Telkwa, BC
The nursery is located in the Bulkley Valley at Telkwa, British Columbia. It is in the Sub-Boreal Spruce biogeoclimatic zone.
There are 4 acres of freestanding greenhouses, one acre of gutter-connected and another acre with a retractable roof system. All greenhouses are clad in polyethylene material. The roofs can be removed in late June for stock conditioning.
The 7 acres of greenhouses are computer controlled. The computer monitors the greenhouse environment every 20 seconds and also maintains a history of each greenhouse for future reference. At Woodmere Nursery, the computer is viewed as one of the many tools that assist in growing the crop. Decisions regarding crop culture are still determined by the Grower.
For Spring Plant crops, once crops are harvested, graded and packaged, the boxes are put into freezer storage. The capacity of the storage building is 8 to 9 million seedlings. There are 6 compartments, which are each equipped with two refrigeration compressors. The computer also monitors the environment of this facility.
Fairview, AB
The nursery is located in the Heart of the Peace Country at Fairview, Alberta. It is on the edge of the northwest boreal forest just north of the breathtaking Peace River. The 134,000 sq. ft., gutter connected greenhouses were built in 1995 after an invitation was extended by several forest companies in northern Alberta to build a facility to grow their reforestation seedlings. In 1997, an additional 83,000 sq. ft. of retractable roof greenhouses was built. The facility is located on the campus of the original Fairview College, which is now the Fairview Campus of Grande Prairie Regional College.
As with the Telkwa operation, all greenhouses are computer controlled. The 15,000 sq. ft. header building where seeding and harvesting operations are completed is attached to the greenhouses. The two cold storage compartments are also part of this building. Together they have a capacity of 3 to 4 million seedlings.