Meet Laura and Jay
Jay and Laura met while earning degrees in Horticulture from The Pennsylvania State University. Laura graduated with a B.S. in December 1998 while Jay graduated with a M.S. in August of 2000. Jay also has a B.S. Biology ('95) from Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.
Laura has worked at Smith's Greenhouses, a garden center in Hazleton, PA. While studying at Penn State she served as a research assistant and was published for some of her work. Occasionally she would work weekends at American Astilbes with Dr. David Beattie and Jay. After graduation, she interned at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA and then served as a horticulturist and gardener at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, on the Fenway in Boston, MA. For the past 10 years, Laura has been employed with Penn State in the Office for Research Protections and is currently serving the role of Business Analyst for Penn State’s research compliance system. Additionally, she is the President and acting Manager of the North Atherton Farmers Market in State College and was a key player in the formation of the market.
After graduating from Wheaton, Jay spent one year working on a landscape crew and as a garden center employee in Marshfield, MA ('96) and then a baseball season as a groundskeeper with the Boston Red Sox ('97). While at Penn State he worked with Dr. Larry Kuhn's at Kuhn's Tree Farm in Centre Hall, PA as well as with Dr. David Beattie, owner of American Astilbes. After graduation, he worked at Blanchette Gardens, a perennial business and retailer in Carlisle, MA and then for a landscaping firm as an estate groundskeeper in Cohasset, MA. He has also worked on multiple farms in Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New Brunswick, Canada. Jay manages and runs the farm on a daily basis.
From February 2001 through January 2002, Laura and Jay moved to Boskoop, The Netherlands and completed a year long apprenticeship at Rijnbeek and Son, a Dutch perennial grower and exporter through the Stitching Uitwisseling (exchange program). Rijnbeek and Son is one of the largest European perennial exporters to the United States. While there, they worked in nearly every phase of the operation (export, propagation, root cuttings, plant washing, order preparation) and visited as many other nurseries and related facilities as possible.
Presently, Young American Growers, is in partnership with Creek Hill Nursery of Leola, PA to wholesale perennial plants across the United States and Canada. They supply goat meat to both family and restaurant clientelle in Centre County from their heard of Boer and Boer-cross meat goats. They also build Christmas wreaths for a developing customer list including both individual families and fund raising organizations.
