Golden Eden Produce near Burr almost lost their tomatoes this season due to the cold snap – but with some community co-operation, the plants were saved. The greenhouse, which covers just under two-thirds of an acre, supplied 33 stores in Saskatchewan with produce in the 2020 year, and is a current supplier of the Humboldt Sobeys and Co-op.
On Jan. 25, Maureen Saretsky, Golden Eden’s co-owner, came out to the greenhouse to find it was 3.8° Celsius inside, or 39° Fahrenheit. “That morning, when it was 39 degrees, all of our tomato plants that were not strung up were literally laying down on the floor,” Saretsky said.
To save the crops, Saretsky needed more heat. This led her to seek a construction heater, but Rona, the nearest place she could think of that sells them, closed at 5 p.m.
“By the time I get back and phone up Rona it’s well after 5, it’s 5:15ish and I was told it was too late to fire up the construction heater, they were sorry,” she said. “Apparently Leon Doepker, the store manager, overheard the conversation and phoned me right back.”
Doepker told her they would prepare it that night if she can come in right away.