Meet The Team

Jonathan

The eldest son of Derek who established Smithy Farm Nurseries joined his father in 1983 and now runs the business with his brother Daniel, as the second generation of the Cooke family. A natural grower, he certainly has green fingers and is hands on in all aspects of the growing cycle. Through his passion for plants, knowledge, professional horticultural skills and immensely hard work, he has established with his family a successful independent garden nursery and garden centre, growing and supplying a wide variety of quality plants, including shrubs, perennials, and bedding plants. Jonathan ensures our nursery stock is grown to its highest possible standards. He loves the variety of his job and the results are evident in the lovely plants which he and the team grows. His main hobby is cycling and cycles into work daily.

Daniel

Joined the family business in 2000. He is highly experienced passionate commercial grower with excellent plant knowledge and horticultural skills, with an aim to produce only top quality plants here at Smithy Farm nurseries. Daniel’s role is very much a hands-on grower role, and he is responsible for growing our exceptional nursery stock, including our very popular poinsettias and summer hanging baskets. His role includes monitoring, spraying, feeding, irrigating and propagating. His attention to detail and presentation are second to none and just one of his many strong skill sets which maintain the high quality produce on sale here at Smithy Farm. In his spare time Daniel enjoys walking holidays, jet skiing, water skiing and getting out and about on his bike.

Tina

Hi, my name is Tina! As Jonathan’s wife, I have seen Smithy Farm grow as a business over many years. Originally my background was in fashion, interior design industry and teaching. A few years ago I became more involved in the business when I began to write the Facebook posts for Smithy Farm. Then, last year with the onset of Covid, I was rallied round to support our family business and offered to stand outside the entrance wiping trolleys and monitoring customer numbers. I officially joined the team in August 2020. I love writing posts for our Facebook page and now I work in the shop I get to meet customers face to face. I enjoy having a chat and hopefully I’m approachable and friendly. I take great pride in arranging the shop stock and you will always find me moving displays around. In my spare time, I love taking our two dogs for walks, cooking, releasing my artistic side by picking up an artists paintbrush every now and then and occasionally I’ll get my sewing machine out to rustle up an outfit.

Hilary

Hi, “My name is Hilary, I’ve worked at Smithy farm for a few years now and really enjoy my job.” – Hilary used to own a milk round and knows many local people during her time out on her deliveries. She now fills her time working weekends at Smithy Farm, you’ll find her selecting the “plant of the day” to pop on the counter. She has a mischief sense of humour, always enthusiastic and happy to help, she’s great with the customers. She loves her cruises, family time and likes flower arranging.

Derek

You might have seen him buzzing about the shop carrying in the eggs, but those of you who know him well and been coming in the shop for years know there’s far more to Derek than meets the eye. During the sixties, Derek first started Smithy Farm Nurseries. Originally, he commercially reared pigs for market and grew vegetables for the shop. He sold a variety of vegetables, cut flowers and a trays of home grown bedding plants. His natural ability in nurturing plants developed and Smithy Farm gradually moved into horticulture. Clearly not ready for retirement, he still plays an active role about the farm, from watering to growing seedlings. His love of livestock has never diminished though and here he is, pictured with his beloved hens. Picture taken curtesy of Eleanor Byrne.

Sue

Sue joined Smithy Farm five years ago. While her main responsibly is to order and oversee the shop stock levels, Sue also takes pride in keeping the shop organised and presented in immaculately clean condition, meaning Sue is an invaluable member of our staff. She enjoys working as part of a team and loves interacting and advising customers. Sue has an excellent product knowledge of working with garden sundries, stoneware, bird care and horticultural chemicals. Most importantly, Sue’s customer service is the focus of everything she does and she will ensure that when she is in the shop, you’ll always receive an exceptional level of service.Her role is very hands on, and you can be sure Sue will always get “stuck in” in anything that comes her way. In her spare time she loves walking and spending time with her family.

Gail

You’ll often see Gail behind the till, she’s of our longest serving members of staff, and always on hand to help. She excels in customer service and is tremendous behind the scenes, picking out, repotting and makes up our outdoor/ indoor planters. She’s very talented and has has a great knack for styling beautiful floral arrangements. Gail has multi job roles but seamlessly covers them all with efficiency and ease. She is an invaluable addition to the team.

Janet

A retired school teacher Janet has worked for Smithy Farm for roughly four years. Easy going and a willingness to work in cooperation with others, Janet is a real team player. She is incredibly knowledgeable about her plants and excels in the shop with her informed friendly manner. Part of Janet’s job entails working behind the scenes in the production of the plants, It’s here she displays great practical skills with a keen eye to the detail. “I have shopped at Smithy for many years and, once retired from teaching, was delighted to get a job here. I enjoy working in the greenhouses and the shop and playing just a little part in the enormous effort that goes into plant production and the ‘buzz’ of the busy season. I love my garden and Smithy remains my firm favourite to keep it looking good and inspire me throughout the seasons.”