NEIGHBORnetwork

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 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

to our society. The wild houseplant trend brought new folks to gardening as well. Plants are being adopted by a whole new generation of people whom we have strived to reach for years. Online sales will continue to grow, but so will the need to walk through a garden center or public garden for inspiration and pure joy. It’s up to us to keep our public linked to the gardening world and show them that our industry is here to help them live healthy, fulfilling lives outside of their workspaces.

Do you like to garden for yourself? If so, what plants are your favorites to grow? I enjoy gardening, but often kid around, saying that my garden will look better in the fall, because I just can’t get it all done during our busy spring seasons. Most of my gardening is done in containers, both inside and out. I grow a few vegetables, using Earthboxes. My front landscape is mostly shaded by larger oak and maple trees. Ferns, hosta, and hellebores grow among oakleaf hydrangeas, osmanthus, and plum yews. About eight square planters line the front of my walk, growing trial plants from the National Gardening Association and annuals from our store. I love begonias, especially the I’conias from Dummen, and Bounce impatiens. I planned the landscape early on to provide greens and berries for winter and holiday decorating. Friends and family join in an almost-annual wreathmaking party in early December.

What else do you like to do? I mentioned earlier that I have a large family. My five brothers and sisters and their spouses are near and dear to me, as are their children. We get together for birthdays, time at the beach, parties when my nieces or nephews are in town, and all sorts of other excuses to be together. My brother Charlie and I attend lots of Orioles games. I enjoy road trips to anywhere, camping, spending time with my Alaskan malamute, and visiting gardens from Tucson to Maine. I’ve been blessed to take “big” trips to Cape Town, South Africa; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Eastern Europe. In all cases, I was able to see beautiful, world-renowned gardens. I love spending time with my friends and family; lucky for me, they have homes in Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, and here in Baltimore County, the Eastern Shore, and central PA. That’s a lot of daytripping! Coastal Maine and the Canadian Maritimes are my favorite vacation destinations. I enjoy amateur photography, reading, playing bridge (thanks, Mom), puns, comedy, musicals, and just sitting and soaking in the scenery. Can you describe what winning the 2020 Professional Achievement Award from the Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Greenhouse Association felt like and what personal meaning it has for you? I was honored to receive the Professional Achievement Award. What a wonderful feeling it gave me! When I look at the previous recipients of the award, I am in awe. Carville Akehurst, Ken Ruhl, Richard Simon, and so many of the mostly men who have preceded me are giants in Maryland’s horticulture community. I had gone to school with George Mayo, who was at every important industry meeting I had attended in the last few decades. Richard Simon had been the administrator of the Certified Professional Horticulturist test I had taken years ago. I was speechless…not a common occurrence. My family and close friends, co-workers, and Larry Hemming, president of the association, all gathered in our store greenhouse where I gleefully accepted the reward. What a great holiday gift! The video that was put together for the event was especially moving. My sister Mary and MNLGA executive director Vanessa Finney joined forces in creating a beautiful tribute. Mary shared some of the words that many people had sent her. It was a humbling experience. I still haven’t thanked everyone for the award, but hope they all know how much it means to me. Another person who helped me out was John Collins. Back in 1993, WBAL TV had come to Valley View Farms to do a few segments about spring and plants. That morphed into a two to three times a week appearance on the NBC affiliate. John, a meteorologist at the station, suggested we do a longer segment about gardening, which became “The Sunday Gardener.” I still appear every week for a live Q&A about gardening, but now we shoot individual programs for airing every week. Soon, we were established as gardening experts in our region. Valley View Farms built on that and created and produced 30-second commercials for many of our vendors to describe their products to gardening consumers. The on-air people at WBAL, from Liz O’Neill and Tony Pann in the very beginning, through Marilyn Getas, Dina Napoli, Lisa Robinson, and Theo Hayes, have all been very supportive. Currently, Ava Marie and Tony Pann partner with me on the Sunday Gardener since John’s retirement. Dan Joerres and his management team at WBAL have also worked with us over the years, and Don Horner has helped us through his direction through most of our time. Through the years, I became Valley View Farms’ spokesperson, taking part in interviews on TV, radio, newspaper, and other media. I’m learning more about Zoom meetings, podcasts, YouTube, and lots of other ways to connect with people, especially as we navigate through COVID.

Is there anything else about yourself that you want our readers to know? I was lucky to be able to find a job at such a young age that has led to so many opportunities to meet people and make friends for life. Our industry has tremendous opportunities to grow and blossom in our workplaces. Most of my education and job growth has happened in Maryland and the ag industry. The MNLGA has several programs each year with tours and/or educational components. My favorite is Chesapeake Green, usually held in early February. The MANTS trade show, while not offering classes, is an education in and of itself as you walk down the aisles of this, one of America’s most-successful nursery shows. Vanessa Finney and her team deserve much of the credit for the success of both of these organizations. The University of Maryland works closely with MNLGA to provide many classes year-round to the industry. Maryland Master Gardeners are another offshoot of U of M Extension, educating gardeners in our area. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention The Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland. The people in this group are amazing, having lifetimes of experiences that are so needed by a younger generation. I love these people; they are an aging group and would do well to have an influx of younger people to carry on their traditions and work in our communities. GardenComm, formerly GWA, the Garden Writers Association, has also been important to my education. Thanks to the editor of this magazine, Kathy Jentz, our local region stays connected with one another for much-needed networking and communicating about our garden world. Cultivate ’21, an event from American Hort in Columbus, Ohio, is the one other event I try to attend annually, to check in with plant breeders, marketers, and other horticultural companies. A multi-track educational component is another excellent way to learn more. My contact information is: carrie@valleyviewfarms.com carrieengel@comcast.net https://facebook.com/carrie.engel.1 www.valleyviewfarms.com. o

Amanda Cash is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also interning at WBAL-TV11 in Baltimore, MD.