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CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 12, 2022
HAPPY HOUR
Running a business means loving what you do.
Love it even more with a bank that gets it.
Geoff Parks/For the Capital Press
Darren and Jennifer Schad operate Godfrey Nursery near Aumsville, Ore.
GODFREY NURSERY
‘Every year is an adventure’
By GEOFF PARKS
For the Capital Press
Let’s connect.
bannerbank.com/business-solutions
AUMSVILLE, Ore. —
Jennifer and Darren Schad
took over Godfrey Nurs-
ery from Jennifer’s mother,
but like others in the agri-
culture business, they take
their marching orders from
Mother Nature.
“Every year is an adven-
ture,” Jennifer said of the
business they have shep-
herded
through
wild
weather, economic instabil-
ity and other “year-around
and non-stop” factors over
the past 27 years.
Thankfully, the cou-
ple easily match the fast
pace and labor-intensive
nature of their 14-acre retail
operation with their own
personalities.
Godfrey Nursery was a
small operation run by Jen-
nifer’s mother, Marlene —
now deceased — and father,
Pat Godfrey.
But it is now a strictly
retail operation — mainly
greenhouses growing and
propagating all manner of
annuals, perennials, veg-
etables, herbs, shrubs and
trees.
“We’re
open
year-
around, and this type of
business is weather-driven
and follows the seasons,”
Darren said. “We work
around Mother Nature.”
Jennifer said hurdles over
the past three years such as
the pandemic, area wild-
fires, an ice storm, a heat
wave, snow and, this year,
“the coldest, wettest spring
recorded” has tested their
abilities to adapt.
The wholesale side of
the business was dropped
because “we could not keep
up with growing enough for
ourselves,” Jennifer said.
Married 35 years, both
worked for other nurseries
before coming back to God-
frey Nursery to work for
Jennifer’s parents.
“And, family-like, we
just sort of built it up,” Dar-
ren said. “When they retired,
that’s when we took over the
business.”
“We’re very blessed
because word-of-mouth is
our biggest way of advertis-
ing,” Jennifer said. “We’re
the growers, so it’s not being
shipped or packaged, and we
can sell quality products at
an affordable price.”
The
couple
grows
90-95% of their products
on-site at the small piece
of land between the rural
communities of Shaw and
Aumsville. They have a
large tree selection ranging
from smaller varieties such
as dogwoods to larger shade
and flowering trees like
maples and evergreens.
Succulents, house plants
and some tropical plants like
palm trees also figure into
the mix of offerings.
“We grow around 20,000
to 25,000 hanging plants,”
Darren said. Two acres of
plants are under cover, he
added, and 2 acres of outside
growing area are set aside
for the shrub production.
About
10
full-time
employees keep things run-
ning smoothly at the nurs-
ery, which is open in the
spring and summer from
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and in the
winter from 9 to 4.
Some of the rules they
have set for themselves over
the years include listening to
their customers and keeping
their products affordable.
“I think you get out of it
what you put into it,” Dar-
ren said, to which Jennifer
added, “We don’t take days
off, we just don’t. We enjoy
it, but we adapt and we don’t
follow trends.”
She said their philoso-
phy is simple: “We’re truly
blessed with our customer
base, and we strive to better
ourselves every year.”