Craven business thrives despite changing agriculture landscape

Frontier Gardens, a family-run business with roots stretching back to the late 19th century, continue to thrive as they near a centennial in commercial gardening.

Bettylou Anticknap, whose late husband Lloyd Sr. started the business, recalls the long history of her family’s farming tradition.

“We have been in the business since 1968. We started in 1966, moved down here in 1969 after my husband and I got married, and I’ve been here ever since,” said Bettylou.

With deep ties to the Qu’Appelle Valley, the Anticknap family’s agricultural legacy dates back generations.

“My husband was born in Lumsden, and his family has been in the valley here. His mother came here in 1904,” she said. “They started gardening in 1937, so another 12 years it’ll be 100 years.”

The family’s dedication to farming has carried through generations, with Bettylou’s son Loyd officially taking over the business in 2020.

“My son’s great-grandfather has been gardening since 1883 out of Pilot Butte, then they came down to the east and came out west,” said Bettylou.

Despite its longevity, the business has had to adapt to economic changes, including shifting trade policies.

“This year will probably be more chaotic these next four years thanks to these tariffs,” said Loyd Anticknap, who is now running Frontier Gardens. “I talked to my manager, and he said everything is being bought out of Canada for produce, and if nothing in Canada, it’s Mexico, Peru, and we are buying stuff out of Spain, Italy for fruit and oranges.”

He explained that while import costs remain manageable due to efficient transportation routes, reliance on foreign produce remains a challenge.

“It’s not bad because it comes to the East Coast of Canada, take it off, put it on a train straight off to Winnipeg, put it into the warehouse and then it’s distributed out East,” Said Loyd. So, it’s way cheaper so we don’t have to go through the Canal.”

Alongside the economic changes, Frontier Gardens still have found success with its Saskatoon berry u-pick that happens in July, allowing customers to harvest their own fresh fruit at $5 per pound. However, other crops, such as raspberries, present unique challenges.

“It’s expensive for us to grow them here. It’s easy, it’s awesome to do, but to pick them, if you pick them that day you must sell them that day,” said Loyd.

“It’s not like the ones you buy at the store. I don’t know what they do with them. They pick them, and for them to be nice and juicy and red and to sit on the shelf for days because they are not real, they are sprayed with chemicals,” said Loyd.