Our Story
Francis Groeters, PhD - Evolutionary Ecology
I grew up in the next town over from the nursery - in Marbletown, more specifically, the hamlet of Lomontville. Before starting Catskill Native Nursery I was an insect evolutionary ecologist in academia. I have degrees from Williams College (Biology BA), the University of Iowa (Zoology MS) and the University of California at Davis (Zoology PhD). I did research post-doctorals at the Australian National University, Research School of Biological Sciences in Canberra (5 years); the University of Hawaii, Department of Entomology (2 years); and the University of South Carolina, Department of Biological Sciences (2 years). Most of my research involved insects that feed on plants so I was always growing plants to feed my insects. Other than that I've had no formal horticultural training or experience. As an ecologist though I 've had a long interest in the flora of whatever place I happened to be living in at the time. As a child, nature was a hobby - I was mostly interested in birds and woody plants. So, I grew up learning Catskill Mountain plants. I know the California flora pretty well, Australian flora not as well as I'd like, Hawaiian flora a little bit (most of it is overrun with invasive exotics) and some southern Appalachian flora. We started building the nursery in 1997, opened for business in 1999.
Diane Greenberg
Green Witch Herbs & Garden Design was founded by my partner, Diane, in 2001, as a natural progression of growth in our nursery business. This allowed us to enhance our stock of native plants with a variety of garden favorites, including herbs, and take advantage of Diane’s ability and training to create very special gardens. Diane’s background includes studies in fine art, drawing, painting and architecture while living in New York City. She earned a BA in Art History from NYU, and has studied at Art Students’ League. Her practical experience in gardening began as an apprentice at Peconic River Herb Farm on Long Island. She has studied horticulture at The Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and herbalism in the Catskills. Diane has had a long-time passion for plants, even when it could only be satisfied by tending a roof garden in Brooklyn (it takes dedication to carry 50 lb. bags of compost up three flights of stairs). She considers her official title to be Professional Peasant. You may visit her (sometimes weedy) display gardens at the nursery and marvel at her vegetable garden that has learned to take care of itself, since Diane is mostly off designing other people’s gardens.
“No matter how few possessions you own or how little money you have, loving wildlife and nature will make you rich beyond measure.” - Paul Oxton
History of the Homestead
Our farmhouse and barns date back to 1820 and the land was continuously farmed up until the 1960's. Over our time here, various people have stopped by and told us stories about the previous occupants who lived in this house and worked the land. A few years ago, a Mr. Markle came by and gave us a photo of the farmhouse from about 1905. His ancestors lived here from the 1860's to the early 1900's. The ladies in front of the horseless carriage are Mrs. Willis Markle and her friend Mrs. Edna McDonald. Life looks a bit hardscrabble back then, but this photo represents to us the morphing of the old life that moved at the speed of horses into the new faster paced world of the automobile. Electricity took another 25 or so years to reach the farm, and indoor plumbing wasn't installed until the 1940's. For most of the 20th century, John and Janet Milk lived here and ran the place as a small dairy, orchard and chicken farm. Mr. Milk was a stone mason who built our charming brick well that works with a bucket and rope and is very handy when the power goes out. Obviously, there have been changes since the 1905 photo, but we feel a kinship with the people who have gone before us and also made their living from the land. We hope this land will continue to nurture us, our clients, and any future residents.
Scenes around the Nursery
