Farmer's market

Growing a business

My Mother's Garden: Two sisters find success in the business of organic herbs and flowers.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 7, 2003

WIMAUMA -- Down an easy-to-miss dirt driveway off County Road 579, on 90 acres their parents bought more than two decades ago, sisters Kathy Oliver and Susan Bishop are poised to expand the 11-year-old organic herb and flower business that's already grown to include five dozen varieties of edible plants.

The two greenhouses of My Mother's Garden will grow to four, and the owners are starting a 1.5-acre "demonstration garden" where figs, blueberries and grapes grow alongside salad greens and herbs.

"We want to show people how we grow things," Oliver said.

"Plus, we've just outgrown ourselves," Bishop adds. "We're always pushing plants around, trying to make room."

The main greenhouse is bursting with row upon row of rosemary, arugula, chicory, basil plants in seven varieties (from chocolate mint to lavender), and edible flowers such as marigolds and Nasturtium that range in color from pale yellow to a deep, brilliant mahogany.

My Mother's Garden has come a long way since that day 11 years ago when Bishop -- seeking a job that would allow her to stay home with her children -- bought soil and a few seed packets, intent on teaching herself how to grow an herb garden.

"I tell you, though, my customers have taught me the most," Bishop said. "They tell you about recipes, or what they grow."

Today, the majority of their business is wholesale, selling mostly to area nurseries and natural food stores such as Bearss Groves in north Tampa and Nature's Food Patch in Clearwater.

My Mother's Garden is certified by Florida Organic Growers and Consumers, a nonprofit organization based in Gainesville that links consumers with organic farmers.

An organic product is one raised, grown, stored, and processed without the use of synthetically-produced chemicals, growth hormones or growth regulators.

My Mother's Garden has nearly two dozen customers, eight of whom are regulars that buy in large quantities. The business also sells in smaller quantities on Saturdays, at the Farmer's Market in downtown Sarasota and at the Ruskin Farmer's Market.

The successful business was becoming too big for Bishop, whose husband teaches at Hillsborough Community College, to handle. So in June 2001, Oliver and her husband, Rick, moved from their home in the Bahamas to join My Mother's Garden. Since then, business has grown by about 50 percent, the sisters estimate .

They would not disclose annual sales, but 4-inch plants including basil, marjoram and rosemary sell for $1 each wholesale, with a minimum order of 24 plants. Salad greens and edible flowers measuring 4 inches each sell for the same.

Their work week averages about 40 hours, with Saturdays beginning at 3 a.m. so they can get to the farmers markets by 5 or 6 a.m. Rick Oliver is the office manager and president.

Today, the Olivers live on the family property, in a house that Susan's and Kathy's parents built in 1997. The Bishops live a few steps away in a historic 1886 house with a rustic, inviting porch and a backyard where clothes hang to dry.

"We call it our corporate headquarters," joked Oliver, who graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in forest resources and conservation.

And as if all those plants weren't enough to keep them busy, the Bishops and Olivers plan to buy some chickens, to raise and sell as free-range. They plan to grow citrus, too.

Oliver says her parents, now deceased, would have been proud. "Our parents were always really environmental-minded."

-- Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 661-2443 or svansickler@sptimes.com

WHERE: 3819 County Road 579 S, Wimauma

WHEN: Herbs and edible flowers are sold to the general public Saturdays at the Ruskin Farmer's Market, Shellpoint Road and First Street NW

PHONE: 642-0191, or e-mail mymothersgarden@ij.net