Saturday, October 29, 2016

Guernsey and Greenhouses

                            A lovely decorative floral display by the round-a-bout in St. Peter Port



        We came upon this herd of Guernsey cows one day while driving to an appointment.


In the grocery stores, this is the largest size of milk container available. 
Guernsey milk is the only kind allowed on the island.



There are hundreds of glass green houses on the island.  Most are not used any more.
I copied the following information about them from the internet: 
***
 "Some say it all began with the tomato…Guernsey’s horticultural origins go back over 200 years when the first greenhouses were erected. Locals dabbled in grape growing but it wasn’t until the advent of the humble tomato that things really took off. In the mid 19th Century Guernsey’s growers were quick to respond to news from medical practitioners that the decorative plant was not only edible but good for your health, and by the 1870s the tomato had overtaken the vine in the island’s glass houses.
The ”Guernsey Tom” dominated the island’s growing industry throughout the 20th Century, with special tomato trains laid on at Southampton and Weymouth during peak periods to cope with the influx. Guernsey became a “glass island”, with 7% of its total surface area under green house by 1950. By the 1970s hundreds of acres of glasshouses were dedicated to tomato growing, with nine million trays per annum exported.
 Sadly, increased competition from Dutch producers and changes in the British railway system eventually made the export of the tomato less profitable, and Guernsey growers were forced to diversify." 
                                                                               ***
    A majority of growers turned to growing flowers, which was a profitable export for many years; but eventually that too was effected by competition from European markets. Other than several plant nurseries, and for local floral shops, most green houses are not in use.  Some people still use theirs to grow fruits and vegetables and some sell their produce at small roadside stands; but most green houses are totally abandoned to the foliage - inside and out: 


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