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Well, Strawberry Fields was one of Lennon's songs. It just had a nice ring to it.
We grow strawberries, we're out in the field. My wife and I were never hippies.
In fact, having been a soldier in Vietnam, I was kind of an anti-hippy kind of a guy.
But, I liked the Beatles songs. They had a nice ring.
We've been running this greenhouse business since 1976.
So, this is our 38th year of business here.
My wife went to high school here. We were just friends at the time...
She invited me to come to Kodiak and visit, and so I came.
It was like love at first sight for the island for me.
I was struck by the fact that there wasn't any landscaping going on.
Everybody had crab pots in the front of their homes, and junk vehicles.
There was no landscaping at all.
People were mostly just interested in their house plants inside of their house.
We changed over from a house plant operation,
to growing bedding plants or local gardeners.
It was a pioneer venture, growing things to make them available for people here locally.
Because there were a few successful gardeners around,
it seemed to me to be something that would work.
It wasn't always rewarding in the beginning. There weren't a lot of customers.
There wasn't a lot of interest in it.
That finally changed over time.
My wife and I will probably work 12 hour days for at least 3 months.
The farmers market the last two years has been quite a phenomenal hit.
In the last two years, there are over 50 new greenhouses in the community.
It's changed everything.
You know, organic has always been a big drawing card for people,
but, locally grown is even more important to a consumer.
They want to have stuff that's locally grown. They want to know where the stuff came from.
And it's a community thing.
When you go to the farmer's market, you'll see a couple hundred people there.
It's a neat little community event, actually.
But, it is a challenge to grow here.
Last year was probably one of the toughest years we've went through.
The snow was so high, it literally covered the whole greenhouse.
My grandson walked from one side of the greenhouse to the other.
Just walked right over it because there was so much snow.
This year was just the opposite.
There was no snow at all when I began the operation.
One year after the other, it's never the same. It's always a challenge.
I get a lot of satisfaction in seeing things grow.
I like starting the seeds and watching them germinate.
It's always fascinated me.
I don't think I'll ever lose my fascination with growing things.
It's raining out. (laughs).