CLYDE — For some people, like Kyle Karan and his partner, Johnathan Murray, covid wasn’t entirely a bad thing. It gave them the impetus to do something they had only dreamed about: Get growing and start their own business.

The two, who live in Weedsport, own Mill Street Gardens on Route 414, otherwise known as Mill Street, just south of the Erie Canal. The location used to house Twice As Nice, a children’s consignment shop that had been closed for a long while.

They bought the property and opened their doors in 2022. Karan had been a manager at a Burger King and was itching to do something else. Murray was managing the One Stop at Finger Lakes Community College, where he still works, but asked for a demotion to have more time for the garden center. They opened their doors May 1 of that year and are now in their third season.

The pair admit they had no formal training with gardening, but had always loved it — and, apparently, so does the community. Their parking lot has been filled this spring with locals, and also some who have traveled a bit after hearing about Mill Street’s reputation of being more intimate than the big-box garden centers, and just as well-stocked.

It is the personalized contact,........

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