Yamhill Valley News Register, McMinnville, OR
Event to showcase garden goods
Published: May 29, 2010
By NICOLE MONTESANOOf the News-Register
Gardeners may want to circle the weekend of June 5-6 on the calendar. The Granary District Weekend Market will be teaming up with several partners to stage a Wine Country Yard and Garden Show, setting it up in a tent in the parking lot adjacent to the main market space.
The show will feature vendors from around the Northwest, showcasing their best plant starts and gardening equipment. Some 28 of them have signed up so far, and one of the more interesting is Solar Gem Greenhouses, which specializes in one-piece greenhouses for the home garden.
Founder Dennis Heitzmann began crafting his home-scale greenhouses in 1991. In recent years, he has begun taking them to fairs and markets in Oregon and Washington.
Though based in Tacoma, Wash., his company has established a distribution center in Albany to better serve its Oregon customers.
Heitzmann, who will also have a presence at the Yamhill County Fair again this year, said interest in gardening is burgeoning, despite - or maybe because of - the tough economy.
"Our sales have been going up every year," he said. "You'd think it would be hurting, but it isn't. I think that more people are staying home now, and also that they want to have more control of their food."
Heitzmann produces greenhouses in three sizes, all intended for the home gardener. They are equally well suited to ornamentals, vegetable starts and tropical varieties like citrus.
All three top out at eight feet - enough to stand up or grow a tall plant in. The lengths run 7.5, 12 and 15 feet and the prices range from $2,795 to $4,695.
Potting trays and work tables aren't included, but may be purchased separately.
"We're getting more young couples purchasing our greenhouses," Heitzmann said. "It used to be all retired folks that had more time on their hands. But now we get more people with young children at home that want to do their own gardening."
Heitzmann said he starts out with a standard, one-piece fiberglass greenhouse, but adds some differences, including a long-lasting, marine-grade gel coating.
"All the fiberglass greenhouses start out working really well, but then don't look so hot after five or six years," he said. "Without it (the gel coating), the fiberglass gets rough and pits, and basically becomes a place where the dirt settles."
Heitzmann's greenhouses are translucent, but not clear. He said that provides evenly diffused light for plants and eliminates the need for shade cloth.
They are designed with ceiling vents and automatic vent openers for heat dispersal.
Installation consists of digging a 10-inch wide, three-inch deep trench for the foundation lip, and backfilling it to keep the greenhouse securely in place. Because there is no floor, plants may be grown directly in the ground.
The market has expanded its operation to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday as well as Saturday, doubling its hours, and the garden show will follow the same schedule. It is being sponsored by Greenlands, Western Oregon Waste's landscape supply arm, in conjunction with Finishing Touch Concrete and the C and D Landscape Company.
For more information, visit http//themarketinfo.org/WineCountryYardandGarden.htm.
IF YOU GO
What: Wine Country Yard and Garden Show
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the weekend of June 5-6
Where: 845 N.E. Fifth St., next to the Granary District Weekend Market
