Canadian greenhouse vegetable grower to build U.S. facility

Windset Farms, headquartered in Delta, British Columbia, has received approval from the Santa Maria, Calif., City Council to build a greenhouse vegetable and produce-packing facility on a 222-acre site. The full project will cover about 178 acres, including 5.7 million sq. ft. of greenhouse production space, a 174,000-sq.-ft. processing and packing facility and other support buildings, reports the Santa Maria Times. The operation is expected to create up to 400 year-round jobs. The facility will be Windset’s first in the U.S. Construction of the Calif. facility will occur in 3 phases with planting expected to occur in Aug. or Sept. 2010. The operation will include 6 acres of solar panels to generate electricity for the greenhouses. Winset Farms is one of Canada’s largest greenhouse vegetable operations with nearly 75 acres. It produces various tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant and endive.