Growth for Terra Cottage

Sep. 22—For those enthusiastic about plants, taking a trip to Terra Cottage Nursery Farm in Clinton is a destination to consider with how much it's evolved since current owner Raymond Bray took it over and began restoring it last year.

Bray purchased the Terra Cottage property last year from a longtime associate he knew that was selling it. That was in May of 2022 and since then he has been transforming the nursery into what it's become now.

"People call me crazy, but I started this on May 23," Bray said to The Sampson Independent back in December. "Like I often say, most people didn't even know that this was even back here. So basically all this so far has been since May. We did all the infrastructure drainage, roads, clearing, thinning trees, everything, and then started working on the beds. We've been working each bed section, one by one, so it's been three months on those so far. We rebuilt the greenhouse and we got a lot of propagated inventory in there."

Even though it's been a little over a year since his purchase Bray has grown Terra Cottage a lot more since that article. To see just how much The Independent caught up with him again to find out what's new.

"Since we last met, we've refurbished all the azalea's and all of the rest of the inventory that was here," he said. "Everything's been itemized, organized and in their rightful places where they need to be. We've gotten into doing perennials as well as propagation and growing perennials. For this year, we're focusing more on listening to what our customers are seeking out for next season."

"We've had some inquiries about the fall plants like vegetables and other stuff to put in their gardens," he said. "We brought in some other structures and facilities here for our staff, as well as we've redone the greenhouse. We've got another greenhouse in project, so hopefully, we'll have that going by the turn of the year and with that, we'll be doing seasonal plants. So we'll be looking at doing Spring flowers, vegetables and those types of things."

That wasn't all of it, Bray also mentioned that they are looking ahead to doing winter stock. He also mentioned that they are hoping to open up Terra Cottage other sellers by supporting vendors.

"When that transitions out we'll be doing Autumn type plants," he said. "For winter we're looking in the holiday seasons, with poinsettia and cacti, those types of things and then we'll do some tropical's as well. That's the next step and the next phase."

"We've got an area set up here too so hopefully we can get some things going in the springtime for local vendors," he said. "So doing small markets on weekends, that's one of our goals, is to have that set up. Other than that we've just been kind of tagging along and moving on things."

While all of those new addition are either upcoming or already completed that doesn't mean Terra Cottage is resting. Even now Bray is working on projects and he'd share what they're working on right now.

"Right now we're working on getting our propagation flats into one gallons and to grow out," he said. "We've done a lot of that too so we have a market for the springtime for our customers."

For those wondering about cost for purchasing product from Terra Cottage Bray said this.

"We see where a lot of people are looking at cost of plants in the economy and stuff and some things have been marketed up," he said. "We're very competitive with the markets and we do offer wholesale retail, of course. We're open to not just the public, but also contractors. We've had several come in already and we're working with people in that aspect."

Naturally as Terra Cottage continues to grow so to will Bray's workforce. That said, he did mentioned that not only are they hiring but they are always looking for new people. For interested parties that means in the future and even today, though Bray did want it known that this job isn't for the faint of heart.

"Oh, we're always looking for people to work," Bray said. "They'll see the sign when they come in or they'll call and fill out applications. I will say though, this is not an easy job. A lot of challenges we are resigned to is backbreaking work. We always tell people the plants don't float to you, you have to go to the plant. Our challenges are, a lot of time, is that it gets hot out here and the weather in general. If you have a nice pretty day like today, it's good, but if it's 95 with 105 index it can be killer. So you really got to be part of this environment, except it and then just work in it."

Needless to say Bray has Terra Cottage heading in the right direction but it wasn't smooth sailing to reach that point. He shared some of the obstacles he's had to face to get this far.

"It's never smooth sailing, there's always some effort involved no matter what you do," Bray said. "We're working on other projects and stuff but of course you have costs, you have time and you have to keep up with what you need to do. Why, because they, the plants, don't wait and we've got to keep up with those."

"Then you've got your general maintenance, so that takes up time," he said. "When you have the time though and you get everything going you get that little schedule when things slow down. When things do slow down, that's when you can really jump on some other projects."

Even with those challenges Bray isn't slowing down anytime soon and neither is Terra Cottage's growth. Need even more proof of that, Bray shared this tidbit in his closing remarks.

"We've also since consolidated both our businesses in Wilmington and relocated everything to here," Bray said, "so now we're stationed in one location. We've redone the upstairs of the barn to be our office, so we're always on site. All of our phone numbers are intact, and you can find us on different venues on the internet now. We're still presently working on the website, because that's a large scale project. But, so long as the day is pretty, you don't spend much time in office."

Want to see or know more about Bray and Terra Cottage, find them on 2730 Beulah Road in Clinton or by calling 910-260-2151.

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.