Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Trotter is the “and Greenhouse” in her family’s business, Trotter’s TNT Farms and Greenhouse, with selling flowers as her primary focus.
Highlighting a series of five female business owners in Adams County
By Sherry Larson
People’s Defender
Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Trotter is the “and Greenhouse” in her family’s business, Trotter’s TNT Farms and Greenhouse. She sells vegetables, plants, and flowers, with flowers as her primary focus. Vanessa says she started her business around the age of eight. She began raising small pumpkins and selling them in the fall. Things grew from there. Trotter credits her parents for loads of support. She also thanks the Health and Wellness Coalition for encouraging her with the business.
Trotter said that her business is family-based and operated. She works with her parents. Her younger brothers, ages seven and nine, will also sell produce this year. She thinks it’s crucial to have a local business based in Manchester. Trotter said many community members had promoted her. Manchester’s retired FFA teacher Alan Ward pointed her in the right direction. She considers Ward her boss, saying he gives her advice and serves as a mentor.
Trotter is trying to get more exposure to the greenhouse. She has a Facebook page and is thinking of joining other platforms to get her name out. Trotter said folks visit the greenhouse, but she hopes to attract more. She and Bill Wickerham have held an event on Mother’s Day at the greenhouse for the past couple of years. They will host the event again on May 8 from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. or until the food is gone. Wickerham gives free bratwurst and hamburgers from his food truck, while Trotter provides salad from the greenhouse and cupcakes for dessert.
Trotter is active in the FFA club and the Buckeye Farm Busters 4-H. She stated that Mrs. Minton of the FFA and Joy Bauman, her 4-H advisor, are significant influences. Trotter’s goal is to major in Business and work at the greenhouse. She hopes to make the greenhouse a sustainable full-time business.
When asked about the challenges she’s faced, Trotter replied, “The past few years’ shortages. Like this year, there was a soil shortage.”
Trotter is gearing up for the Adams County Farmer’s Market, which opens on May 7 and runs through September 24. She says the farmers are a great group of people who are happy to guide her.
She added, “I’ve had a lot of support from local people because I’m young. They like seeing that someone young is getting into agriculture.”
