Nesbitt’s Greenhouse ready for the season after significant winter damage

Nesbitt’s Greenhouse (147 Eardley Rd.) are in full bloom and ready as ever for the busy planting season. Walking through their system of inviting greenhouses, one would never suspect that just a few weeks ago, there was such massive damage that the Nesbitts were uncertain they would be able to recover.

During the night of February 18, Ron and Sylvia Nesbitt were awoken in their home next door to find that a 10,000 square foot section of their greenhouses had completely collapsed under the weight of the winter’s snowfall. “As soon as I stepped outside, all I could smell was gas,” said owner Ron Nesbitt, “because all the lines had broken and were all trapped beneath the steel and the plastic and the snow.”

 

After securing the area, engaging a clean-up crew and with no time to spare, the Nesbitts got to work salvaging, re-prepping their planters and forging ahead with the installation of two new greenhouses in the affected area.

They cleared the seven-foot wall of snow, steel, plastic sheeting and debris. Beneath the wreckage were seven 65-foot tables laid out with containers filled with soil, ready for planting in two weeks. The Nesbitts estimate their losses to be about $200,000. Their insurance informed them a week after the collapse of a clause in their policy which indicated they would not be receiving any pay out from insurance. “They didn’t pay us a cent,” said Sylvia Nesbitt, who expects that it will take several years to recover from the financial loss.

There is a 2-year plan underway to re-design the affected area. Next year will see the addition of a garden feature with sitting area and ponds. For now, after weeks of hard work and determination, the Nesbitts say they “are ready and open to serve our customers again.”