Our original Ukrainian name was Bodnaryk and it
was shortened to Budd by my grandfather, Peter, after he arrived in
Ottawa in 1904. Peter had been orphaned at an early age (his mother died
at child birth) and later his father was struck by lightning while
working in the field and Peter raised by the people of the village. When
he read a poster asking for people to come to Canada, he sold his small
piece of land and boarded a boat to Quebec City. With the rest of his
money he purchased a train ticket west, but only had enough to get to
Ottawa. My grandmother Theresa, arrived in 1913 and by then my
grandfather was a widower with a young son, and they were soon married.
They had four more sons, one of them our father Michael. My brother
David and I grew up in the family gardening business, working in our
fields in Blackburn and selling vegetables on the Byward Market. We took
over from our parents Michael and Isabelle, in the early 1970's and
eventually started growing perennials only. Through the years our wives
Evelyn and Doris, and our children Sharon, Jennifer, Brian, Julie and
David Jr. have worked with Budd Gardens, making it a true 'family
business'.
