News

New Hampshire greenhouse prepares for holidays

By Geoff Forester
The Concord Monitor
CONCORD, N.H. — The April fire that wiped out the greenhouses at Murray Farms in Penacook feels like it was just yesterday to David Murray.

“It’s been a long summer. It’s been a long stretch, but it’s been a good stretch,” Murray said.

Besides a few rusted heaters and boilers that were ruined in the fire, the greenhouses look the same as they always have during the holiday season with thousands of poinsettias, Christmas trees, wreaths and roping ready for sale.

The greenhouses will open seven days a week again starting Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Well, not exactly everything will be the same as it’s been for the past 45 years, Murray said.

“The only casualty we really had in the fire was the Dancing Santa Claus,” Murray said. “Unless we can find a new Dancing Santa Claus, we’re without him right now.”

Keeping the business going after the fire has been a constant effort for Murray. Just hours after the fire tore through the building that housed the business’s water pumps, boilers and generators on April 10, Murray scrambled to cover his spring crop to protect the plants from cold and frost.

In the days that followed, he got offers of help from friends, family and longtime customers and he was able to open on schedule with a full assortment of spring plants.

“The setback was beyond what one could imagine – family, including cousins and even cousins of cousins came to help – customers that have shopped with Murray Farm for decades came to pitch in to be sure we could still open on the first of May,” Murray said. “The help was incredible and more than ever conveyed what an amazing community we all share.”

Then the new customers started coming.

“Gardeners from all over New Hampshire and beyond came in this spring not having ever heard of us before, but having heard about us through the fire,” said Murray, who co-owns the farm with his nephew Scott. “They said, ‘you need our support more than anybody, so this year we are going to be buying our plants from you.’ It was pretty amazing to see how far people traveled from.”

He met people from the Seacoast, Mont Vernon and from the North Country, who traveled to shop there.

“People came from pretty large distances because they wanted to give us their support this year,” Murray said.

During the summer months, Murray put brand new roofs on all 25,000 square feet of greenhouses. He built a new end wall to one greenhouse that completely melted during the fire. He installed new heaters and piping to keep the greenhouses from freezing on cold days.

Amid all the work, he and his staff tenderly cared for the seedlings and plants for each upcoming season, including the 14,000 square feet of poinsettias about to go on sale.

“We’re looking forward to Christmas, moving forward, getting ready for next spring,” Murray said. “Everything seems to be going forward real well.”

Even though it looks like Christmas at the farm, the Easter lilies are already growing and so are some of the spring plants.

“It never stops,” Murray said. “The cycle of the season always has us planning or planting, our customers are what makes this profession rewarding. Thank you to everyone.”

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