Flowers, Anyone?

Several years ago, my then visiting teacher told me her husband worked for one of the largest flower growers west of the Mississippi.

I was surprised and said that I had never even heard of it.  She told me a little bit about it, and RAH and I decided some day we would go see it.

That day was Thursday....I had to miss Yoga, which I did at home before we left, but it was worth it.

What an eye opener.  Because, you see, it's in a little teeny wisp of a town out in nowhere and it is a MIGHTY BIG operation.

The Millers started a greenhouse growing operation in Oxnard, California.  A friend of theirs from Utah told them about a teeny little greenhouse in NEW CASTLE, UTAH that Mr. Miller might want to look at.  Because you see, there were thermal pools in the ground.  They could get heat for the flowers from those thermal wells.  So, they can grow the plants year round.  Which they do in Oxnard, California, but that is an ideal climate year round.  In New Castle, it would be much too cold to grow the plants all year.

And, so MILGRO opened in New Castle, Utah.  And, it's very impressive.  Little town, big deal.

They sell poinsettias all over America; big stores buy their plants; Target, Kroger, Safeway, Home Depot,  etc.

The interesting thing is that each set of stores has different specifications; some stores want their plants to not have any open flowers, some want a few open flowers, and whatever.
So, they have to be very careful about what they ship to each store.

They employ between 150 - 200 people.  It's a very busy plant.

Rhonda has worked here for 20 years.  She started out as a send planter and is now in charge of ordering supplies.  Her husband is the electric guy over all the mechanical stuff and there is a lot of that.

It was such a great way to spend a morning - learning about something right in our area.

Time to explore some more!