Video: New crops are in at NatureFresh

More than 1.6 million Bell Pepper, Cucumber and Tomato plants were planted from mid-December to mid-January at the NatureFresh greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario. With a freshly cleaned greenhouse and a new crop, their growers can’t wait to get 2017 started on the right foot. The 130 acres of greenhouses are at full capacity.

The planting process is fairly similar throughout all commodities. In Ontario, NatureFresh will generally plant Bell Pepper, Cucumber and Tomato plants within the same period of time. Because of the harsh winters in Canada, all crops are commonly pulled at some point in late November in to early December. The plants received for new crop are roughly 6 weeks old upon arrival, giving a head start into the new growing season. By the end of January, a new crop will have been planted across all greenhouses.

From seed to harvest

The first stop is the tomato crop. Isaac Braun, the Lead Grower at Nature Fresh' Phase 4 greenhouse oversees 15 acres of Tomatoes along with 15 acres of Bell Peppers. There is no shortage of variety in the tomato crop. You can find tomatoes on the vine (TOVs), beefsteak, cherry, grape, cocktail, roma and heirloom tomatoes.

Bell Peppers are next on the docket and are one of the largest commodities that NatureFresh rgrows. They take up the majority of the acreage in Leamington consisting of 105 acres of greenhouses.

Lastly, there's Cucumbers, the fastest growing crop at NatureFresh Farms. Jake Neufeld is the man in charge of controlling the wild fire that is cucumbers. Cucumbers grow an average of 12 inches per week and must be picked every day to keep up with production.

Read more at the NatureFresh Farms website