MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Fresh vegetables every week of the year.
AFTER seventeen years in business, Stanley Growers and Nurseries continue to go from strength to strength. The brainchild of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC), Stanley Growers now produces between one and three tons of salad and vegetables every week. The company also imports two to five tons of produce each week, depending on demand and flights.
Peter Henderson was at the helm when the idea of a hydroponics garden was first introduced as a suitable way of supplying Stanley with fresh produce. He, along with local lads Tex and Gonzalo Hobman, worked long and hard to establish the one greenhouse and the heating and irrigation system to grow the first lettuce tomatoes and cucumbers.
Due to ill health Peter had to leave the Islands and in April 1988, at the end of the first growing season, Tim Miller took over, employed by FIDC and under UK management.
At this stage Tim had already made his mark on the market garden industry, operating from a single cabin at Stanley Racecourse. From there Sharon Middleton sold the trees and shrubs that Tim grew at his West Falkland farm, Manybranch.
This soon grew into three cabins to cope with the demand for trees, shrubs and bedding plants for a rapidly expanding Stanley population, keen to make its gardens look good following the 1982 war.
In 1992 the shop opened at its present site on the eastern end of Stanley. Tim's wife, Jan, developed the shop to include a pet centre, gifts, fresh cut flower service and almost everything else the gardener could require.
Tim explained that in 1988 Stanley Growers was £36,000 in debt however, "...over a period of five to six years it was all paid back,"
In 1996 Stanley Growers was privatised when Tim and Jan purchased it from FIDC, although the corporation is still the landowner and is paid a rental fee of £20,000 per year, excluding an additional cost for maintenance.
Over the last fifteen years the developments to the market garden have been massive; the work force of three has grown to ten to twelve full time in the winter and a minimum of sixteen during the season - plus extra hands when harvesting field crops.
The structural developments include two more hydroponics greenhouses, four hydroponics tunnels, sixteen other polytunnels, 25 acres of field crops, packing sheds, cool stores, potato cool store and umpteen other storage areas.
The biggest costs at Stanley Growers are water and electricity. A massive 12-15,000 litre of water is used every day to supply the hydroponics system and polytunnels. There is also a field irrigation system supplied from a purpose built dam - avoiding a huge demand which could affect the Stanley water supply.
The British military at MPA are the market garden's biggest single customer. Tim said, "The contract with the Ministry of Defence in the UK complies with EU regulations," adding, "...it was a long battle to set it up."
Mount Pleasant is now supplied with seventeen different products; but in fact, "...it all started with just tomatoes."
Cruise ships are the next biggest customer where Tim's emphasis over the years on quality has really paid off. He said, "...the cruise ships don't even count the boxes now let alone check the contents." He added, "...the Falklands have pride of place in the top three quality salad providers worldwide, along with Scandinavia and Seattle." This is understandably a source of some pride for all the employees at Stanley Growers particularly Nick, Garry and their assistants in the greenhouses, and Jayne and the girls in the packing house.
Locally, consumption of fresh produce has increased as has the range of products offered: peppers, chillies and a wider variety of salads are used regularly and quality is imperative.
Tim laughingly looks back on days gone when fresh fruit was available so infrequently in the Falklands that, "...the sniff of a banana was enough to send people rushing to the shops. Now a banana has to be the right colour, shape and firmness or the customer won't even look at it."
With the cruise lines Stanley Growers has a reputation for being environmentally friendly as the waste oil from the ships is used to fuel the heating system for the hydroponics greenhouses. "One ship's waste grows the next ship's salad, Tim explained."
For the last four years a natural predator control system has been used within the greenhouses and polytunnels. This involves the introduction of ?good guy' bugs that get rid of the ?bad guys,' an amazingly simple system which leaves the produce pesticide free.
The impact Stanley Nurseries has had on the town is apparent not only on private properties where a wide range of trees and shrubs grace well kept lawns, but also around town; formerly unkempt verges are now neat and tidy, and splashes of colour appear on street corners with the well kept flower beds which seem to improve each year.
Cynthia and Leomi can often be seen around town planting and weeding flower beds and Maurice, Andrew, Colin and Paul are in charge of mowing and trimming the grass.
Arch Green was redesigned and planted ten years ago, and the Memorial Wood was planted in 1992 with 255 trees - one for each serviceman and the three Islanders killed in 1982.
Many families of those lost have added their own bulbs to their son/husband/father's tree and appreciate the wood as "...a growing and living tribute to their memory."
In 2000 the annexe was opened marking the continual price of freedom - 43 servicemen and women have lost their lives whilst stationed in the Falklands since 1982.
Victory Green and other large grass areas are kept mowed, and have benefited from the constant care of the Stanley Growers staff. A wet summer when the grass is growing rapidly and is not fit to cut is, "...an absolute nightmare."
The success of Stanley Nurseries is hugely apparent by the battle for parking spaces on the weekends as customers flock down the Airport Road to select fruit and vegetables.
This customer has on many occasion just popped down to get some bananas, and staggered out an hour later heavily laden with plants and shrubs.
Following a recent trip by Tim to Chile, future plans for Stanley Growers may include blueberry production for export, and peony flower growing, also for export.
Peony bulbs have been trial planted in a joint effort with the UK Falkland Islands Trust and Magallanes University in Punta Arenas.
Source: Penguin News
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