With their showy blooms and tall, elegant stems, orchids serve as a brilliant centerpiece and well- received gift for any occasion. But shoppers often question buying such a seemingly fussy plant, says Alison Glasco, who co-owns an orchid nursery with her husband. However, this exotic flower holds a rugged secret. “There’s a big stigma about orchids being tricky to care for. But they’re actually really easy,” Glasco says. “The more you ignore the orchid, the more it will produce for you.” Glasco fell in love with the enigmatic plant after first falling for Bas van Eijk, a newly arrived Dutch flower farmer with generations of cucumber growers and cattle ranchers in his family. While Glasco had not planned on entering agriculture—she’d graduated with a degree in engineering physics—farming is what motivated van Eijk to relocate to the United States in 2013 after operating successful orchid farms in New Zealand. They discussed opening a greenhouse together on their first date, even though Glasco had never stepped inside one. “I was just in awe of this Dutch guy,” she recalls. “It’s quite a little bit crazy, but here we are doing this crazy dream together.” Getting started Six years ago, van Eijk scrolled through Google Maps looking for available greenhouses in California. These satellite images eventually revealed an abandoned structure along the Central Coast in Los Osos, and showing the same gumption that drove him from the Netherlands to New Zealand looking for orchid employment, he left a Post-it note for the owner of the greenhouse. By that summer, Glasco and van Eijk moved in and Cal Coast Orchids was launched. For the next two years, the pair focused on growing a wide array of Phalaenopsis orchids, nurturing each of more than 80 varieties through their final 20 weeks of maturity. Cal Coast Orchids imports its smaller, more compact, European style of Phalaenopsis orchids from Canada, where the plants grow for the first 80 weeks in bark, instead of the more familiar moss. Orchids found in most supermarket chains are larger and grown in moss, as most countries cannot export bark to the U.S. However, bark provides a superior potting material for orchids, Glasco says. beautiful bold and the The Couple pursues ‘crazy dream’ to grow orchids Story by Caitlin Fillmore • Photos by Applemoon Photography
Phalaenopsis orchids surround Cal Coast Orchids founders Bas van Eijk and Alison Glasco, who produce 3 million blooms each year from greenhouses in Los Osos and Half Moon Bay. The couple plans to reintroduce flower fans to the rare Cymbidium orchid next fall.
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Summer 2024
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