Although most of their properties remain in the Agricultural Land Reserve, many are now surrounded by industrial parks or million-dollar homes. When Bylands began over half a century ago, the farm was located virtually in the middle of nowhere. “In mid-January, we are only heating our propagation areas.” “We try to grow in cooler temperatures because that’s where our customers are,” he explains. Most of the greenhouses feature open roofs and roll-up sides. “Only about two or three per cent of what we grow goes through our garden centre,” John notes, pointing out the family now farms a dozen or more plots totalling about 400 acres, which includes 170,000 square feet of greenhouses, 20 acres of cold frames, and about 45,000 square feet of refrigerated storage space. While Bylands has one of the largest retail garden centres in the Okanagan, that is only a sideline. After studying commerce at university, John’s son, Mike, joined the company several years ago. John took over in 1982 when his father died suddenly.
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