Fairview Gardens

09/14/2021

Colonists convened at the Albany Congress of 1754 to discuss how to help the British improve their relationship with the Iroquois Confederation. More importa...

07/27/2015

Some of our Fairview friends may not know that our business and property are for sale. Check out the real estate listings on realtor.com and zillow - look under 8 Main St, Northfield, MA. If running a florist and garden center is not in the cards, the barn is well suited to other small business ideas or perhaps an artist studio. It is insulated, heated, with electric and hot water. There is also plenty of land in the back for business, parking or as a separate building lot. Check it out or tell your friends!

Find real estate listings, homes for sale, apartments, houses for rent, and property records, as well as school and neighborhood information on realtor.com(R).

04/30/2015

Short notice, but this Saturday and Sunday we'll have the first of our Clearance Sales. Saturday we'll be open from 10-4. And on Sunday from 2-5. Lots of great garden supplies and gifts have to go at 40% off. If you have a gift certificate with us, now is the time to use it. Cash and checks only -the credit card machine is long gone.

01/10/2015

Twenty five years ago this coming April, Mrs. Jones (Rua's mom) walked into the Shop (still in the early stages of construction) with two paks of pansies. Our very first customer. A few hours ago Kath and I took a trip to Marlow, NH to deliver our final arrangement to a funeral service being held there. In between, it's been quite a ride. Today does mark our final 'official' day of being open. We still have some really great stuff in the Shop that needs to get sold so we'll have a couple of weekend sales to accomplish that. Not firm on the dates yet, but I'll post it here and have ads in the newspaper. If you have gift certificates with us, the sale weekends will be a great time to use them. I would also like to assure the brides and grooms who have selected us to be a part of there wedding this year that we are indeed committed to doing so. No change there. I will contact you directly to confirm this. And despite the rumors out there, Kath and I are not closing Fairview Gardens because of bankruptcy, pending insider trading indictments, marital infidelity (that oughta get my Mom!), fore-knowledge of the collapse of the European Union, or because of a terminal health condition. All are false to the best of our knowledge (except maybe that EU rumor). No, an opportunity presented, and I said yes -almost that simple. Okay, enough of the housekeeping stuff. I really want this post to be about those two 'kids' in the photo and the wonderful 25 years we experienced owning and operating Fairview Gardens. There are so many friends that we have made over that time. We'e been there to celebrate your births, your birthdays, your anniversaries, your first communions, your 1000th point, your weddings. We've also been there to shed tears during those most difficult times. We've enjoyed youngsters visiting with the Pumpkin People who are now bringing in their kids to visit the Pumpkin People. And so many old and new friends each spring stopping by for that 'plant you sold me last year, remember? It has the yellow flowers and bloomed all summer'. Kath and I can't thank you enough for sharing your lives with us. Thank you so much for all your warm sentiments on this page. It means more than you can ever know. But Fairview Gardens was not just Kath and I. Fairview Gardens was also the many, many folks who worked with us. Their hard work, dedication, and smiling faces was truly what Fairview Gardens was all about. We are forever thankful to have had you as a part of our Family. And speaking of Family, Chris, Jeremy, and Emily, you grew up with 8:00 dinners in the spring, 'first gotta make this delivery before I bring you to the birthday party', dump runs, wedding weekends, and missed ball games, recitals, and outings. Thanks for putting up with the many eccentricities of a family business. And last but not least, thank you Mom and Dad. All those plants we grew and you folks bought the past 20 years, they planted -the quality started with them. And they are the Pumpkin People, because without them, they would not have existed. Your love and dedication, your hard work, and some cajoling, helped make us what we are.
I've agonized on how to end this post and l harken back to the final episode of MASH (which ran for 20 years - quite a feat for any TV show). In one of the final scenes, Sidney (an army psychiatrist who appeared in many episodes over the years), was bidding farewell to the members of the 4077th MASH unit just as the Korean War ceasefire was being signed. It is eloquent and succinct, and a perfect ending. Ready? Here goes..."Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice". Thanks for 25 great years.

01/07/2015

As many of you who follow the Fairview FB page may have seen in today's Recorder, the shop will close after 25 years of ownership by the Malsch family. Before my father gets on the page to post his appreciation and thanks for all the years, I wanted to post my own good bye.

I was one when we moved to town in the early spring of 1990. My brother, sister, and I all grew up around and in the business. We were lucky enough to live where my father worked, and although it made it so that he could never really get away from work come the end of the day, it also meant we had the opportunity to see as often as we could. I have never known a harder working man than my father, and through the years I've always seen him take great pride and passion in his work. Visible in the shop, and working countless hours behind the scenes was the equal dedication of my mother. The both of them built up a business that we are all extremely proud of and one which has always received great support from the community and has always sought to give that support back.

Fairview has also truly been a family business, from my parents, to my grand parents, and us kids, everyone always had a hand. Us kids were always fortunate to learn the value of hard work by helping out as best we could. But it goes beyond the Malsch family; those that have worked for us over the years are more than employees, they are a part of the Fairview family and I can't thank them enough for all their hard work.

Finally, to those of who who loyally came to buy your vegetables and annuals in the spring, your mums and pumpkins in the fall, a boxwood tree or two for the holidays, those who put in that last minute order for valentines day, who would come in asking for tomatoes in April, who came in seeking advice about perennials for their shade garden, or the right combo for your window boxes, to those who have had us as a part of their weddings, birthdays, anniversary's, and funerals, those who liked this page, and those who would just stop by to say hi, or gush with my father about Jim's corn; I just want to say thank you, you are all a part of us kids and who we are today. Thank you for 25 years of letting my father use his "garden touch". It will be a new adventure going forward, I for one will always fondly look back.

Thank you mom and dad for 25 great years, and good luck on the next chapter.

-Christopher Malsch

12/23/2014

Not that we're pointing fingers, but we might very well have been a victim of the 'cyber war' now playing out between the Obama team and the Kim Jong Un lackeys. Seems that when you called the Fairview Gardens phone number this morning, your call was being forwarded to a church in Baltimore, MD. Hmmmm, were we just a proportional response?!!! Anyway, we're back up and running (at least phone wise). And the Fairview team is hard at work creating those 'Garden Touch' centerpieces (as only we can) that will be enjoyed on holiday tables through the holiday season. And no, it's not too late to order for pick-up or delivery to that special someone. 413-498-2484

12/20/2014

Our take on roses in a vase for the holidays. Just love all the wonderful greens we have to work with!

12/06/2014

Last wedding of the 2014 season (unless there's a New Years Eve wedding out there in need of a florist!). Jill and Michael tied the knot this afternoon right here in Northfield. Her bouquet featured the transition from fall to the holiday using white stock and roses, burgundy hypericum berries, holly and podocarpus, and orange pincushion protea and ranunculus. An interesting blend, but the result came out great. Our best wishes to them.

11/29/2014

Our version of an advent wreath consisting of boxwood and berried juniper. Way back in our younger days a good many homes had either an advent wreath or advent Yule log (usually made from birch) gracing the dining room table. Not so much anymore, which is too bad. This wreath will be enjoyed throughout the holiday season, a way to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

11/26/2014

Despite the weather tomorrow, we'll be out on our appointed rounds delivering that 'Garden Touch' bouquet to that special someone in time for the Thanksgiving feast. It's not too late to order your bouquet to adorn the banquet table. Give us a call in the morning at 498-2484 and we'll take care of the rest. Thanksgiving never looked so good.

11/21/2014

A sneak peak of our 'Garden Touch' contribution to the Arts and Leisure Auction to be held tomorrow night at GCC starting at 6:30. The proceeds from the auction and reception go to the local United Way fund to be used for needs in Franklin County. This spectacular bouquet created in a rustic ceramic urn consists of pin cushion protea, green cymbidium orchids, 'High Society' roses (appropriate for the gathering), peach hypericum berry, tinted solidago, two different forms of seeded eucalyptus, and the piece-de-resistance...green artichokes. We hope you will bid high to enjoy this on your holiday table while supporting the United Way. And we hope you remember that it the small Mom and Pop businesses that always seem to be very generous with their donations to the local causes...it's nice when that support is reciprocated.

10/30/2014

An important quick reminder: the forecast for Saturday includes the chance for a bit of snow to mix in with the rain that we'll be sure to get. Not much likelihood for accumulation (but we bet this picture got your attention!). But of more importance is the low to mid 20's forecast for Monday morning. Our strong advice is to get all hoses, hose reels, and anything you use to water, drained and put away so that it doesn't freeze solid and do damage (we lost two expensive hose reel carts two years ago because we forgot to drain them. And don't forget to shut-off your outside sill-cocks -cause that repair when it freezes is even more expensive.