By LYN DESMARAIS
SUDBURY—Miller Hill Farm, Nursery, and Gardens is where Otter Creek and its marshland meet the Taconic Mountains. This is a farm dedicated to conservation, farming, preservation, and beauty. Carl Phelps and Nan Jenks-Jay have been running it for over 25 years.
Carl: “Nan has been an environmental educator all her career, including at Middlebury College. Therefore, an important part of what we do is education. We host and lead educational programming of all kinds. We have a series of bird walks lead by Sue Wetmore. Sue identifies and talks about the birds we’re seeing. At the end we’ll talk a little bit about how important plants are to the local fauna and why to include native plants in your landscape as well as ornamental plants to keep healthy populations of animals, especially birds. We also host gardening talks to groups and garden clubs. We’re still lining up our summer programs so watch our Facebook page for details.”
Nan: “We have a three-pronged approach to our work here: growing, selling, and educating. We grow our own plants right here and know them really well. They’re adapted for this area. What we can’t grow, we get from other Vermont growers. We are wholesale and retail sellers. We care about our customers and want to see them happy. We want our plants to thrive in your gardens. Carl has such a deep knowledge of plants which he generously shares with every customer. Our approach is different from other plant sellers, but it works for us.
We display the plants to enhance the natural beauty of this old farm – repurposing old buildings and incorporating the stone walls to enrich our customer’s experience. Woven altogether it becomes quite magical.
We love being part of this community. We love seeing our plants in local gardens. I’m all about ecological, environmental, and biodiversity issues and how they tie together. I’m fascinated by what one can do with one’s property to transform it for the benefit of the environment.
In addition to being an experienced and exquisite grower, Carl has a vivid imagination. He loves to make things beautiful. He brings joy and fun to everyday work here and adds it to everything we design. He is incredibly creative and encouraging.”
Carl: “Warren Kimble gave a talk years ago that sticks with me. He said, ‘If you think that something’s artistic or imaginative, and you like it, it doesn’t matter if anybody else likes it. Just do it.’ That got me thinking. Why do the same old kind of gardening every day when you can experiment and do different things? Actually, I think in every talk I’ve given since, I always bring up what Warren said. He is so inspiring. Don’t judge yourself. Don’t waste your time. Do something that makes you happy. I think that gardeners need to have more confidence in themselves; be daring, experiment.”
Nan and Carl together: “People are gardening differently. We are seeing a surge of young gardeners. Whether it’s an interest in pollinators, native plants, growing food, or raising wild edible plants, these gardeners are doing a lot of research about plants before buying them. It’s an exciting transformation in what was a pretty traditional industry. We love meeting them. Their energy is fantastic.
In addition to annual plants for containers, we’ve got some new ideas: bonsai, pollinator, and native containers. Bonsai is the art of growing miniature trees in containers. Carl has been experimenting for many years. Look for them while you are here. We’re also creating containers with pollinator plants and ones with natives, like ferns. Not everyone has the space for a native or pollinator plant garden, so here’s something you can have on a smaller scale that will have the same impact.
For our hanging baskets and containers, we mix colors and varieties of plants: fillers, spillers, and height. Look around what do you have you could use for containers? We use old ceramic pots, wooden containers, even stones. Choose something that drains well. Use good quality potting soil. We make our own mixture. Keep it as light and fluffy as possible. You don’t want your container soil to turn to mud when watered. Once planted use your container gardens to draw you from place to place. We might use a container with a 3-foot-tall plant at the end of a garden pathway to draw you there. We use subtle cool colors as you enter our shade house. A beautiful big planter on a giant marble stone pulls you around that corner. Containers can be used so creatively.”
Carl: “So what do I tell people who want to get into gardening? Do a little research. Find good people to talk to. Read good articles and books on gardening including Douglas Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope.”
