
Yorkton Farmers Market
You will find us at the Yorkton Farmers Market inside the Parkland Mall. Our table is set up in the hallway in front of Sobey's. We're there every Thursday and every Saturday from 8:45 am to 3:30 pm.
Regina Farmers Market
You will find us at the Regina Farmers Market located at Victoria Park on 12th Avenue. We are there every Wednesday from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm.
