5 Minutes With … Emily Harvey
Emily Harvey is manager of Harvey’s Farm & Garden Center in Westborough, Massachusetts.
What do you love about your job?
Just about everything! I get to continue working hard on our farm, garden center and gift barn that has been in our family for many generations — and that is a gift that I don’t take for granted. I love the people I work with, from my fellow farm team members to our amazing customers. Both have become our friends and family. I get to work in the most beautiful cubicle, getting to experience all weather and all seasons in a place where people want to relax and escape the stress of the rest of the world. That’s what I love about what I get to do each day.
What keeps you up at night?
I sleep pretty soundly at night because what we do can be both physically and mentally grueling, but excitement and problem solving can keep me up especially during peak garden center season and harvest season. Sometimes I’m designing a new container with recent plant arrivals, merchandising a display or thinking about writing our next newsletter or social media post when I should be resting my brain and body.
If you weren’t in this profession, what would you be doing?
It’s hard to consider other professions as I get to use so many of my passions in this field, but I love the literary and visual arts, and that is what my educational background is in. Creative writing and visual arts are always where my heart is, helping others through art, cooking/catering, event planning, etc.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Spending time with family, exploring and learning with my daughter (she turned 4 in May), restoring our 1901 farmhouse with my husband, visiting museums and galleries, cooking with seasonal and locally sourced ingredients — which is a delight especially with our farm fruits — container gardening, flower arranging, etc.
What’s something that few people know about you?
I do not have a horticulture or business degree. I studied studio arts in college with a concentration in printmaking and minored in art history. I also love poetry and met my husband through a local writing conference (as high schoolers).
Favorite plant to grow? Why?
There are so many to choose from, but I am definitely a low-maintenance plant parent at home because so much of my day is tending to keeping plants alive. Cacti, succulents and air plants are my best friends at home and have the best chance of staying alive under my care. Some of my all-time favorite plants are lithops — living stones — because they’re just so strange and cool and different.
Videos
