People call her the “egg lady.” Ann Vergamini agrees it might have something to do with the fact that she and her husband John have been raising chickens and selling eggs in Summerland for the past 45 years.
The Vergamini family came here from Italy in 1957, when John was a young man of 20 years old. He met Ann Downton in 1966 and they married in 1968.
John built their first home on Gayton Street where they had over an acre of land. They had fruit trees and a few chickens and sold eggs on a very small scale. The couple’s two children were born there. When their daughter was six and their son was nine, they moved to the five acre property and farm house on North Victoria Road.
In order to gain farm status the Vergaminis were required to show an income from their property.
“When I bought the place, there were hardly any trees,” explained John. “To get quick income I replanted half the orchard in peaches and we did very good.”
“We put in lots of garden,” said Ann. “We sold tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, corn and raspberries.”
Ann remembered the first time they planted the garden, they put in 800 tomato plants and almost an acre of pickling cucumbers.
The Vergaminis trained their children to help work on the farm.
“They would pick the cucumbers, bag them and mark how many pounds in each bag,” said Ann. “That’s how they made their spending money. I would take the orders and they got to keep all of the money.”
“If the kids wanted this or that, they had to work for it,” John said. “It was a good thing I think.”
Once the children had left home and Ann was working at the tree nursery, John decided that growing peaches was to labour intensive.
“I couldn’t handle it because I was working at the corporation full-time,” he said. “So I cut down the peaches and replanted apples. But then I discovered it was easier to make money raising chickens than apples and that’s when we went into the egg business.”
At the peak of production they sell 25 to 30 dozen eggs per day. Ann estimates that over the years she has had more than 500 customers.
“I have customers that come all the way from Peachland, Kelowna, Penticton and Kaleden,” she said. “Some people have passed away and new people have come to Summerland and now they are my customers.”
John does not think that raising chickens is hard work, although it does tie them down because he has to collect the eggs three times a day.
He said his wife likes to talk to people, so having customers come to the house to buy eggs is a way for her to socialize.
“It’s more good than bad,” he said.
John also explained how important it is to him to lead a productive life.
“I feel we do a favour to people because they want the eggs,” he said. “It’s nice to produce and to serve the people that like it. At the end of the day I feel like I did something good.”
The Vergaminis both have been experiencing some health problems the last few years.
Even though they have had to make a few adjustments, they intend to keep on farming.
“I’ve leased the orchard out for now,” said John. “I’ve got more time to play with the chickens.”
“Since we have to be here for the eggs, we might as well plant a garden too,” said Ann.
The Vergamini farm is located at 15008 Victoria Rd. N.
If you know a positive story about someone in our community, contact Carla McLeod at carlamcleod@shaw.ca or contact the Summerland Review newsroom at 250-494-5406.