The Anderson family are woven into the fabric of Glen Valley.
Albert Anderson, 74, and his wife Dorothy, 72, have run Aldor Acres, which has doubled as a farm and a tourist destination at 24990 84th Ave., for the past 28 years – and counting.
The couple purchased the farm in 1971 and in 1988 turned it into Aldor Acres.
“Albert was brought up on a farm, up on the hill, and so was I,” Dorothy shared. “So we sold wholesale pumpkins and that wasn’t much fun. Then it sort of got bigger, and bigger, and bigger as we went along.”
Aldor Acres is open year round.
Spring and summer offer farm tours, baby animals at Easter, and Farm Kid Camps. October features 18 acres of pumpkin patches and five acres of petting zoos and animal displays, while December welcomes Christmas Trees and roasting marshmallows around the campfire.
While plans are to some day hand over operations to their 28-year-old granddaughter Melissa, that won’t be happening anytime soon.
“Melissa is gearing herself up to take it all over when we get out,” Albert said.
“It’s not going be yet because once we give something away, we never get it back,” Dorothy said. “It will happen.”
Dorothy said Aldor Acres is “sort of a fun, educational thing for many people who don’t see this every day.”
Aldor Acres is home to sheep, goats, foul, pigs, cows, bunnies and other critters.
Vegetables grown at Aldor Acres include corn, cauliflower, and broccoli, but this year has been aces for farm’s pumpkins.
In fact, at Aldor Acres and across the province, it’s been yet another banner year for pumpkins.
In 2015, B.C. farmers produced 8,000 tonnes of pumpkins on 283 hectares, according to the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture.
This year looks to be even better, farmers say, as dry weather and just the right splashes of rain set up a bumper crop.
“Tremendous,” Albert said on Oct. 12, about this year’s pumpkin crop. “The weather was just perfect and it wasn’t until the night before last that a little bit of frost killed everything off. Now everything is exposed.”
Meanwhile, thousands visit Aldor Acres every year, including seniors who were brought up on farms, Dorothy noted. The farm it also brought to seniors unable to make it to Aldor Acres.
“We go to a number of seniors homes with animal displays,” Dorothy said. “Those people, a lot of them were brought up on farms, 60, 70, 80 years ago and so we take animals to their homes.”
After nearly 30 years, the farm has had generations of people drop by for a visit.
Dorothy related to the Advance on Oct. 12, “One little girl…, it’s her seventh birthday today. And they came a week before she was born, and the mom was hoping that the bumps [from the tractor ride] would help her come – but it didn’t. The little girl has been here every year, since.”
Visit the Aldor Acres website by clicking here.