Ego's celebrates 35 years of GROWING in 2010!
In 2010 Ego’s will celebrate 35 years of “growing”! Owners and managers Kristin Ego and Gary MacPhail plan to mark the occasion with special events this coming season.
“It’s been a real journey, but an enjoyable one” says Laury Ego who with his wife Lorraine, founded Ego’s Farm Market as a roadside stand in 1975. “We are very proud to see the next generation growing the business and taking on new challenges” he says.
Laury & Lorraine’s daughter, Kristin and her husband Gary MacPhail purchased the garden centre and nursery from the Ego’s in 2006. They continue to offer a great selection of annuals, perennials, trees & shrubs while also operating the farm market featuring the Ego’s own farm fresh produce.
In 1975, Laury and Lorraine Ego purchased a farm on the north-east corner of Horseshoe Valley Road and the 9th Line of Medonte Township. There, they built a home, a roadside market for selling their field-grown fruits and vegetables, and their first small greenhouse.
Children, Kristin, Kevin and Bryan, literally grew up in the farm market and nursery business, transplanting seedlings in the spring, selling fresh strawberries at the farmers' markets in the summer and helping with the fall harvest of corn and pumpkins.
Laury and Lorraine had both acquired an appreciation of agriculture and gardening from their parents, which they in turn instilled in their children. The small greenhouse that was used to start seedlings of tomatoes, peppers and other fruits and vegetables, soon found flowering annuals taking up residence in the spring. Through the 1980's and 1990's, the business gradually grew to include more greenhouse growing area and an expanded farm market.Through the 1980's and 1990's, the business gradually grew to include more greenhouse growing area and an expanded farm market.
In 1998, daughter Kristin moved back to the area after completing her BSc in Agriculture. With Kristin on board, the Egos expanded the perennial and shrub production of the nursery over the next few years, vastly increasing the range of plant material grown in the greenhouses, in containers and in the field. The original small greenhouse was replaced by 18,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse plant production and over 20,000 sq. ft. of outdoor growing area.
Most recently, Laury and Lorraine's youngest son, Bryan, joined the ranks, after completing his BSc in Agriculture, and is now working in the nursery and becoming involved in much of the farm operation.
A New Generation Takes Over
Owners and Managers: Kristin Ego and Gary MacPhail
The evolution of Ego’s Farm Market and Greenhouses took a major step in the fall of 2006, when Kristin and her husband, Gary MacPhail, purchased the nursery business from Laury and Lorraine and incorporated the name Ego’s Nurseries Ltd. They will continue to operate the farm market in conjunction with Bryan, Laury and Lorraine and intend to continue offering a great selection of annuals, perennials and trees and shrubs to their gardening customers, as well as a selection of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables through the farm market.
The Ego family owes a great deal of thanks to their loyal customers and to their excellent staff, who have helped the business grow over the years.
