I am a 55 year old woman, mother of two natural born children, 2 stepchildren, and a foster daughter with disabilities. I was born in Massachusetts and now reside in New Hampshire with my husband ,my two sons and my foster daughter.. Our farm has 7 greenhouses that are heated and one cold frame. Did I start out to be a professional grower? Definitely NOT! My grandmother was a reknown horticulturist, amateur, but had her pictures of flowers published in magazines, addressed garden clubs constantly, and tried to interest me in the wonderful world of flowers...to no avail. In my youth, I thought flower gardening was nice, but not for me. Bright lights, modern pursuits, women's liberation, becoming an executive was my life's drive. Well I did pursue all of that, succeeded at most of it, and life handed me curves that changed what I did and what I wanted. The birth of my first son at age 36, changed what I thought I wanted for the rest of my life. I wanted homelife and roots, plus I wanted to raise my son not a daycare. Sooo, I tried this and that, and finally we had to chance to move back to New Hampshire where my husband originated and ernestly tried to raise vegetables and flowers and do the home Mom thing. Well, I definitely
did that too well, because we had more than we could eat,can or decorate with, so my husband put the extras down on a picnic table by the end of the driveway with a glass jar filled with a little change, and it sold out every day., I bought my first greenhouse with the money. Then my husbands health started to fail and he wanted to be able to work at home. More greenhouses, and more work that we could ever imagine.It is a very time intensive venture. We still grow vegetables as well, with a 96' greenhouse just for tomatoes.
Not a fairy tale ending yet, but we have the reputation of having beautiful, healthy plants and a selection of unusual things in addition to the same old. Now we are starting online mail order, to offset the small rural population where we live.
I love plants because you never know everything, each day there is something new to learn, conquer or cure. Sometimes there is a lot to learn, conquer or cure in one day!!
I started writing little articles for our local paper about gardening questions I hear over and over, called Sow What? , which became very popular. My theory is that gardening should be fun, taken with a sense of humor and sweat, and how to grow things is not a mystery.