(from left to right) Family, Margaret's mother Joan, our son Leon, Margaret, Bob, our son Jason, our daughter Christina - 1999

Because of a desire for a simpler more affordable rural lifestyle, we moved here in 1977 from the busy Vancouver area of BC and bought a peaceful fertile little farmyard on the prairies.  Here we are surrounded by God’s beautiful creation for miles in every direction, including up! The prairie has some of the biggest grandest skies both by day and by night. My father, who grew up seeing big skies, taught me to love the grandeur and soak in the peace. The heavens God’s glory do declare! We have sunshine, beautiful sunshine most days of the year, and the joys of four seasons!   Some of the most moving seasons include or feature frost!   It was those frosts that got us into using greenhouses.

We’re ideally located in the center of North America, 3½ miles south of Altona, Manitoba, Canada & 4½ miles north of Neche, N.D., USA.    We’re about 15 miles west of the Red River, which borders N.E. North Dakota & NW Minnesota. The Red flows through Fargo & our nearest cities Winnipeg and Grand Forks, each about 70 miles away.  Winnipeg has the coldest average temperature of any large city in the world, even colder than Moscow in Russia. We have no Chinook winds to warm us here!   The average night temperature in March is about 13 degrees F. and the average day temp. Is 28 degrees F. so it is no wonder we need greenhouses! The soil is frozen solid for 6 feet straight down by April. The air is clean & dry, & we get just over 6 hrs. of bright sunshine a day as a yearly average. The land is absolutely flat, the soil is rich, black and deep, and there is not a stone or rock in it for twenty miles around. But frost there is lots of, often at rather unexpected times of year.  We mention the unseasonable frosts and extending the useful growing season on pages 15-21 in our articles about our Rebar Greenhouses & Other Ideas.

It was the extremes of weather here that opened our eyes to the need for a stronger greenhouse poly.  On our prairie greenhouse Bob originally tried 6 mil poly and 6 mil vinyl, both of which yellowed, shattered, shredded, and disintegrated in a matter of months in our severe climate.  We saw there was a need for a greenhouse cover that would outlast severe winters and storms.  We knew others would need it too.  So we searched for something better and found it.  After testing it ourselves, we combined our mutual work and life experiences with the enjoyment of helping fellow gardeners, and have been selling our UV-stabilized Superstrong Woven Poly and other greenhouse supplies since January 1980.  As we grew we were able to modify the product to add more UV stabilizer and thicker coatings.  For years at a time, our Superstrong Woven Poly stands up to violent winds, hail, & outdoor temperatures from forty degrees below zero (F.) to 100 degrees above zero (F.).  The translucence prevents leaf burn and the diffusion of light by the weave promotes uniform growth.  And it’s so tough that even our cats cannot tear it.

It's our goal to see small and large greenhouses sprout up like mushrooms in our two sister nations.   We are also interested in promoting affordable solar heating and wind power.  We live inexpensively in an older house, growing much of our own food and reusing and recycling wherever possible.  We are involved in ministry to area teens, giving them emotional and spiritual support.   We try to befriend them and try to help them see that life doesn't have to be bad, and that are people who care about them and about their future.  Seeing them grow in confidence and hope is exciting. When possible, we have hired teens to help staple samples into the catalogs or tape the boxed orders or maintain the business yard or other odd jobs.

Bob was born in 1945 and Margaret in 1951. We married in April 1972.  In 1977 we moved here and in January 1980 started Northern Greenhouse Sales.  Here God blessed us with three children. Our sons, Leon and Jason were born in 1981.  Our daughter Christina was born in 1983. Our sons and daughter are now adults and have moved to other towns and cities.

Bob, Margaret, and our office co-worker Hedy look forward to hearing from you and to helping you with your poly questions and orders. Willie and Ene do our cutting, custom heatsealing, picking, packing, and shipping, and also help as translators for our Spanish-speaking customers.

Thanks again for your orders. And thanks for telling your friends and neighbors about us. Word of mouth advertising by people who like our product has helped us keep prices down. Feel free to write, call, or fax us about your questions, ideas and hints. Send pictures, please! And maybe we’ll feature you and your photo in our customer gallery!
 

Bob & Margaret Davis, and co-workers Hedy, Willie, and Ene,
Northern Greenhouse Sales