Timothy and Mary Nourse, owners of Nourse Farms, are pioneers in the field of tissue culture propagation to produce healthier, more productive plants, and their method includes a virus indexing and eradication program. They founded the first small fruit tissue lab in the United States in 1980 and remain the only plant tissue propagated plant farm in the country.

They instituted the first cooperative rotation program with other local farmers and were one of the first growers in Massachusetts to sell locally grown vegetables, other than sweet corn, to major retailers.

Family-owned Nourse Farms specializes in the production of strawberry and raspberry plants. It is the largest raspberry plant producer in the United States, sells 20 million strawberry plants annually and leads the industry in plant tissue propagation.