The Dutch Heritage Gardens (Part 1)

What would you do if you were an avid green thumb and you got a private tour of a 20 acre plant nursery? Probably what I did, take lots of pictures! Two weeks ago I was invited to an open house and tour of the Dutch Heritage Gardens, which is a series of greenhouses where a large variety of plants are grown for commercial sale to big chains like Kroger stores (King Soopers, City Market, Smith's, Fry's), Ace Hardware, Sam's Club, and Whole Foods. That's a lot of plants!

This operation is fascinating, not to mention a little mind boggling. My friend Teresa and I, along with a small cohort of other invitees, were treated to an up close and personal look at how this family owned business is able to produce thousands upon thousands of plants. It's a busy time of year for them as they are gearing up for summer. We got to watch the human powered production lines in action, as well as many automated and robotic processes. We were also gifted with goody bags with some beautiful philodendrons and macramé hangers, which was a nice surprise (thanks Aaron and Rozie!). Oh and after the hors d'ouevres and tour, they set us loose to roam around the 20 acres of greenhouses and go plant shopping. I restrained myself and bought three basil plants, but Teresa went crazy and spent about $150.

This experience was a blast and I enjoyed every minute! I'll share more over the coming days.

Aaron, who owns the Dutch Heritage Gardens with his wife Rozie, led the tour.





Many of the plants were still small and not ready for market yet. I imagine in the two weeks since I took these pictures they've at least tripled in size.



According to Aaron, Dutch Heritage Gardens employs about 45 full time employees year round, and another 50 seasonal workers during the busy months of mid January through early August.

Below is a series of short videos (10 seconds or so each) that show the process of planting seeds in trays as they move from one machine to the next on a conveyor belt. It was fascinating to watch.