25 Years: Family Owned, Family Grown

25 Years
This April will mark 25 years of "Cultivating Healthy Plants and Happy People." I can’t help but think of all the events that have taken place and the help we received from our family and friends. We have met many customers and employees who have come to depend on and think about daily. I also wonder what lies ahead for Candi, me, and our families. I’m glad for the milestones because they cause us to slow down for a time and think about and appreciate what we have and the people we are so dependent on.

Getting Started
This April will mark 25 years since Candi and I opened the greenhouse doors on my family farm near Marysville, OH! It doesn’t seem like we’ve been in business all that long but when I think about that being close to half my life and all my kids have ever known, it puts into perspective how this business has influenced and affected not only Candi and myself but also those of our children, nieces, nephews, family, and friends who have worked here and helped us over the years.

I’m asked all the time “What made you start the greenhouse?” I would like to say I had a grand plan and knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish and how I was going to go about accomplishing it, but I can’t. I’m one of those people who is always thinking of new things to try but most are never acted on. Somehow this idea stuck and I convinced Candi to buy into it. Soon we were looking at greenhouses and the next thing I knew there was a pile of steel lying in the pasture just waiting for me to put together. With the help of my dad, brother, and friends we had the greenhouse up and ready to plant flowers in by February.

I was raised on the farm, had a degree in agriculture, and worked in both field crops and horticulture. I knew a fair amount about plants but had absolutely no experience in a greenhouse! I read a lot of books, asked a lot of questions, and made a lot of mistakes during those first few years. It’s funny but after 25 years I’m still reading, asking questions, and making mistakes. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and walk through the greenhouse during those first years, knowing what I know now I would probably think that poor boy doesn’t have a chance.

Those first years were pretty lean! Fortunately, Candi was a nurse and would pick up extra hours during our slow times and I would watch the kids. In the spring she would cut back on nursing and work in the greenhouse planting and doing whatever needed to be done.

Growing On
One thing was obvious early on, we needed more space! Another thing was I had a lot to learn. I think of these as the growing years. It seemed like every couple of years we added more greenhouses, built more benches, and did our best to make things more efficient for us and more comfortable for our customers. We added on as we saw a need and could afford it.

I learned so much about how to grow quality plants. Each year I felt like we were able to refine our techniques and select better cultivars. It’s not that difficult to have flowers look nice in the greenhouse, we wanted to grow plants that our customers would succeed with when they took them home. We learned how to use beneficial insects to control problem bugs in our greenhouses. This allowed us to cut our insecticide use to a small fraction of what it was. Not only is this more environmentally friendly but it’s a safer place for us to work, our children to play, and our customers to shop.

Another thing growing was our kids! Fortunately, as we needed more help planting our children, nieces, and nephew were getting old enough to be very helpful. They made great pot fillers, planters, and plant movers. It was a great place to raise and teach them about hard work and responsibility. I’m sure they didn’t think so at the time but I think now they would admit they learned valuable lessons at the greenhouse.

These were exciting years. Our customer base was growing, we were adding on, and we were beginning to figure out how things needed to be done. I remember thinking after our 5th year we were finally established and everything was going to be ok.

The People
We love growing plants, and what really gets us REALLY excited is growing high-quality, healthy plants. It didn’t take us long in the beginning to realize with healthy plants, we needed people! We needed customers to come and purchase our plants and we needed people to help us plant, take care of, and sell the plants. Growing healthy plants has always been easy for us, but making people happy and feel good is something in nature we struggle with. Fortunately, this business naturally makes people happy! Let’s face it, shopping for groceries, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, or cold medicine is not something most people are excited to do. People come to look at flowers because they want to and they need to. Who can stay sad or upset when walking through lovely flowers? It’s so satisfying when someone comes to the greenhouse just because it makes them feel good.

Our customers hold a special place in our hearts. It’s an honor when someone chooses to come to our garden center, and it's humbling when they return year after year. As much as we enjoy growing plants, we find the greatest satisfaction when we see others enjoy what we’ve worked so hard to accomplish.
We’ve had many wonderful people work here over the years. Some were our children who didn’t have a choice, some worked for a year or two for the experience, and some have been with us for many seasons. We hope they all can look back and remember the joy of working with plants and all the wonderful customers.
We published our mission statement “Cultivating Healthy Plants and Happy People” a few years ago but it was in our hearts for many years before that.

Thankful for the Past, Hopeful for the Future
My great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents worked hard on this farm so the next generation could prosper. I’m sure in their day they were not able to imagine their horses and pitchforks would be replaced by large tractors and skid loaders; hand milking and threshing machines would be replaced by automatic milkers and self-propelled combines. They could not know what things would be like 50 years down the road or for that matter even tomorrow. I think despite all the hard work they did they believed and hoped there would be someone in the next generation to make their living and raise their family on the farm. 

Farmers have to hope and believe their work today will prosper down the road. When they planted the lifeless-looking seed in the soil they had to have faith it would sprout and yield enough grain to feed their livestock and sell at the elevator.
 
If they didn’t believe, they would never have planted it.

I’ve been privileged to live, work, and raise my family on this land my great-grandparents bought nearly 100 years ago. Today I feel I owe the past generations a great debt for what they did for me. The only way I can see to repay that debt is to set an example and work hard for future generations. They worked hard to lay the foundation so the next generation could make their living here. As I am getting older, I have seen that same desire within me to pass this land down to the next generation to live, work, and raise their families. My heart's desire is for them to learn the same lessons I have about hard work, faith, hope, and love of family.

-Keith & Candi Scheiderer