Travel & Tourism Nomination
Ricky and Lucy’s Country Greenhouse was recently nominated for the Nebraska Travel and Tourism Award for Outstanding Nature Tourism Entity by the Cheyenne County Visitor Center. Ricky and Lucy’s Country Greenhouse began as a small, private greenhouse located seven miles northeast of Sidney, NE.
Teri and Dan Wolff initially wanted a small greenhouse to grow plants and vegetables for themselves and their families, but their passion for plants soon grew into much more. We began renovating old barns and buildings, turning them into spaces for growing house plants, perennials, annuals, and vegetables. The now 20+ gardens went in piece by piece, hand planted by us. Soon the landscape was transformed from the dry, desolate pastures common to western Nebraska to a lush oasis. The doors opened to the public in 2003 and in the last 5 years the business has grown into much more than a retail greenhouse.
The products that are sold here range from our organic line of dried herbs and spices, most of which we grow ourselves, to fruit trees to natural and organic cleaning products. In the past, we have hosted informative and enjoyable garden tours as well as giving therapeutic and educational tours to people undergoing drug rehabilitation. Last Mother’s Day we had a promotion where parents brought their children out to pick out three small annuals, which we helped them plant all together in a larger pot. After the planting the children made a card for mom. In addition to offering the public quality goods and services, we have been educating our customers on the importance of water conservation and on how installing a drip system can result in less water usage and healthier plants. We also stress the benefits of organic gardening and offer advice and products to help our customers go organic themselves.
Recently, we have been working with the Nebraska Dept. of Travel & Tourism and the Cheyenne County Visitors Committee on ways to make our greenhouse a magnet attraction to draw people to the area. Our future plans include diversifying quite a bit, as we plan to hold Relax and Renewal Retreats. These will include live music, all-organic meals, massages, and speakers on a wide range of topics, from organic gardening and cooking to naturopathic healing. In addition, and depending on the time of year, we will be offering an assortment of workshops such as harvesting, blending and drying herbs or organic gardening. Hopefully by spring we will have developed package tours highlighting tours and/or classes at the Greenhouse. All our information is mailed in tourism packets and featured at the Visitors Center in Sidney for people paying a visit to our area. The Tourism Director has informed us that adding this attraction to the list of “Things to do in Sidney/Cheyenne County” has really helped to not only bring more people to the community but it has encouraged people to stay longer because there are fun and educational nature tourism attractions. She said that many people who stop in her office are eager to visit when they are told about our Greenhouse. We have tried to hit every avenue of Nature Tourism that we can possibly find not only for our benefit but for the enjoyment and betterment of our customers.
We have also added an e-commerce website, www.rickyandlucysgreenhouse.com, to our business. The online store offers a wide range of products including our herbs and spices, organic fertilizers, candles, bulbs, essential oils, and rooted cuttings. We are also currently in the process of developing our own line of organic bath and body products to add to the site. In addition to shopping online, our customers can browse a vast collection of information. Available are herbal culinary and medicinal uses for our herb and spice blends, articles written by a local naturopath and much more. On site, customers can sign up for our free e-newsletter, which is sent directly to their inbox at the beginning of each month. The newsletter contains information on new products, upcoming sales, gardening tips, and coupons. It also includes a description and recipe for our “Herb of the Month”. Customers can join the Herb of the Month Club for no fee and each month a new herb and spice blend is made available at 10% off the original price and a delicious recipe is included with the purchase.
In the next few years we hope to turn our business into a place that draws in people from all over who want to learn, enjoy themselves, and seek peace in the beauty of our gardens. While we will also remain in the retail industry, we hope our love of nature and educating the public will guide us in this metamorphosis from retail garden center to ecotourism attraction.
Ricky and Lucy’s Country Greenhouse is located at 11732 Road 32 just outside of Sidney, Nebraska. We are open seven days a week from 9-6 in the summer and 9-5 in the winter. For more information you may contact us at (308)254-2204 or visit our website at rickyandlucysgreenhouse.com.