On the east coast, greenhouse produce is nearly in full production of hothouse tomatoes, English cucumbers, on the vine and beefsteak tomatoes.
"Customers are opting for beefsteaks this year," according to Jodi den Haan of den Haan Greenhouses in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. “Last year, tomatoes on the vine were popular,” she explained. “We go by customer and buyer feedback. It changes year to year. We usually try to decide what we’re going to plant for the next year in mid-summer.” Why is beefsteak a more popular item this year? “It’s maybe more of a traditional tomato,” she noted. “I think people like the taste and the quality and the shelf life. Consumers might not always want to buy a whole vine of toms.”
Cooler weather and less sunlight
Supply is very good so far, she says, but the weather has been cooler and there has been less sunlight, which den Haan says slows things down quite a lot. Yields are not drastically low; it’s typical of the first part of the season. Even though produce is grown under glass it still needs all the bright daylight it can get. She’s hopeful of more sunshine. “The Annapolis Valley has its own micro climate and we have warm days and cool nights which really helps our products,” she said, which helps achieve good brix levels on the tomatoes. “We like to think we have really tasty tomatoes because of our growing climate.”
Aiming for year-round production
Production doesn’t run year-round as of yet, but den Haan says they’re hoping to go to year-round production in the near future. Cucumbers and tomatoes are planted in December. Cucumber harvesting starts in January, followed by tomatoes in early March. Produce is currently available only within the Atlantic Provinces though the company was at the CPMA showcasing its inventory.
Any tomatoes that may be second grades are sold to farmer’s markets and restaurants. “The ‘imperfect’ (looking) product does have that more authentic farmer’s market feel,” she said. With greenhouse quality she says there’s usually less instance for seconds. “You’ll always get seconds no matter what you do but we do our best to produce top quality.”
For more information:
Jodi den Haan
den Haan Greenhouses
Ph: 902.584.3667