The year is 1919. Bread is 10 cents, movies are silent and an Edmonton business is just starting to bloom.
One century ago, family-owned Wallish Greenhouses first opened for business.
Co-owner Sharon Wallish Murphy has been a team member for most of her life.
“I was born a member of Wallish Greenhouses,” she said. “It was my grandfather, John Wallish, who started the whole tradition of growing plants.
“He started that in 1919 in Edmonton with the typical vegetable market gardener. He had his produce from the farm on 73 Street and 121 Avenue and he took it to the City Market.”
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That land was expropriated to make way for the current Wayne Gretzky Drive and about seven acres were purchased on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River northeast of Edmonton, just north of Sherwood Park.
Wallish Murphy’s father, Charlie, joined the family business and added the greenhouse component.
Her brother, Glenn, became part of the business in the 1980s. He took over the greenhouse from her father. Then, she and her husband, Dan, joined the business officially in 2000.
“I think I always wanted to be a greenhouse person but my father always wanted us to have a skill.
“He also wanted us to work for somebody else so we would have a wider view of the world,” Wallish Murphy said.
“I went to university and got my nursing degree. My other brother is an engineer,” she said. “I spent some time working in the Virgin Islands for 15 years, met my husband Dan, and then it was the call from Glenn to come back to the greenhouse.”
In 2019, the third-generation business is co-owned by Sharon, Dan, Glenn and Louise.
Though the heart of the business remains the same, technology has certainly made life easier.
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According to Wallish Murphy, the centennial took the family a bit by surprise.
“It kind of snuck up on us. When we got to year 90, we said, ‘Wow! I guess we’ve been doing this for some time.’
“It’s humbling, it’s exciting and it just kind of happened. We kept on growing and doing something we loved.”
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All those years ago, Walllish Murphy said her dad simply set out to create a good business.
“We never thought of it, we just loved what we did.
“We do what we love and it provides a decent living and we’re content and it’s just something that happened.”
After 100 years, there is also a new level of customer appreciation.
“It’s like a family reunion. We have faithful customers that come every year. We are so appreciative,” Wallish Murphy said.
“Each of the staff here have a collection of people that we love. A lot of our staff have been here for over 10 years and they’ve known customers for that long.”
Wallish Greenhouses will celebrate its 100 years with a birthday party on Saturday, May 4th.