Schartner Farms in Rhode Island: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Schartner Farms in Exeter, Rhode Island, is a 150-acre family farm founded in 1902 that grows produce and runs a large farm market, nursery and greenhouse. The family also developed a large controlled-environment greenhouse project with a projected cost of $61 million. It combines century-old roots with a large greenhouse project.
| Location | Exeter, Rhode Island (South County) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1902, per the Visit Rhode Island listing |
| Sectors | Fruits and vegetables; pumpkins; nursery; farm market; greenhouse tomatoes |
| Scale | 150-acre farm; planned greenhouse of about 25 acres and a projected $61 million cost, per 2021 coverage |
| Why it is elite | Century-old family farm and a major greenhouse investment |
| Ownership | Schartner family; Tim Schartner chairs Rhode Island Grows LLC |
| Official website | Visit Rhode Island listing for Schartner Farms (official domain not confirmed) |
History of Schartner Farms
Visit Rhode Island lists the farm as founded in 1902 and operating on 150 acres in Exeter. The family name is tied to strawberry picking, pumpkins and sweet corn, and the farm market sells produce, baked goods, jams, deli items and cheese.
Tim Schartner, a farmer, is chairman and chief management officer of Rhode Island Grows LLC, which planned a controlled-environment greenhouse off Route 2 in Exeter.
What Schartner Farms Grows and Raises
The farm offers seasonal fruits, vegetables, herbs, plants and flowers, a nursery and a greenhouse, and it hosts pick-your-own pumpkins in the fall.
The greenhouse project, reported in late 2021 as temporarily on hold during a zoning dispute, would grow organic beefsteak tomatoes under 10-year contracts with Sunset Foods, with a projected output of about 42,000 pounds a day and 88 year-round jobs. Rainwater from the glass roof would feed a cistern and bees would pollinate.
How Schartner Farms Makes Money
Farm market
Produce, deli, cheese, baked goods, jams and a gift shop make the market a year-round retail anchor.
Pick-your-own and seasonal sales
Fall pumpkins and seasonal produce bring families to the farm.
Greenhouse tomatoes
The planned greenhouse is a contract-supply business, with a ten-year contract described in the 2021 report.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Schartner Farms
The first lesson is diversification across retail, seasonal crops and contract supply. The second is to line up customers before building: the greenhouse plan began with buyer contracts.
The third is to work through zoning and community concerns early.
Schartner Farms has been growing in Exeter since 1902, which means it has seen more pumpkins than a stack of autumn magazines. Over at farm.FM farm satire holds that a fine pumpkin patch should never have to apologize. Our farm humor staff and ranch humor staff were told that a 25-acre greenhouse is serious business, and our farm jokes about tomatoes were chopped for the greater good.
If the name is new to you, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site, with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers on the side. One of its regular writers keeps a whole archive of stories like that.
How to Contact Schartner Farms
Website: https://www.visitrhodeisland.com/listing/schartner-farms/8005/
No official website was confirmed, so no address or phone is listed here. Check the listing and the farm's social pages for seasonal hours.
Schartner Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Visit Rhode Island listing - Farm market, history and visitor information
- Thinking big, growing locally - Report on the greenhouse project
- 42,000 pounds of sweet tomatoes a day - Coverage of the greenhouse plan
- USDA NASS Rhode Island 2022 Census profile - State farm counts and sales
- Rhode Island DEM Division of Agriculture - State agriculture programs
Schartner Farms FAQ
Where is Schartner Farms?
In Exeter, Rhode Island.
How big is the farm?
The Visit Rhode Island listing says 150 acres.
What is the greenhouse project?
A controlled-environment tomato greenhouse of about 25 acres with a projected $61 million cost, reported on hold in 2021.
Do they offer pick-your-own?
The listing mentions pick-your-own pumpkins in the fall.
Schartner Farms shows how a century-old Rhode Island family can mix a farm market with big greenhouse plans. For the climate, programs and markets behind it, read our Rhode Island farms guide and the other profiled operations.