LONDONDERRY, Vt. – Curt and Martha Cowles, owners of Glebe Mountain Gardens in Londonderry, shared recently that they were awarded the 2025 Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association’s (VNLA) Garden Center Retailer of the Year prize. As a certified Vermont horticulturist and 30-year member of VNLA, Curt was thrilled and proud to accept the prestigious award, his first from the association.
On Facebook, Curt and Martha wrote, “None of this would be possible without our loyal customers and our incredible garden center team. This is a wonderful way to start our 30th season.”
The post received more than 200 likes and 66 comments from loyal customers, clients, and friends who have considered Glebe their “go-to” garden center for decades. The knowledgeable, helpful, and professional staff there extend a full customer-service experience to visitors of the garden center – listening, answering questions, and making suggestions.
“The people part is really fun,” said Curt. “People come in and ask for advice…our customers are great. And people who come to the garden center are in a good mood. They come to look at plants and buy things for their house, and they leave in an even better mood. It is really cool.”
Glebe also works with clients on garden and landscaping design, patio construction, and installation.
It does make for an enjoyable stroll, meandering among Glebe’s huge selection of well-tended annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, herbs, and vegetables. The nursery also sells organic seeds and soil amendments, and there is a sweet gift shop on the property. The garden center occupies part of a lush, 29-acre parcel of land on Route 11 in Londonderry that Curt and Martha purchased in 1995. The following year, they opened the first iteration of Glebe Mountain Gardens.
The Cowles met while attending the University of New Hampshire (UNH), where Curt was earning his horticulture degree. Curt’s passion for growing and cultivating plants started with mowing his grandfather’s lawn and learning techniques such as layering, a low-stress method of plant propagation.
Curt said his parents bought a ski house at Magic Mountain in the 1970s, and that is where his love of Vermont started. In the 1980s, the family moved to the farmhouse where Curt and Martha still live, and where they raised their three children.
Emily, their oldest, “wanted nothing to do with the nursery,” Curt related. “Maggie, our middle daughter, worked in the garden center. And Sam, our youngest, works with me on the landscaping side of the business.”
In the beginning, Curt recalled, “When it was just me and my shovel, I remember coming home in tears.” When he finally was able to hire some employees and purchase equipment, the business started really taking off.
Glebe opened for the 2026 season on April 24, officially kicking off its 30th year in business. The nursery’s hours are 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., seven days per week.
According to Curt, “the garden center holds its own,” but it has been difficult to find skilled workers to support the landscaping side of things. Curt began to realize he needed to switch gears. “Now,” he announced, “we are expanding into the beer business.”
That new side hustle, Twisted Horn Brewery, opened a taproom inside the gift shop that offers tastings and sells four-packs of craft beer, and merchandise like hats and T-shirts.
The Cowles started the brewery in 2024 with Martha’s brother David and his wife, Jen, who had been brewing beer at home for 25 years in Massachusetts.
Twisted Horn Brewery is working on something new and exciting, as soon as the town approves an amendment to the town plan to designate the property as commercial rather than residential. That request will be presented to the Londonderry Selectboard, and once the proper permits are obtained, Curt said they plan to turn part of the garage into a seven-barrel brewing system to start brewing and serving beer on site. Vermont law states that establishments that serve alcohol must also sell food, and Curt is looking into bringing in a pizza oven.
The nursery and taproom are located at 3714 Route 11. Visit their website at www.glebemountaingardens.com or their Facebook page for more information, and stop by to congratulate the award-winning team and support a local business.