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| >> October 2012 | ||
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Two of the owners, Joel and Jean Olson, purchased Hillview Greenhouses in 1987. In November 1991, writer Kathleen Pyle featured the growers in Under an Acre. At Hillview Greenhouses, a 75% retail operation, variety is the theme. According to Joel, who propagates almost everything himself, “we offer too much variety; more than we should.” He grows bedding plants for spring sales, but also expanded his product line to make limited production space pay off year round. In 2004, Joel and Jean began growing organic produce. A few years later, the couple decided to retire and in 2008 a group of friends and neighbors purchased the greenhouse. One of the friends was Dr. Tom Klemond, an internist and palliative care physician, who had a desire to assist the elderly in the area with a community house destination. With organic growing assistance from the Olsons, the group formed a nonprofit organization and called it the Hillview Greenhouse Life Center. From a July 2008 article in the Co-op Shopper: “The Hillview Greenhouse Life project seeks to utilize the growth and sale of organic produce to provide practical social support for our aging population, nourishment for our local community and meaningful activity for all its members.” Retirees and disabled persons volunteered in the greenhouse, but after three years Dr. Klemond and the board of directors knew they lacked business and horticultural expertise, says Leanne Carlson, president of what is now the Hillview Urban Agriculture Center. The people who for “The HGLC had an elderly mission focus. We wanted to create a physical space where the elderly and the specially abled could garden and act as volunteers. What we learned was that it took a lot of resources to coordinate and educate volunteers,” says Leanne. “Three years ago there was much interest in an urban agriculture center concept. A public meeting was held and 70 people said they would work with it, so we changed the mission to focus on feeding people of all levels food that is good for them,” says Leanne. Consequently, the name of the organization changed (Hillview Urban Agriculture Center), as well as the mission statement: To create a healthy community through a local, sustainable and accessible food system. HUAC received a $25,000 grant from the La Crosse Community Foundation, which was used to pay expenses and the mortgage interest, plus it gave the people involved time to develop a business plan and avoid the sale of the land. A second grant for $30,000 from the Robert & Eleanor Franke Charitable Foundation for Market Baskets: From Hopelessness to Hope provides slow cookers, whole grains, legumes and recipes to low-income families. Hillview Urban Agri “HUAC has formed unique partnerships with a grassroots food justice organization, a large local healthcare system and a technical college,” says Leanne. “Out of these partnerships, the existing greenhouse property, which is located in a quiet residential neighborhood, will be transitioned into four single-family, highly energy-efficient homes of which only 12 currently exist in the United States … the existing greenhouse property is to be used as a demonstration and teaching site for [Western Technical College] construction students and regional contractors to learn how to incorporate sustainable and energy-efficient building materials and methods. In return, Western Technical College will build a state-of-the-art greenhouse near the downtown campus that will house HUAC and its rapidly growing horticulture program, providing a much greater level of visibility and accessibility for both programs,” she says. This past June an auction was held at Hillview Greenhouses to sell the containers, shelves and supplies to area greenhouses and farmers. In a few months, after the glass is removed from the original greenhouse, the space will be demolished. Local artists will decide what to do with the century-old glass. The new greenhouse is still in the design phase, but once it’s built on the Western Technical College campus, the students will grow the plants grown in the original greenhouse: greens and tomatoes. Leanne says after they explore the market, they will add more plants and sell their produce to grocery stores and restaurants. Three year-round employees will manage the greenhouse when school is not in session. The new greenhouse site also will house a 5 ft. x 35 ft. vermicompost unit—one of the largest in the Midwest. “We add pre- and post-consumer food waste from the university cafeteria into the vermicompost unit and then sell worm castings. We bought $2,000 of worms to start, and one and a half years later we are not at full capacity. We’ve sold $600 worth of worm castings at the local farmers market. People want to garden organically instead of using Miracle Gro,” says Leanne. The elderly and the specially abled will still be involved at Hillview. “Tables can be moved so wheelchairs can pass and then be returned without compromising the growing space,” says Leanne. “It is a respite, nourishing physically and emotionally.” “We’re growing to feed the community, but our work is to develop community gardens and educate those who have gardens to be self-sufficient, to prepare and preserve their own food,” continues Leanne. “Good food should not be a privilege—good, healthful food should be available to everyone.” GT Pam Buddy-D’Ambrosio is a freelance writer in New Rochelle, New York. |
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
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| >> September 2012 | ||
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“It was intimidating at first until I got to know the buyers, then it became fun when I surprised them with plants,” says Steve. “They would get excited and ask, ‘I wonder what Steve brought us today?’” he adds. He built two greenhouses in his parents’ backyard and years later rented two more greenhouses while searching for a permanent location. In 1991, he ended up in Lewisville, Texas, with four acres that included a house and about 12,000 sq. ft. of indoor growing space for Steve’s Leaves, a wholesale business that just added online retail this year. Steve is president and his wife, Tammy, is vice president and bookkeeper, as well as a dedicated fourth-grade teacher. Steve’s Leaves has one driver and four full-time propagators. “We do our own propagation from start to finish, mostly because there aren’t sources for what we grow,” says Steve. They grow more than 850 varieties of indoor tropical plants. The Rex begonia is one of the best sellers. Their begonia breeder has won two awards with his plants: the People’s Choice Award and the Best New Introduction for Starry Nights. Steve’s Leaves sells 30 varieties of peperomia; 30 varieties of episcia, except African violets; pseuderanthemum; abutilon; the Hypoestes Splash series; maranta; small jewel orchids; variegated vanilla orchids and much more. “I look for obscure, colorful and unusually textured plants,” says Steve. He felt the same way in May 1990, when Julie A. Martens interviewed him for Under an Acre. “There is a market for unusual things,” Steve said then. Today, he hears customers say, “I haven’t seen that plant in 30 years,” when they come upon a piggyback plant. The smell of Cuban oregano reminded another customer of a grandmother. Other growers have tried to do what Steve is doing. “It’s very difficult to grow tropicals; competitors haven’t kept up the quality. It’s not a huge market and it takes a lot of knowledge,” says Steve. “If it’s a difficult plant, we won’t grow it. We tried growing one plant a half dozen times and failed.” Steve’s Leaves began retailing its plants online to U.S. customers this year. “I talked about it for 10 years, so my son David set up a website. Our breeder developed the program and takes care of online orders,” says Steve. If a plant is not available at the time of the order, it can be custom-propagated and ready to ship in about three to four weeks. Another of Steve’s hobbies from long ago has been fireworks. Three times a year he helped other companies with their shows for no charge. When Steve’s son, David, who is now 25, was old enough he came to the shows with Steve. Six years ago, David became president of Illumination Fireworks (Steve is vice president). “The company has grown a lot. We do July 4th, but we also do four shows a week year-round at corporate events, weddings and sporting events,” Steve says. “With my son’s leadership, he is growing the business and developing new markets using the fireworks displays, laser lights and CO2 effects.” Also, David lends a hand at Steve’s Leaves as a business consultant. The similarity between fireworks and plants is evident. “Lots of fireworks effects are named after flowers: peony, palms and chrysanthemums,” he says. “I’ve liked fireworks and plants since I was young, and we’ve taken two seasonal businesses and made them successful, year-round businesses.” Word to the wise: “Don’t do what I do if you want to save money. We have a labor-intensive business, the plants are handcrafted and we have no mechanization. We’re very picky about what we use and don’t use as cuttings, which are first quality with no blemishes. We have no conveyor belts and in less than 12,000 sq. ft., we’re growing hundreds of varieties of three to five flats. We stop and start in order to tag; it’s very inefficient. We hand-water, although there is a spaghetti tube system in the hanging basket area, but [in the other areas] with the many varieties of plants, the watering requirements are different.” But what makes this worth the effort for Steve is customers get excited over the plants that Steve’s Leaves grows. “People wait [at Steve’s Leaves retail customers’ locations]—sometimes two hours—for the truck to arrive with the delivery,” says Steve. They have plant groupies, Steve has been asked for his autograph and one woman couldn’t believe that Steve was displaying plants at a retail location. “Is it really you? I’ve been in love with you for so long,” she said. Tips from Steve:
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| >> August 2012 | ||
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That goes for the customers, too, when staycations are the norm, college kids have only one credit card and the retirees are on fixed incomes. “In the spring, the gas prices go up, the food prices go up and the water prices go up,” says Bernie. That puts flowers in the want-but-don’t-need category since the gas to get to the greenhouse and the water to take care of the flowers are more expensive. “Since we’re in a niche market, we’ll survive,” says Bernie. Harvey’s Florist and Greenhouse—these days Harvey’s Florist and Greenhouses (plural)—has survived and has been in business since 1930 as a cut flower operation, when flowers didn’t travel the distances they do now. Under Penny and Bernie’s direction, the business has evolved into a florist, a gift shop and three greenhouses for growing. They’re in the process of adding a nutritional health care line to their merchandise. “We have older folks who want to keep their independence through nutrition,” says Bernie. Harvey’s offers products like virgin coconut oil, Sunwarrior protein, stevia, aloe vera juice and deodorant sprays. Frostburg is located in western Maryland at a 2,500 ft. elevation in the Allegheny Mountains. At that elevation, snow can come early and stay late, and the summer temperatures don’t get above 79F. Just 9 miles to the east is Cumberland; at a 600 ft. elevation, it warms up into the 80s. The Frostburg population of approximately 9,000 people increases every autumn when 5,000 students start classes at the state university. “The town is growing; what’s nice about Frostburg is that there is a new influx of people every year,” says Bernie. Pe Penny Price today, and her head grower Bernie Miltenberger Bernie started growing peppers and tomatoes in his grandmother’s greenhouse; now as the grower at Harvey’s, he does the yearly plant selection, the seeding and cutting, buys-in the Easter lilies, takes care of the coal furnace, helps with accounts receivable and payroll and more. Bernie has been at Harvey’s since 1990, the same year that Penny was interviewed by Julie A. Martens for Under an Acre. At the time, Penny said, “We can’t compete with department stores on price, but we can sell service.” That still holds true today. “Our customer service is good and is not suffering [because of the economy],” says Bernie. There are four employees in addition to Penny and Bernie. “We haven’t laid anyone off,” says Bernie. It’s another result of “Penny-pinching.” “She does work herself after hours to keep labor hours down to a minimum,” adds Bernie. “We are in the emotions business; we design and sell products to make an impact or a wow factor for an event, holiday or special occasion,” says Bernie, whose day can consist of a bouquet delivery, a cake decoration and a delivery of flowers to a funeral home. “We pride ourselves on providing a trustworthy service with a 24-hour guarantee on our product or service. The satisfaction of growing and creating themes, color patterns and emotional delights for our customers is very rewarding to Penny, myself and the employees,” he adds. The greenhouse is in operation 365 days a year. “As a kid working on a dairy farm, we were up at 5:00 a.m. to milk the cows, and then we picked corn. The next day we had to do it all over again,” says Bernie. “You have to have passion ... I’m blessed. That’s the nice thing about this business—growing clicks with me and I enjoy every minute of it.” Thoughts and tips from Bernie:Visit their website at www.harveysflorist.com. GT |
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| >> July 2012 | ||
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In 1990, when Julie A. Martens featured Alice Doyle and Greg Lee in Under an Acre, they’d been in business for 15 years as Log House Plants, named for the now 83-year-old log house on the property. Twenty miles from Eugene, Oregon, in Cottage Grove, Log House Plants operates on 12 acres of the 60-acre farm. Alice and Greg met in college, taught after college, quit their jobs and built a greenhouse. Nearly every year they add another greenhouse—they’re up to 26. “It’s a wonderful career,” says Alice. “The business is pretty stable and the output has been increasing 20% every year.” Greg Lee and Alice Doyle, owners of Log House Plants in Cottage Grove, Oregon, were featured in GrowerTalks 22 years ago. Since then, they have a total of 26 greenhouses and added grafted vegetables to their product offering—including the Mighty ‘Mato grafted tomatoes. As wholesale growers, Alice and Greg approach their work with a fervor they hope passes through their retailers to the gardeners. Alice and Greg assemble retail display units that tell stories with plants to help gardeners with their selections. In 1986, they created “Grow to Know the World” in celebration of the United Nation’s International Year of Peace. Alice says, “We grew 50 different container combinations of flowers, vegetables and herbs from places like Spain, India and even the Pacific Northwest.” Other guides include in-house designed and laminated posters of specific categories: sweet potatoes, vegetables, annual cut flowers and annual dryable flowers—with the intent of educating customers and broadening their plant knowledge. In 1997, Alice and Greg developed the Fall and Winter Vegetable program, which taught gardeners how to plant certain varieties in July, August and September to harvest throughout the winter. “It’s an adventure with the accounts and an adventure with the garden population,” Alice says. “The goal is to make [the retailers] different than the chain stores.” Every year Alice and Greg have increased their plant list with new categories. They research varieties that grow well in the climate of the Pacific Northwest. “Customers want to garden with certain things and we listen to them,” she says. Log House Plants has a staff of approximately 35 people, which includes “overqualified” team members who have been with them for decades. Alice says she and Greg complement one another well. “Greg is the grower and takes care of the bank; I grow new varieties and take care of the people and the network of connections to propel us forward,” she adds. During a trip to Crete in 2000, Alice saw grafted plants for the first time. “They grafted the wild rootstock on to the scion, and without drenching it with chemicals, put it in infested soil (root-knot nematode) to make it tolerant,” she says. In 2005, Alice judged the Kolkata Flower Show. During the trip, she traveled through 2,000 acres in the “breadbasket” of Pakistan. The area growers showed Alice the rootstock for grafting. When she returned to Oregon, she researched grafting in the area and discovered that for years they had been eating grafted fruit from British Columbia. After further reading and researching in 2009, Alice and Greg learned to graft vegetables and the processes of healing and acclimatization—all by trial and error. Scheduling the scion and the rootstock to be the exact same size and diameter was complicated. “We graft our favorite varieties chosen for taste with rootstock that makes them super-plants, and then place the plant in the dark and in 85% humidity at 75 to 80 degrees for three days. Without stress, the new plant remaps and reconnects its vascular tissue. We bring it out of the dark and over another three-day period, wean it out of the high humidity and heat,” Alice says. “Log House Plants worked with breeders in Holland to source and trial the best rootstocks for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. This year we grafted over 65 varieties of hybrid and heirloom tomatoes.” The grafted plants are tough, since they are resistant to cold, heat, pests and disease, and in the fall they are still yielding fruit, she adds. In fact, one grafted plant yielded 80 tomatoes. In 2010, Alice and Greg sent the grafted tomato plants to 30 of their accounts in California. “They were so excited about the grafted tomatoes that they took out an ad in the Los Angeles Times. We received tremendous input from customers about their yields,” Alice says. Log House Plants’ Mighty ‘Mato grafted tomato plants trialed for three years in home gardens with positive response and success. They’ve partnered with Burpee Home Gardens, Territorial Seed, SuperNaturals and Plug Connection. The latter has sold almost 500,000 grafted plants. One billion grafted veggies were grown last year in places such as Korea, Japan, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Grafted plants use fewer chemicals and do not involve GMOs. Alice’s goals are to have consumers become conscious of the problem, to learn about the food they consume and to have companies label GMOs in food. Tips from the teacher on caring for grafted plants: • Keep the graft above the soil or the scion will root in. • Always cage, trellis or rope the tomato plant off the ground, so the scion doesn’t root in. • Prune. Take off the suckers that come out at each leaf and trunk junction. • Don’t plant the grafted tomato plant in a container unless it’s as large as an oak wine barrel. Tips for growers (and non-growers!): • See what’s special in your area. • Don’t expect to see run-of-the-mill. Diversity attracts clientele and creates distinction. • Keep life interesting. Follow your bliss. Visit their website at www.loghouseplants.com. GT |
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| >> June 2012 | ||
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Theodore Roosevelt, Berkeley, California, 1911 Theodore Roosevelt Moody III was bestowed with the impressive name due to family lore that places his great-grandfather at the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. As a boy growing up in Harlan, Kentucky, Ted helped his grandmother grow and can vegetables. At age 11, he and his family moved to Florida where one of his grandfathers who had come decades earlier drove a taxi and grew coconuts. Ted’s father worked in landscaping with his son at his side. At 20 years old, Ted worked at a nursery in all aspects of landscaping. In His wholesale, retail and broker business is what Ted calls a building industry landscape nursery. His property includes 2 acres with his home and an 800 sq. ft. mist house. “We’re on a one-lane road with no traffic. There are four to six nurseries down the main road. We were able to put a sign on that main road and it helps business,” says Ted. He grows shrubs like Green Island ficus and crotons, plus 10 types of palms such as the Adonidia, which grows only to heights of 20 ft. to 30 ft. “Around here, many houses are so large that there are no yards, so the smaller palms work better,” Ted says. “In 2010 there were severe freezes, which hurt the palms and cracked the trunks. There was a lot of loss, so we’re leaning away from growing as many as we used to. We used to grow thousands and thousands a year,” he adds. The plants are grown from seed and liners. The mist house waters the cuttings automatically every 10 minutes for seven to eight seconds. “Different plants take different amounts of water. If we’re rooting a ficus, which we don’t grow too many now since the whiteflies are so bad, it requires more water than a colder climate plant like viburnum,” says Ted. The plants come in all sizes: shrubs from 18 in. to 30 in., and palms from 1 in. to 5 ft. “A palm in a pot can be $45 and in the ground it’s $125. We’ve gone to the work of moving and planting it so it’s a higher price, but there are always exceptions,” says Ted. There are large palms on the property—15 ft. and 35 ft. If a customer buys a large tree he or she must pay for the crane to move it. Ted says, “The 8 ft. to 10 ft. trees fly out of here. We have a van, a pick-up and two trailers for deliveries. We charge delivery prices to pay for the gas,” he says. In Florida, it could get as cold as the high 20s. When cold temperatures are expected, Ted covers the plants with a thermal cloth and stacks them in the mist house. “Palms are resilient. Many people think that palms are tropical, but some like the date palm and the Washingtonia palm can take hard freezes,” he says. “Palms require different treatment. Certain palms get deficiencies of magnesium. They get a certain look—their fronds get brown and they get ‘frizzle top,’” says Ted, who also said the Queen palm is no longer popular due to borers and fungus. Ted’s favorites are the Adonidia, due to its small size and majestic gray trunk, and the Foxtail palm that is native to Australia and takes the cold well. Florida is second to California with the most nurseries in the country. Ted says, “Some haven’t made it through [the recession]. We’re small and we’ve cut costs. We used to have four full-time employees, now we have one full-time employee.” Ted will hire one more person for one week this season for cutting and planting. “It’s an as-needed situation. It keeps labor costs down,” he says. Although, when Ted’s grandson, who is 9, has his next birthday, he’ll start helping at the nursery by pulling weeds to earn spending money. “You have to change your thinking and direction for your customers, but there are no free estimates anymore. Now it will cost $20 to $40 for me to come out. In the past I would walk around and give ideas for free. Today I tell them, ‘You give me the work and the cost comes off the bill,’” says Ted. He does fewer than 10 landscape jobs a year. “We do have customers come in with their plant people, who pick out and buy from me, and then have their people install the plants. Preferably, I want to deal with the professionals.” There are many nurseries in the area, but Ted looks at them as customers and not competition. “I sell a lot of plants to garden centers and nurseries,” he says. The neighbors buy plants, too. “How can you turn down a sale in this economy?” he asks. Cost-cutting tips from Ted:
Writer’s note: Thank you to Belinda Escharte and a chance meeting that made this interview possible. |
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Tom majored in plant and soil science at Southern Illinois University where he met the woman who became his wife. He and Cheryl ran the Bartlett farm stand and rented land until 1976 when they purchased additional acreage. They grew only veggies until customers requested flowers. Tom Halat, own Tom was one of the featured growers interviewed by Vic Ball in GrowerTalks’ debut of “Under an Acre” in November 1985. At that time, Tom’s Vegetable Market was known for its sweet corn and, 50 years later, Tom’s Farm Market and Greenhouses continues to claim sweet corn as one of its most popular draws. Tom has a 240-acre farm in Huntley, Illinois, 55 miles northwest of Chicago and 25 miles from the Bartlett farm stand. The Huntley location includes the retail areas and the greenhouses. “In 1976, there was no development [in the area]; there were 750 people and no towns within 10 miles and farms all around. The development boom came and now my farm is surrounded on four sides by houses. We are the hole in the doughnut—we say we’re the first farm west of Chicago,” Tom says. The Bartlett farm stand is open from mid-July to mid-October. “Bartlett is established. We sell more there than in the giant greenhouse [in Huntley],” Tom says. His daughters, Mary and Liz, work in various capacities in the business, as do their husbands. Tom’s son, Jeff, is a grain farmer. The greatest loss was felt by Cheryl’s passing three years ago. Tom says, “Cheryl was an integral part of the business. She seeded, transplanted and finished pots, and took care of the produce and greenhouse production. Her favorite things were retail and talking to people. She always had time to talk.” In 1970, the original production area was 3,000 sq. ft.; in 1980 it was expanded to 10,500 sq. ft.; and since 2004, the production space has been 80,000 sq. ft. The retail store, bakery, café, produce prep room and gift shop cover 17,000 sq. ft. The Huntley retail store is open April 1 to December 30. They host a month-long Fall Festival that one year included an elaborately-designed 7-acre corn maze featuring their dog Susie. Christmas is not as big of an event. Tom says sales are minimal. “The box stores are killing us in Northern Illinois. We’ll continue to do Christmas because the high-end gift shop does well with unique baby clothes, jewelry, watches, seasonal earrings and ornaments, but we delete something once the box stores sell it,” he adds. “We once thought that we were unique as a family-owned farm market with produce and more, but it’s not true. We conceded about three years ago that box stores do hurt us. Prior to that, we were immune. We’re fortunate with the bakery, café and gift shop sales increasing, which don’t make up for the loss of garden center [sales], but helps with the overall picture,” says Tom. Huntley’s residents number around 22,000. “We draw from less than a 10-mile area for the garden center season. There is so much competition—we’re not a destination,” says Tom. There are nine full-time year-round employees, five of whom are family members; there are eight full-time seasonal employees and 40 seasonal part-time employees. Tom’s business breakdown is 95% retail and 5% wholesale. He grows annuals for a number of landscapers and school fundraisers. “We grow asparagus to zucchini, but we don’t grow everything. We don’t grow root crops. We buy in the shrubs, grow all the annuals by seeds or propagation, and buy in 2/3 of the perennials,” Tom says. He goes to Chicago twice a week to buy fruit like Michigan apples and peaches, and California grapes, cherries and nectarines. Tom grows 3 acres of strawberries that they harvest and sell and, of course, the sweet corn. “We stopped selling trees about four years ago. No one was buying them due to the box stores selling them. Container shrubs, flowering shrubs and hanging baskets are what we sell,” says Tom. Tom’s money-saving ideas: How the business has changed from 1985:Some things never change: “In 1970, the only plant in 4½-in. pots was 1,000 geraniums. Today we sell 60,000 4½-in. annuals like Proven Winners, but the consistent seller is still geraniums.” GT Pam Buddy-D’Ambrosio is a freelance writer in New Rochelle, New York. |
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Here's April's Under an Acre with Tom York:
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Once he retired from shipbuilding in 1994, Tom’s life-long hobby of growing rhododendrons became a full-time job. Since he was accustomed to finding ways to improve ship production, the challenge to grow rhododendrons that aren’t suitable for Maine’s climate was just another test of his problem-solving skills. Tom researched rhododendrons and learned about the varieties that weren’t adaptable to that area of the country. “Historically, they are rare in Maine,” Tom says, “There are two or three common varieties, the lavender and the pink.” Tom started with the variety that he knew would grow, English Roseum. Next were the Catawba Album and Boule de Neige (one of his favorites), common to the Boston area. Then it was the West Coast’s turn when Tom tried the yellow-flowered Goldkrone. “It wasn’t hardy, but I bought three and tried them. I covered them in the fall for years, then stopped covering them and one has lasted 15 to 20 years,” he says. While Tom is finding success with rhododendrons that are considered not hardy enough for Maine, he doesn’t want to infer that it’s like growing them in North Carolina. In the time that it takes to grow a rhododendron—10 ft. in North Carolina—the same plant in Maine will be only 5 ft., but that hasn’t stopped him from growing 150 varieties, plus 12 to 15 varieties of magnolias and 20 varieties of azaleas. The Maine coast with its phalanges-like coves, inlets and peninsulas has a “rocky, boney soil,” says Tom. The soil in Bath where York’s Hardy Rhododendrons is located is heavy clay, which is not favorable for growing rhododendrons. “We raise the plants and amend with gravel and sand,” he says. The summers are cool with foggy days and nights. During the winter, the coastal temperature stays a bit warmer than inland. “The influence of the ocean keeps it mild,” says Tom. Snow cover is beneficial for the plants. “When it is -25 degrees, two inches of snow can protect the plants, although every five to 10 years a tough winter damages them, but doesn’t kill them,” he adds. Tom and his wife, Beth, have 10 acres of flat land where they have their home. Three acres are used for the business and growing areas. Tom propagates by seeds and cuttings, and buys rooted cuttings. “We do grow in the ground, but more than half are grown in containers,” says Tom. The plants are stored under plastic in 10,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse space from mid-November to May 1. Tom says, “There is no heat in the greenhouses. We use plastic to protect the plants from wind and sun damage.” He adds, “The winter sun is too harsh, with the plant dormant and the ground frozen; once the winter sun beats on it there is no way for it to pick up moisture.” The retail business is open from April to November 1, although Tom and Beth work year-round. They are there for people who want to talk about their garden plans, check out the inventory, look at pictures, and commiserate about the long winter. What were once hobby and personal gardens are used now for trials and displays for the customers who come not only from Maine, but Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Tom says 65% of their customers are females, 50+. Retail sales make up 80% of the business; garden centers and landscapers are wholesale customers. Retail prices range from $15 to $100 with sizes from 6-8 in. to 5 ft. Tom says, “The price is not based on size; some varieties don’t grow big. One plant can be 12 in. at five years and another can be 3 ft.” In 1994 when he started out, Tom says, “We advertised and got our customers through word of mouth. People thought it was unique to be growing and selling rhododendrons in Maine and not importing them from Connecticut or the West Coast.” The business was small in the beginning; there was not enough inventory. But after a few years, Tom knew how much to plant and grow. “It’s a long cycle to grow a rhododendron. It takes three years to be large enough to sell,” he says. “Our business is unique,” Tom says. “We try to grow something that isn’t available in box stores. There are plants that they don’t carry—it’s too difficult or expensive for them to grow. Big boxes have pretty standard variety,” he adds. There are times when Tom’s customers ask for varieties he doesn’t grow. “That particular variety wouldn’t do well if they’re putting it somewhere that’s not suitable. If a rhododendron dies, most people say it’s due to cold weather, but nine times out of 10, it’s something else,” he says. A few nurseries in the area have tried to grow what Tom grows. “I have low overhead and for others, there is too much time involved,” he says. Plus, you have to love what you’re doing. Tom’s fondness for the rhododendron is evident. “It’s the overall appearance of the flowers and foliage. There’s nothing like it. It attracts wildlife, birds and rabbits. The plant itself is a great plant, but there is a history, too,” says Tom. “In the past, there were a few wild rhododendrons in Maine; others came from China and the Himalayas. Plant explorers would be gone two to three years in the Far East. The communication between hybridizers in the mid-Atlantic area is quite interesting; they would correspond and cross-pollinate and share their plants,” he adds. “About eight years ago,” Tom says, “a couple in their late 80s came to Maine on vacation. They saw many plants from their younger days, including Molly Fordham that one of their friends had developed. They had never seen it flower.” Tom’s tips for other growers:
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
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Jack and his wife, Maurine, own Red Buffalo Nursery in Hebron, Illinois, a small village six miles from the Wisconsin border. With an entrepreneur for a father, Jack was destined to strike out on his own and leave a computer-programming job behind. In the early 1990s, he volunteered to restore savannas and prairies in the Chicago area. A stewardship at a grove and marsh conservation area led to graduate work in geology and environmental studies and a volunteer position on a natural areas restoration project. In 2000, Jack started Red Buffalo Nursery—part-time for five years and full-time since 2005. The name of the business came from a friend who read PrairyErth (A Deep Map): An Epic History of the Tallgrass Prairie Country by William Least Heat-Moon. “Red buffalo” is a Native American term used for prairie fires due to the noise and color. Jack and Maurine purchased 20 acres on which they have their home and the nursery. They restored 18 acres and use it as a seed source for the nursery. A remnant sedge meadow occupies a portion of the property. There are 5,000 sq. ft. under cover. Jack says, “We grow grasses, sedges, flowering plants, some shrubs and very few trees; 90% of what we sell we grow from seed.” From their property, Jack gets wetland seeds from plants such as the cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, buttonbush, elderberry and bulrush; and prairie seeds from little and big bluestem grass, compass plant and gray-headed coneflower. The surplus seed is sold through Prairie Moon Nursery in Winona, Minnesota. The woodland seeds for Red Buffalo Nursery are supplied by local growers and bare root stock is purchased from growers in Wisconsin. The area, for Jack, is broken down by ecosystems rather than by hardiness zones: “fen versus bog; closest to Lake Michigan versus farther inland. We consider the soil and the proximity to the lake more than we talk about zone,” he says. There are fewer than five employees, but during the growing season they add one more person to the staff. Jack’s wife helps out with sales at the nursery and at farmers markets where they bring 20-25 species out of the 300 they grow. Jack says, “Generally, Maurine helps with guidance when I’m smart enough to ask for it and sometimes when I’m not.” On the weekends in spring and fall, customers can come unannounced to the nursery; at other times, Jack sees people by appointment. They sell wholesale and retail. Most of the customers, an equal mix of female to male, come from neighboring counties, southeast Wisconsin and Chicago, a 90-minute drive. Jack says, “People make special trips to come here, we’re not on a main road.” He says he sees “a wide gamut of customers: young people with their parents because they’re studying natural areas and restoration, or older people dragging kids with them.” The nursery has a website and Jack has done general advertising, but feels that it doesn’t entice the people he needs to attract. He advertises through the Wild Ones, a non-profit native landscaping organization of which he is a member. Most advertisement for the nursery comes by word of mouth or by being at a site. Jack says, “When we’re out working at public parks, people see us and ask questions or say ‘come to my house.’ We do like to be out in the public to educate people.” Two-thirds of the nursery’s business is the restoration of natural areas. “Our business deals more with natural areas and trying to figure out how to take the next step in restoring them,” Jack says. One of his favorite projects for its progression is Ryders Woods in Woodstock, Illinois. “It’s an oak savanna with a lot of buckthorn, honeysuckle and aggressive native species; we cleared it up and it has progressed nicely,” he says. In a year, Jack has six to 12 restoration projects in parks and on private properties, along with the ongoing maintenance of previous projects. He says of the restoration work—90% is government or non-profit-related. “The bible in our area is Plants of the Chicago Region by Swink & Wilhelm,” says Jack. A few of his favorite plants are Jacob’s ladder, trillium and trout lily, of which “a colony around a park bench looks like a society of ancient Druids. When I started with restoration in the mid-80s, I enjoyed being out with people and in the sun, but on hikes, there were so many different plants, how would I learn all of them? After 18 months I knew some plants. Now I know 2-3 dozen plants,” he says with a laugh. “This is a lot more interesting than computer programming,” says Jack. “Sitting at the computer terminal in a big office building, I had little interaction with people and was more isolated than I feel out in the prairie studying or herbiciding invasive species—you notice more isolation in a building full of people.” Jack’s tips for native growers: • Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Douglas W. Tallamy—“It’s an excellent intro into how native plants support insects and wildlife versus non-natives that do that to a much lesser extent.” Pam Buddy-D’Ambrosio is a freelance writer in New Rochelle, New York. Woodstock Farmers Market shot this video of Jack: |
Welcome!
Since June 2010, I've had the privilege to interview nursery growers in North America for Grower Talks magazine. My monthly article, Under an Acre, features wholesale and retail growers.
For the January 2012 issue of Grower Talks, I had the pleasure of visiting with Andrew Brodtman from Twombly Nursery in Monroe, Connecticut. Andrew is on the right and Barry is on the left in this photo.
For the January 2012 issue of Grower Talks, I had the pleasure of visiting with Andrew Brodtman from Twombly Nursery in Monroe, Connecticut. Andrew is on the right and Barry is on the left in this photo.
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Twombly Nursery began as a tree service business in the late 1960s. It developed into a nursery where Andrew worked upon completion of his Landscape Architecture degree. He did landscape design and installation for more than 10 years before he and Barry, another employee, bought the business in the mid-2000s. They own 3.5 acres, lease the rest of the property, and are looking into leasing additional land. The retail area, administrative offices and four-season garden cover 4 acres, while the outdoor-only growing area is on 3 acres. Hoop houses protect the broad-leafed evergreens and other delicate plants from winter wind damage. Andrew and Barry grow Spirea, Japanese maples and dwarf conifers. They grow and sell specimens of larger sizes, such as 20- to 30-ft. trees. They harvest trees at a 4-in. caliper or above. Andrew says, “It’s too easy to find 2-in. caliper trees, so it doesn’t make sense for us to grow them.” He says nurseries in the area don’t do mature trees due to lack of buyers, proper equipment or land. They buy in bareroot stock and can sell 200 Miss Kim lilacs during a season—good for the gardener who is unwilling to feed the teeming deer population in Connecticut. Andrew and Barry grow herbs and some vegetables for the hobbyists and impulse buyers. They’ve introduced a rare Twombly Red Sentinel. It’s a red leaf Japanese maple that grows 18 ft. high and 8 ft. wide, with an upright habit, and is good for smaller gardens. If they can’t find a particular specimen or they’re selling 100 to 200 of a specific plant, they’ll grow them. Andrew takes two weeks per year, one in the summer and one in the winter, to tag. “Is that a vacation?” he asks. Barry travels, also, to Oregon, Ohio and the southern states to tag material. “Seventy percent of the things that come in, we see first,” says Andrew. Oregon is a destination because, “what takes five years to grow there, takes seven years to grow in the Northeast,” says Andrew. They choose wisely, looking for the best material, the rarest and the most unusual that their customers can’t get anywhere else. Andrew and Barry are careful about what they choose for their location. “We can’t do Zones 7 or 8; we used to be Zone 6A, but after the last few winters we’re 5B,”says Andrew. “We never close,” says Andrew, but they do shut down for the winter, which gives Andrew and Barry time to make repairs on the equipment, paint, review past jobs, and place spring orders. “There’s always work to do,” he adds. The staff shifts in size from 20 to 25 during the busy season, down to five or six in the winter. Some of the employees have accrued dozens of years at the nursery—longevity is good for business as customers ask for the employees by name and will stand for no substitutions. “What we can’t do financially for our people, we do by treating them like they’re family; and as long as we’re able, we’ll contribute to their health insurance and 401(k)s,” says Andrew. Designers come from Manhattan, Greenwich, Connecticut and Massachusetts for the material they can’t find anywhere else. Andrew and Barry offer masonry services, work on others’ landscape designs, plus implement their own creations—about 50 a year. A very diverse clientele, says Andrew, can buy hundreds of plants, one plant or 10 evergreens. The landscape designer or gardener who wants a cherry tree with a serpentine trunk, an 18-ft. holly or plantings for rooftop gardens and courtyards in Manhattan knows to come to Twombly Nursery. The retail customer base is more female than male, says Andrew. Every week, two women walk the nursery, sometimes they buy, and sometimes they don’t. Andrew calls them the “Thursday Ladies.” Andrew and Barry take care not only of their neighbors, but the wildlife, too. A customer can’t have that Paper Bark Maple he purchased until the nested birds leave for another location. Money-saving ideas and tips for other growers:
Pam Buddy-D’Ambrosio is a freelance writer in New Rochelle, New York. |
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