Published: June 16, 2008 08:15 am      

90 years of growth

SOUTH SHORE — Healthy roots are the secret to a long life in business, according to K.C. Hardin, whose family is celebrating 90 years of continuous growing operations at Hardin’s Greenhouse and Garden Center in South Shore.

“Grandpa was just a guy that had good vision — tremendous vision — and he was very successful for it,” Hardin, 69, said last week as he talked about the history of the family land and business along U.S. 23.

“I followed my dad and my uncles and my granddad. They all had a part to play in it, and my aunt! Granddad did 1,000 acres. It used to be a lot bigger than you can imagine now.”

The family business was founded by Hardin’s grandfather, W.F. Hardin, who came to Kentucky from the Carolinas through Pike County. “He had everything between here and the Ohio River,” Hardin said, pointing out the places where the business’s popular 31 Fescue grass variety was developed, as well as the fields where Hardin Honey Rock melons were once grown.

K.C. and his wife of 52 years, Pauline, are the third generation of Hardins to live in the brick house planted amongst the greenhouses. Strolling under a cherry tree, he recalls times when U.S. 23 was a dirt road running past the farm, and times when city folks would visit to tour the farm on hay-filled wagons before joining on the lawn for a fresh-cooked country meal. The farm operation was once the economic engine in the small community, with seven or eight tenant houses on the property and as many as 40 working as part of the Hardin family business.

The big push for the start of this year’s growing season is behind them now and Hardin is practically apologetic for what he considers a shortage of plants in the still abundantly blooming garden center. Reflecting on 90 years of operations, Hardin said he hopes people who believe they can start a small business and make it a success for their own families will take encouragement from their story.

“We’ve got to have the ‘mom and pop’ businesses. It is the foundation of the United States. I hope this sends a message to the next generation that they can be in business and stay in business,” he said, adding a cautionary note, “But let me say there’s good years and there’s lean years. You have to be disciplined, not afraid of work and you have to keep your head to the ground, but you can make it.”

As a grower, Hardin has watched the nature of his business evolve with the needs of their customers. Still known for the quality of vegetable plants, Hardin’s has also developed a reputation as the best place for customers from at least three states to buy their geraniums, or even Black Angus cattle. Regardless of the crop, the Hardins practice the application of vigilant attention to the individual needs of whatever they are growing.

“Plants are kind of like a young child. You start with the baby seed and nurture it through its growth until it is ready to sell. You’ve got to be right with it,” he said.

There may be another generation of the family at the business in years to come, although Hardin says he doesn’t want to pressure his son and daughter, Frank and Jennifer, into doing anything they don’t want to. If they do take the reins, he is confident their customers will be well served during their seasonal reunions in years to come.

“Changing the guard would be no problem at all. I think the Tri-State would be very blessed if that happened. I think they have the right personality for business,” he said.

For more information about the Hardin family business, call (606) 932-4238.