NEIGHBORnwork
Carrie Engel Valley View Far�s
By Amanda Cash Carrie Engel is the retail greenhouse manager of Valley View Farms in Hunt Valley, Maryland. She is also a member of GardenComm, the association for garden communicators; a writer for the Valley Times; and a recurring featured guest on the “Sunday Gardener” for WBALTV. She received the 2020 Professional Achievement Award from the Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Greenhouse Association (MNGLA). Tell us about you and your background. Where did you grow up? I grew up as the oldest of six kids in a very close-knit family. We moved around a lot when I was younger. We lived in Baltimore; Winter Park, FL; Bavaria, West Germany; and Tulsa, OK, before we settled in northern Baltimore County when I was 12. I attended Hereford High School. I had no early interest in horticulture. My passion was history and politics, until I got my first real job. I began work at Valley View Farms (VVF) while still in the 10th grade. I should say that it was horticulture that led me here, but it was the social atmosphere (boys and parties), making enough money to buy a car, and the fact that VVF was hiring when I turned 16. What made you interested in horticulture in the first place? Horticulture became important as I worked at Valley View. Punkey and Billy Foard spent hours with us, teaching us how to grow plants, everything you ever wanted to know about tomatoes, and how to provide good customer service. Smiling was important to Punkey; he would remind all of us that he was paying us to smile and work hard. I 8
WASHINGTON GARDENER
JULY 2021
married young, and began working full-time at age 19. Valley View Farms had opened a satellite location in northwest Baltimore. I worked springs there and learned about trees, shrubs, fertilizers, and other horticulture basics while working with wonderful, loyal customers. What is a typical day like for you? Many of our other managers, like me, have worked for decades at Valley View Farms. I typically get to the store at 6:30am to help open up before our employees arrive. Things changed a bit last year; our hours went from 7am–9pm to now 8am–7pm. I’ll walk through the greenhouse to see what orders we may need for the day. In the spring, our farm ships one to two trucks per day from Hydes, MD, to the store. Other growers from around the area ship several times a week to keep our plant offerings fresh and healthy. Other department managers do the same, according to their needs. We spend the day watering and maintaining our plants, assisting gardeners with choices, sharing information, and generally providing customers with the products and services they have come to expect. Tell us about some of your peers and predecessors whom you admire. My training in horticulture was led by the two original owners of Valley View Farms. Punkey and Billy loved to share their own knowledge and history with plants. Punkey attended college at Rutgers, Billy at Cornell. Both men had degrees in agriculture, specializing in vegetable crops. Being newly employed in the Plant Department meant attending about 40 hours of classes, complete with tests, to be able to answer most
of the questions we’d get asked by customers. Billy often invited me to his vegetable garden to take photos and show me the methods he was using to get fantastic fruit production. I was able to share the information with my co-workers. Others in the industry I’ve looked up to include Richard Simon of Bluemount Nursery; Martha Simon Pindale, an educator and professional gardener; Jim and Steve Hershfeld and Karen Sollett at Hillcrest Nursery; Susan Reimer, a writer at the Baltimore Sun; Marvin Miller, Chris Corwin, Jim Nau, and Anna Ball at Ball Seed; Kathy Miller and her family at Trail Nursery; and Vanessa Finney at MNLGA. My many co-workers over the years, including Peter Gilmore, John Miller, Jim Benner, Ken Ruhl, Tim McQuaid, Brian Brannan, Alan Thomson, Scott Carbone, Kathy Foard, and our store owner, Andy Foard, have allowed me continue learning and to put together learning opportunities for our customers. I also learned from many people at the University of Maryland Extension; Jon Traunfeld, Dave Clemens, Wanda MacLachlan, Stanton Gill, and Russell Balge. And, last, but not least, two of my dearest friends whom I met through my job, Jan Gannon and Martha Meehan, who have inspired me with their enthusiasm and passion for plants. Jan is the embodiment of Mother Earth. She is a true steward of nature and her surroundings. Martha and her husband, Hugh, created a niche bonsai business that has prospered for more than four decades. What is the most-fulfilling part of your profession? The most-fulfilling part of my profession is aiding customers in their quest to create beautiful, functional spaces for gardens. I’m not a designer, but am a person who knows and loves plants. Now in my 50th year in garden center retailing, it’s the connection with people that has mattered. Assisting a retirement community with their gardens, helping a young couple with their first vegetable garden, seeing Mr. Bill’s dahlias winning blue ribbons at the Maryland State Fair, or giving a talk to a neighborhood group about gardening have been the experiences that I’ve loved the most. Where do you see the horticultural industry in the next 10 years? COVID-19 brought people and families together to garden. The exercise, fresh air, and lessons happened outside in the yard. Those connections will help our industry going forward. The need to unplug and play in the dirt has brought tremendous benefits
