Today we’d like to introduce you to Debbie Fery.
Hi Debbie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We are started with a grow tent we bought on Facebook marketplace and thought what can we do with it!. We were not thinking about being a farmer’s market vendor until we saw what we could do with some lights, water and good soil and good seeds, we outfitted the tent, planted seeds and watched them grow. We added tents and grew more. We bought a trailer, some rolling racks, trays, visited other nurseries and learned. We signed up to a season of Saturday Markets and we were hooked. We grew to 2 markets and then 4. All this time we watched a corner store and saw the windows, the store front, and we got up the courage. We thought wouldn’t it be cool to have a store where we sold what we did at market and have it so close our home and nursery? We inquired. We were offered a lease on the spot. We signed the lease and our little Rudy’s Garden Shop was born with 400 square feet and great outdoor rack space we opened for business on November 15, 2025, then we ran out of space for people, so we expanded for more plant space and a classroom in May of 2026. We now have 900 square feet for plants and classes. We also are still at 2 farmer’s markets, and we have added 2 grow tents in the store. We also added commercial plant rental and maintenance and we even did a wedding with indoor plants this past June. Our shop online and pickup in store is almost ready now. Rudy is a Frenchie, he is 4. Rudy is the store greeter and has his own following of customer who come to see him. We then got Lucy, she is a Frenchie too, she is 2. Lucy is about decor and design. Both Rudy and Lucy are at the store.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Noooooo! We have taken some losses, took on some risk, tried different things to attract more customers, We have learned how to manage with ourselves and parttime help. We have had to adapt, change this up and down, we are always watching and learning. Relationships with our community are very important.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Mark and I have been plant people all our lives from family gardens, indoor plants, roses, you name it, we have together grown so many plants of different types. Mark was a commercial marijuana grower and hydroponic grower. I was married to a commercial farmer in the mid-Willamette valley specializing in corn, beans, and zucchini with a we-u pick of 2 acres of strawberries. Prior to Rudy’s Garden Shop, I was an information technology executive manager with the State of Oregon and Mark worked in the cabinet hardware business. I was also a substitute teacher and adult educator. Both Mark and I come from families that had businesses so we knew what it was like to have a small business and what is takes. We are most proud of taking on the challenge of the store and the markets and not being afraid to try, take a risk and work for it. We have great plants and classes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rudysgardenshop.com
- Instagram: rudysgardenshop
- Facebook: rudysgardenshop
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rudys-garden-salem
