The Van Kalker family has been farming and growing flowers in Chicago’s south suburbs since 1961.  Our main garden center in Chicago Heights has been open for over 20 years and is actually our third location.  Some may remember our second location "Bob's Farmstand" in Lynwood near the corner of Torrence Avenue and Glenwood-Lansing Road. Those of you who've been in the area for over 50 years will remember our original location where the Big Lots now is in Calumet City (yes-that all used to be farm land).  Our second greenhouse location in Grant Park opened in 2005 and features a beautiful glass faced greenhouse.

We currently have 98,706 Square feet of greenhouse production space between our 2 locations.  That's over 2.25 acres.  We grow over 18,000 hanging baskets, over 12,000 flats, over 150,000 herbs, and 15,000 Proven Winner 4.5" pots.

Along with our 2 retail locations we supply over 30 stores and greenhouses in the greater Chicago area. So you may be buying some of our herbs or flowers in the north suburbs of Palatine or Lake Forest or in the south suburbs of Lansing or Dyer.   

We also farm the land on our properties as well as other land in the area.  We grow a variety of vegetables, especially tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and cabbage.  We sell our produce at local farmers’ markets (Park Forest and Oak Lawn) and to the wholesale market in Chicago.  We also buy Amish grown produce in Fairview, KY in the early summer so we can get fresh produce earlier that it can be grown here.  We also buy from the Amish in Wakarusa, IN and Lagrange, IN to supplement our crops.

The Original Bob's Farm Stand on Rt 6 in Calumet City, IL:

A shot of apple season at Bob's Farm Stand on Torrence Ave. in Lansing, IL:  

We also sold 1000's of Christmas trees: