Anthony Petitti Organic Greenhouse celebrating 100 years

NIMISHILLEN TWP. − Anthony Petitti Organic Greenhouse has been a go-to place for garden and landscaping supplies, plants grown without synthetic chemicals, and even organically raised meat and dairy.

Owner Cindy Petitti-Walton has made organic products her specialty while maintaining the legacy of a family business ― which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The garden center at 5828 Columbus Road NE recently hosted a kickoff celebration and will have sales throughout the year with a culminating event in December.

Petitti-Walton said her secrets to success have been a willingness to evolve and ask God for guidance. Teaching others how to have a successful garden makes the 14- to 16-hour days nine months out of the year worth it.

"This is definitely my calling," Petitti-Walton said. "And there are days that, of course, I'm exhausted and frustrated with things that go wrong. I'm so blessed because I do love what I do so much."

Anthony Petitti Greenhouse's roots in lawn care

The company started with lawn care and evolved into the multi-faceted operation.

In 1924, Anthony Abatangelo founded Anthony's Lawn Care with a manual reel mower. He passed the business to his son, Anthony Petitti Sr. in 1958. Anthony Petitti Jr. took over in 1995.

Each generation had a new way of doing things ― with Petitti Sr. buying the first power lawnmower and Petitti Jr. buying the first Bobcat skid-steer loader.

The senior Petitti discovered he was a distant cousin to Angelo Petitti, who founded the Northeast Ohio garden center chain under the same last name, but there's no business affiliation between the two.

"They didn't even know each other," Petitti-Walton said. "In the late 80s, my father-in-law, he didn't know of any other Petittis in the area at the time, and so he drove to the Oakwood store."

The two Petittis talked and traced their ancestry to the same town in Italy.

Growing into a greenhouse

In 2003, Petitti-Walton and her husband Anthony Petitti Jr. expanded the family business by purchasing Armond's Greenhouse and Garden Center.

Petitti-Walton, who has a degree in landscape construction and contracting from Ohio State University, carried on the company after Petitti Jr. died in 2005. She gave the lawn care portion of the business to her sister-in-law's son, Jay Myers, the following year.

"By '06, that's when I decided I couldn't run five landscape crews and a greenhouse and a garden center," said Petitti-Walton, who has since remarried.

Then in 2007, Petitti Sr. was diagnosed with cancer. Petitti-Walton said one of the doctors questioned what chemicals he used in landscaping work, thinking that might've contributed to the aggressiveness of the disease.

"I came back and said, 'Well, we're going organic,'" she said.

The business changed its name that year from the Anthony Petitti "Garden Center" to "Organic Greenhouse." Petitti-Walton said the center grows all its edible plants organically and doesn't sell synthetic chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Down on the farm

The Columbus Road property has a large retail greenhouse and three others for growing. They are heated by recycled motor oil to a comfortable 65 degrees overnight and "sweltering" summer temperatures around 100 degrees, Petitti-Walton said.

Chickens strut around the grounds, which includes C&B Farms out back.

"We have also expanded into a farm," Petitti-Walton said. "We raise beef and goats and pork and chicken and duck and turkey, and we raise everything organically."

The center sells meat, milk and cheese produced on the farm and in partnership with other area farmers.

Petitti-Walton is the only full-time worker at the center. She employs about nine people during peak season and three in the off-season.

Education is a large part of the operation. Employees attend continuing education courses each winter, and public events are held throughout the year on topics that include seed starting, food preservation and homesteading.

Sara Moag, of Canton, said customers have been more interested in growing vegetables and fruit as grocery prices have risen. She has worked at Anthony Petitti Organic Greenhouse for 12 years and said still learns something new every day.

"It's a very good learning experience," Moag said.

More information about the sales and events celebrating the 100th anniversary can be found at petittisorganic.com.

Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.comOn X: @kbyerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Anthony Petitti Organic Greenhouse celebrating 100 years