MEMBER PROFILE 



XXfter fifteen years as a dental 

 technician, Barbara O'Brien figured 

 out wfiat she wanted to do with her 

 life. Plants had been one con- 

 stant — she remembered growing 

 them when she was a child— she 

 decided to become a grower. 



She enrolled in the four-year 

 plant science program at UNH, but 

 while getting her degree, realized 

 "you really learn by doing " 



She began growing cut flowers 

 on the two acres she and her hus- 

 band own on Washington Road in 

 Rye. She grew a lot — of all kinds — 

 and harvested them and delivered 

 to local florists. She sold bou- 

 quets at the Farmers' Market in 

 Portsmouth, doing "very well: I usu- 

 ally sold out in a couple hours " 

 She expanded and leased land 

 from a neighbor 



In 1983, she found a glass 

 house — an 18x32 Lord and Bumham — 

 glass, crank-operated top vent — in 

 pieces on the ground in Bedford. 

 She bought what was there, figured 

 out what was missing, ordered the 

 needed parts, and, with the help of 

 her husband (a forest pathologist 

 for the US Forest Service — "people 



think our work connects, but it 

 doesn't really") and Charlie Nurn- 

 berger from New England Green- 

 house Construction, assembled it 

 in February, 1Q84, in time to pro- 

 duce a spring bedding plant crop 

 She added a 4x20 cold frame to 

 the back, then began expanding 

 down the slope. 



EVEN AFTER ten years in business, 

 Barbara still gets first-time custom- 

 ers telling her, "we always thought 

 it was a private greenhouse." One 

 reason for this is the contour of the 

 land Washington Road is built on 

 a ridge line — the land slopes 

 downward on either side — which is 

 why the homes are built so close 

 to the road. At Rye Ridge, you look 

 down from the road onto the glass 

 house, but see nothing behind it 

 But there's more. The business 



is on several levels Parking is at 

 street level. On the second level 

 are the glass house and shop, as 

 well as work and storage areas. 

 Display gardens alongside a 

 stonedust path descend a steep 

 slope to a third level (not level at 

 all, but a long gradual slope). A 

 8x100 cold frame (the next struc- 

 ture put up after the glass house) 

 runs parallel with the slope and 

 becomes an axis off of which 

 smaller units are placed. On the 

 left are three 22x48 hoop houses 

 and, between them, two cold 

 frames (14x48 and 17x48). Beyond 

 these are cut flower beds. On the 

 right, the main features are two 

 square display gardens. Display 

 benches (wood frame, wire tops) 

 are set up throughout all this 

 Some benches follow the line of 

 the axis; others are perpendicular 

 to it These geometric underpin- 

 nings give a sense of order to the 

 great variety of plants displayed. 

 The area is framed by woods. 



THIS SMALL intensely-used area 

 continues to evolve. This year 

 there's improved parking. There 



AUGUST /SEPTEMBER 



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