Middle Ridge Gardens was established in 1990 by Tom and Sue Woodworth.  The adventures have been abundant along our 20 year trek so we thought we would give you an overview of who we are….

See our progress

1990 
In the summer of 1990 we built the barn.  On Thanksgiving Day; a cold, wet, miserable day, we started construction of the main greenhouse with the help of family and friends.  The last of the plastic roofs were snapped in place on New Year’s day and we were ready for our first season…. Well, almost ready.

1991 
Our first season was a tough one.  We had mud floors in the greenhouse- this made it tough to use the carts, no electricity and no automated watering.  We found out that we had a salt-water problem after we lost most of the crop.   We also had some people issues- we had no bathroom in the barn so bathroom trips became sort-of lengthy when you had to drive a couple of miles to the house to use the facilities.  To help sell our product, we utilized Outdoor Markets.  We had a 1954 truck that we called “Big Red.”  We would load up the plants and head to market on Saturday (Coit Road in Cleveland) and Sunday (Aurora Farms).

1992 
Our big improvements included installing city water-a water source that was not salty.  A bowside (more growing space), some concrete sidewalks in the main greenhouse, and a hanging basket watering system.  We also added a toilet to the barn, not a bathroom, just a toilet.  We started going to Middlefield flea market on Monday.  We also started going to Willoughby Farmer’s market on Saturday and Bloomfield Flea Market on Thursday.

1993 
Our retail business was starting to blossom and we needed to persuade  (Con, beg, borrow and plead) some friends and family members into helping.  Tom added lights to the greenhouse so that we could work all night- and there were several late nights spent pulling market loads.  Another bowside (more growing space), more concrete in the main greenhouse, and automated watering systems were added to the main greenhouse.  Part of the automated watering systems included two computer controlled watering booms.  Tom named them Tom1 and Tom 2 because they worked as hard as he did… although, when they broke down, their names changed to Kerry and Sue.  Oh yeah, we also added some drywall around that toilet!

1994 
We added two stand alone greenhouses, more watering systems, bought another truck (A little newer than Big  Red- this was a 1974 Ford that we called Orange & White.)  The Aurora Farms flea market closed down so we replaced it with three new Sunday markets:  Adesa in Akron, Andover Drive-In, and Four-Season’s in Youngstown.  We also particpated in the Unionville Around the Block Flea Market on Mother’s Day weekend for the first time.  We bought another truck, a 1980 Ford that we called Big Yellow)

1995
 Big Red died.  Two more stand alone greenhouses, more concrete and automated watering were added. 

1996 
Two more stand alone greenhouses, more concrete and automated watering were again added.  We finally broke down and bought a flat filler.  This saved oodles of back breaking labor hours. 

1997 
We finished some projects like adding lights to the bathroom. The main entrance of the greenhouse was re-arranged.  We added a driveway and a proper customer entrance.  We bought a new seeding machine, did some computer upgrades and bought a batch soil mixer for the flat filler.

1998 
This was a big year for the greenhouse.  We built a real sign, decorated the customer entrance, and started accepting credit cards.  Sue quit her off the farm job and the greenhouse started supporting two full-time people (Tom and Sue).  We started our perennial crop and started construction of seven more stand-alone greenhouses and a loading dock.  Business at the greenhouse was booming so we dropped the Adesa market but added the Shaker Square Market on Saturday.

1999 
We finished the seven houses started in 1998 and added sidewalks to tie everything together.  Automated watering was installed in the retail display area, a decorative fence was added to display our flowing pouches and we added a cashier’s area.  We hired some Amish girls to help at the greenhouse.  We stopped going to the Coit Road Market.  We also became very active in the North Union Farmer’s Markets.  Shaker Square replaced Coit Road.

2000 
This was a big year!  Kerry had twins in the middle of May-Yikes!  We established our official web site, MIDDLERIDGEGARDENS.COM (This site had the only known picture of Kerry pregnant!)  We ran out of space in the barn and had to add an addition.  We started construction of an office and kitchen in the barn. 

2001 
We have completed the office, kitchen, and painted the bathroom (finally).  Kerry joined us full time.   We dropped the Andover Flea Market and completed a commercial request for the City of Willoughby- all of the baskets displayed on the streetlights are ours.

2002 
Kerry had a surprise little bundle of Joy in November named Graci May.  We added a shade area between the stand alone houses in the back.  This did not increase our growing space, but it did allow for a better quality growing space.

2003 
We started growing the baskets for Madison Village with the help of the Madison Garden Club.  We expanded our perennial line to carry many of Sue and Kerry’s favorite varieties.  We increased our coverage of the North Union Farmer’s Markets by adding Parma and Lakewood.

2004 
Our product line started to change in 2003- most gardeners were moving toward container gardening and we embraced it by expanding our potted plants.  This lead to a bit of a “Situation” we did not decrease our other lines- Flats, baskets etc. and we tried to stuff 10 lbs of Potatoes into a 5 lb sack.  We also bought a little white box truck named “Sue’s Ride.”  This truck is great!!!  It has an automatic lift gate, a fantastic radio and AIR CONDITIONING! 

2005 
Once Sue learned she could stuff so many “Potatoes” into the greenhouse, she has been doing so ever since.  We also added a line of cut flowers to our summer market mix.  Lisianthus was a great hit with customers.

2006 
We used the 103 house, our staging barn, as a growing area and had to build a temporary perennial area.  We added three more cities to our commercial customer list. 

2007 
City water became a little pricey so we built a new barn to house a watering system.  The system allows us to use our ground water.  Kerry and Sue (under Tom’s direction- huh) did a lot of the work on the barn including setting the trusses and roofing the barn.  Tom thinks that if we decide not to farm anymore, we may have a future as laborers.  The girls decided that flowers are much nicer than hammers!

2008
We added potatoes to our summer market offering.  We grew red, white, blue and pink fingerlings!!!  We decided not to use potato beetle spay on them and had the kids walk through the patch twice a day to squish bugs with their fingers- who says we lead dull lives?! 

Over the years we have gone through many changes.  We continually try to improve the way we do business by offering new varieties and products and by improving the production facilities.   We would like to thank our Customers, friends and family for our success and their patients with our mishaps.  Many of you have watched us “grow-up” over the last 20 years and your loyalty is greatly appreciated.  So… happy planting, good growing and thanks again.

Your friends at Middle Ridge Gardens