COURTNEY McCLURE The Standard
NORTH DURHAM: Otter Greenhouses is celebrating 25 years in North Durham. To celebrate, they are hosting an event at their location outside of Port Perry.
During the event, visitors will be allowed to tour the whole greenhouse. There will also be a food truck providing food. There will also be a raffle, and the winner will receive a gift basket.
Ken Otter and his brother Murray opened Otter Greenhouses.
“Our inspiration [to open Otter Greenhouses] was our sisters and our father,” explained Mr. Otter. At one time, Ken’s sisters were also involved in running the greenhouse.
There are 17 greenhouses in total at Otter Greenhouses. Six are used for retail purposes. However, on May 4th, all greenhouses will be open for visitors to look around between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
About 80 percent of the plants sold at Otter Greenhouses are grown in one of their greenhouses.
Working with his fellow employees at Otter Greenhouses, and meeting new and returning customers is one of Mr. Otter’s favourite aspects of running the greenhouse.
“I pretty much enjoy all of it,” he said.
Although Otter Greenhouses holds many memories for Mr. Otter, one of the most memorable was during the tornado of May 2022. They didn’t see the tornado coming and before they knew it, it had landed on top of them.
“The noise was deafening,” he said.
The back set of greenhouses swayed from side to side, and customers were hiding under benches.
“There isn’t really anywhere to go in the greenhouse for shelter,” he explained. “It was an absolutely terrifying few minutes and we are so fortunate no one was hurt.” The greenhouse didn’t sustain any “real damage” either.
One of the challenges of running a greenhouse would be preparing for an ice storm.
“Ice storms are probably the worst thing which can happen in a greenhouse,” explained Mr. Otter. Greenhouses are usually made of plastic. If ice builds up on the plastic material, it will slice through it. “It can be devastating.”
However, at Otter Greenhouses, they have been fortunate to avoid harsh ice storms during their 25 years of business. If there is a warning of a severe ice storm, staff at Otter Greenhouses prepare accordingly, turning up the heating to melt the accumulating ice on the outside of the building. years.
Mr. Otter said they started out as a wholesale business and now they focus more on retail and landscape supplies. Otter Greenhouses supplies about 15 townships across Ontario, too.
Otter Greenhouses is located at 315 Medd Road in Port Perry. They are open from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
To learn more about Otter Greenhouses, please check out their website at ottergreenhouses.com. Or visit them in person during their respective store hours.
Otter Greenhouses has changed a little throughout the last 25