Photos by FRAN COLLIN

CROP CIRCLES
Story by
LEA BOYD
Photos by
FRAN COLLIN
SUMMER2012 53
PREVIOUS PAGE, fresh from the greenhouse, Butter Head
lettuce is harvested from hydroponic growing ponds.
ABOVE, an unidentified employee inspects some cut flowers,
which remain Carpinteria’s number one agricultural crop.
OPPOSITE PAGE, Butter Head lettuce is ready to eat.
54 CARPINTERIAMAGAZINE.com
arpinteria greenhouse growers, faced with intense
competition from cheap South American flower
imports, are now forced to adapt to a new market.
Competitive pressure has led many growers to switch
crops, and some are evolving in a surprising new
direction—diversifying from flowers into food.
“I feel personally that in the future we’re going
to see big strides in the development of hydroponic
vegetables,” said David Van Wingerden of Westland
Floral & Produce. Westland, a company long rooted in
flower production, introduced hydroponic lettuce a few
years ago and plans to expand its edible produce growing
operation this year to account for over 10 percent of its
greenhouse space.
Carpinteria Valley greenhouses still yield far more
products grown for vases than plates, but the reduced
profitability of flower growing has nursery owners looking
for the next best crop. The Andean Trade Preference
and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), which took effect in
1991, opened the floodgates to South American flower
imports into the United States, and since then, domestic
growers have seen their share of the market plummet.
In addition to cheap flower imports from South America,
increasing costs and local regulation has resulted in 80
percent of the flowers sold in the United States coming
from South America. The majority of floral sold in
California, though, comes from Carpinteria.
“So much was gravy at that time,” remembers June
Van Wingerden of Ocean Breeze nursery, “but now if
you are in the black you feel really good. It’s very,
very tight.”
South American flower growers enjoy the economic
benefit of inexpensive labor, cheap land and far fewer
environmental regulations than their U.S. competitors.
As a result, imported flowers can be sold at prices that
drive down profits for Carpinteria flower growers who
still seek to compete.
“There’s no way that we can be competitive in the
long haul,” said June’s husband, Rene. Ocean Breeze
still devotes all 30 acres of local greenhouse space
to flowers, but the company operates hothouses in
Nipomo that now produce Persian cucumbers under
the management of June and Rene’s son, Ivor. Rene
says he plans to grow flowers until he retires, but
forecasts that the next generation of nursery owners
will shift toward food production.
Locally, Hollandia Produce pioneered the switch to
hydroponic produce even before the ATPDEA changed
the rules of the flower game. According to nursery owner
Pete Overgaag, few growers were in the hydroponic
produce market when Hollandia started growing cucumbers
in 1986. Overgaag saw opportunity in the wide-open
niche and phased out the company’s flower operations
in exchange for hothouse vegetables. Now Hollandia’s
20 acres of greenhouses produce butter lettuce that is
shipped to grocery stores, restaurants
and hotels at a rate of thousands of heads
each week.
Farmers have put seeds in the ground for
centuries, and Carpinteria boasts a long history
of successful food crops—the trend toward
food production in greenhouses is a new twist
on a classic tale. “You just produce more per
square foot,” Rene responded when asked
about the advantage of growing veggies in a
greenhouse rather than in the Carpinteria soil.
“We can produce four to five times the
lettuce on an acre in a greenhouse than you
can in a field,” said David of Westland’s
burgeoning operation.
Rooted in a material called rock wool and
growing in the controlled temperatures of the
greenhouse, Westland’s lettuces mature from
seedlings to full heads in three weeks during
the summer and four to five weeks in winter.
The leafy greens are packaged with their roots
intact and retain their fresh taste for up to
three to four weeks in a refrigerator. “We’re
selling more and it’s looking promising,” said
David of the new venture. “We’re excited
about it.”
Increased production has made vegetable
growing worthwhile for nurseries like
Westland, but the hydroponic equation
PREVIOUS PAGES, big picture of the low-water
lettuce-growing technique.
ABOVE, locally grown lettuce includes Butter Head,
Red Oak Leaf, Green Oak Leaf, and arugula. The
produce is available at local farmers markets and
Southern California retail grocers.
RIGHT, two generations of Van Wingerden growers.
From left are David, David’s father Jerry, Alex, and
Alex’s father Case.
OPPOSITE PAGE TOP, the partnership of Carpinteria
growers has continued generation to generation and
has built a history in the flower industry.
OPPOSITE PAGE BOTTOM, Butter Head lettuce takes
root in the water. Hydroponically grown vegetables
are likely to be a larger part of Carpinteria farms
in the future.
58 CARPINTERIAMAGAZINE.com
hinges on more than one variable. Water and
fertilizers are recycled in greenhouses, which
reduces expensive inputs by more than half,
David explained. Pest pressure is also reduced,
and growers can rely heavily on organic
materials and beneficial organisms to take
care of the few pests that find their way
into the greenhouses.
Given the ability to manipulate the plants’
environment and control pests, produce that
emerges from greenhouses is nearly flawless—
emerald lettuce leaves without a nibble from
an insect, thin-skinned cucumbers ready to
crunch into right off the vine and tomatoes
that look perfect and taste perfect, too.
Along with Westland and Hollandia, Cervini
Farms of California and Creekside Floral
Inc. make up the Carpinteria growers whose
greenhouses include some form of hydroponic
produce. Rene estimates that only about 2
to 3 percent of total greenhouse acreage in
Carpinteria is used to grow produce, but he
sees this number growing in years to come.
The hydroponic vegetable industry comes
with its downsides as well. “You’re making
spring season year round with a greenhouse,”
Rene says, “but there’s a price tag with that.”
The costs of the greenhouse structure, energy
inputs and nutrients all add up. Then there’s
the fickle nature of the food market and the
issue of securing buyers and transporting
vegetables to them. Local growers are well
versed in their systems for flowers, but
vegetables present some new challenges.
The second generation of Carpinteria Van
Wingerdens, nurserymen like David’s father,
Jerry, and Rene, built their lives on the cut
flower industry. Some of their children are
now entering or returning to the nursery
business and looking for new ways to draw
a profit given the shifting business paradigm.
“We want to make sure that we are well
diversified and have a solid foundation for
the next 30 to 35 years,” says David, who
stresses that flower growing is still the
foundation Westland’s business.
Flower sales, which has injected millions
of dollars into Carpinteria’s economy over the
years, continuously becomes more difficult.
Cheap competition was the first blow, but
rocketing gas prices and healthcare costs have
chipped away at remaining profits. Hydroponic
vegetables may just be the ticket for Carpinteria’s
greenhouse industry to remain competitive. ¢
SUMMER2012 59