Carp Flower Growers Toe Greener Grass of Pot Industry
With Prop 64's Passage, the Shift to Marijuana Is City's Open Secret
Forty-Fiveyears ago, Dutch immigrants began arriving in the Carpinteria Valley to escape strict government regulations in the flower-growing business. But now, since dabbling in the morphing marijuana industry, they are begging to be regulated.
Growers say the once successful flower trade in Carpinteria has been strapped by several factors: An estimated 80 percent of all flowers sold in the United States now originate from Colombia; the adoption of Carp’s “Greenhouse Plan” has restricted greenhouse size and scope; and new statewide rules hiked minimum wage and overtime rules, and also increased diesel standards, among other things. This forced some operations to lay off employees and make other cuts. But others that began growing marijuana are flush with cash.
“Some growers feel they have no choice but to grow something that will produce more money,” said longtime Gerbera daisy grower June Van Wingerden, who said she does not want to grow marijuana. “I don’t like it. I was once a high school teacher and have seen the damage marijuana can do to teenagers, but I can understand that a grower who has worked their entire life growing flowers just sees marijuana as another crop, a more profitable crop.”
