Amanda Murray made her way through row after row of annual violets and petunias and popular perennials like cannas – all of which pack a punch of color come summertime – giving each a good drink of water.
She stretched the yellow hose above her head to reach the hanging planters with mixtures of specialty flowers – always a hit around Mothers Day. Owner Dave Murray said the planters are like your grandmother’s goulash or chop suey – they have a little of this and a little of that to combine for the perfect concoction.
The plants have been growing inside the greenhouses at Murray Farms in Penacook since February and are ready for new homes. However, Murray doesn’t want to open too soon and have people bring plants home when it’s still too cold. Right now, they are getting the right amount of water and sunlight in the greenhouses.
“If people try to get them too early, the plants can become unhappy or even unhealthy,” Murray said. “Here in central New Hampshire, we can have some brutally cold weather that can just be devastating for plants that are bought in too early.”
In order to keep the plants happy, Murray Farms cools the greenhouses during the day and heats them at night to keep the temperature between 65 and 72 degrees.
“When the sun is out, it’s beautiful in here,” Murray said. “It feels almost like South Carolina or Florida in here right now.
Each spring the same frenzy begins – people are tired of winter and are eager to get outside and start gardening. Murray understands as well as anyone that gardening can become almost an obsession, but you still can’t rush planting season.
“Gardening is like any other passion or any other hobby,” Murray said. “When you get some results from your input of gardening, it’s impossible to give it up.”
Murray offers a tip to his customers – don’t put plants in the ground without protection until three to four days after the full moon closest to May 30. The moon will be full on May 15-16 this year, which means it should be safe to plant by May 19-20 by Murray’s calculation.
This year, Murray Farms plans to officially open for the season on Saturday, April 30.
“We spend all winter growing, then we say, ‘come and get it,’ and it’s all gone in four or five weeks,” Murray said. “It’s an incredibly busy time here.”
COVID was even busier at the greenhouses as people decided to put time and money into their home projects and garden beds.
“A lot of businesses suffered gravely during COVID,” Murray said. “For us, it was the opposite because people were traveling less they were out more in they said, ‘Well, if we’re going to be home, we’re going to do some gardening around the house’ and it proved out to be the strongest year.”
In 2020, the farm sold in four days the same amount of inventory it would normally sell in half of a spring season.
The year before COVID, Murray Farms suffered a fire in April that wrecked buildings and greenhouses. But like a tulip sprouting in the spring, the farm came back beautifully.
“It wasn’t a fun day. It wasn’t a fun week. It wasn’t a fun month. But I’ll tell you, as time goes on, you realize the things that don’t kill you only make you stronger,” Murray said. “You just keep going. That’s what you do.”
After the fire, Murray’s daughter Amanda came back to the farm after a 20-year hiatus. Murray is happy to have her help and her companionship at a business that thrives on serving families of gardeners.
“We have sometimes four generations of one family come here on an outing at the same time,” Murray said. “Gardeners come in all ages and in all shapes and sizes, and aptitudes and attitudes, and it’s a lot of fun.”