Why We Started Selling Plants in the First Place

People ask this regularly. Was there a business plan? A moment where you decided to pivot? The answer is no. It just happened.

Our family has farmed since 1890. Root vegetables, mostly. Some grains. Then row crops. We were good at it. Made a living. Raised kids.

The Greenhouse Addition

In the 1970s, my grandfather built a greenhouse. Not to sell plants. To extend the season for our own crops. To experiment. To have something to tinker with in winter.

He grew seedlings. More than we needed. Neighbors asked if they could buy extras. He said yes. No formal setup. Just cash transactions.

Word of Mouth

It snowballed. People bought from Grandpa and came back for the next crop. They told their friends. By the 1980s, we had people driving up from Salt Lake looking for specific varieties.

My father formalized it slightly. Built another greenhouse. Started keeping records. Still no marketing. No website. Just people who knew us.

When Farming Changed

Large-scale agriculture got bigger and more automated. Margins got tighter. Herbicides replaced hand labor. The farm that sustained us started struggling.

But the nursery thrived. People wanted plants. Local plants. Advice from someone who actually lived in Utah. Eventually, the math became clear: the nursery was our future, not a sideline.

Today, this is who we are. Not a farm that dabbles in plants. A nursery with farm roots. And that history shapes everything we do.

Read more family stories in our five generations piece.

Our Family Story