The story starts in 1914, when Pawel (“Paul”) Zentek and his wife Aniela (“Nellie”) Zentek settled in rural Cheshire.

 

Rooted in Higgins Road: The Century-Long Story of Cheshire’s Zentek Farms

In a town long celebrated as the “Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut,” few family names are woven into the agricultural identity of Cheshire as deeply as the Zenteks. For more than a century, the sprawling fields and greenhouses of Zentek Farms on Higgins Road have stood as both a symbol of immigrant perseverance and a living reminder of Cheshire’s farming heritage.

Today, drivers passing 325 Higgins Road see acres of vibrant hanging baskets, greenhouse rows bursting with annuals, and seasonal produce stands filled with sweet corn, tomatoes, strawberries, pumpkins, and flowers. But the story of Zentek Farms began far more modestly — with two Polish immigrants, a dairy herd, and a determination to build a future from Connecticut soil.

From Poland to Cheshire: The Beginning in 1914

The story starts in 1914, when Pawel (“Paul”) Zentek and his wife Aniela (“Nellie”) Zentek settled in rural Cheshire and purchased farmland on Higgins Road. Like many immigrant families of the era, they arrived with little except agricultural knowledge, a strong work ethic, and hope for opportunity in America.

The couple established a traditional dairy farm, raising livestock while cultivating vegetables and grain crops on the sandy fertile soil that would later become famous for greenhouse production. Over time, the farm became not only a workplace but the center of a large and growing family. Pawel and Aniela raised ten children on the property: Annie, Stella, Michael, Joseph, Stanley, Frank, Helen, Mary, Paul, and Louise.

Life on the farm demanded discipline and sacrifice. Every child had chores. Milking cows, tending crops, hauling feed, and maintaining the land were daily responsibilities. Archival records from the 1930s show the Zentek children deeply embedded in Cheshire life, attending the old Humiston School, participating in church activities, and earning repeated recognition for perfect school attendance during the difficult years of the Great Depression.

Those records reveal not just hardworking students, but a family becoming firmly rooted in the social and civic life of Cheshire.

Faith, Family, and Community

The Zenteks quickly became closely connected to St. Bridget of Sweden Parish, one of the town’s foundational Catholic communities. In June 1932, family members Francis, Stanislaus, and Joseph Zentek were among the local children receiving First Holy Communion at St. Bridget’s Church.

Throughout the following decades, the family’s milestones regularly appeared in local newspapers — weddings, births, funerals, and civic involvement all reinforcing how integrated the Zenteks had become within the broader Cheshire community.

In 1934, Anna Zentek married Joseph Corda at St. Bridget’s. In 1949, Frank Zentek married Lydia “Lyda” Mumley, another Higgins Road resident, and remained living in the farming district afterward. In 1953, Louise Stella Zentek married Myron Frederick Verner following his military service in Germany.

The family’s history reflects a classic Connecticut agricultural narrative: immigrant roots, multigenerational labor, religious community ties, and a steadfast connection to the land.

The Farm Evolves

For more than fifty years, the farm remained centered on traditional agriculture — dairy, grains, and vegetables. But by the late 1960s and early 1970s, farming economics were changing dramatically across New England.

Many family farms disappeared entirely during this period. The Zenteks adapted.

In 1972, third-generation farmer Paul Walter Zentek — named after his grandfather Pawel — helped lead the farm into a new era. Working closely alongside his brother Michael Zentek and guided by the old-school farming knowledge of uncles Joseph and Stanley Zentek, Paul began constructing greenhouses while continuing the family’s field vegetable tradition.

It was a pivotal decision.

Instead of relying solely on increasingly difficult dairy and grain markets, Zentek Farms transitioned into bedding plants, Easter bulbs, vegetable starters, and hanging baskets. The shift mirrored the larger transformation happening throughout Cheshire, where numerous farms began specializing in greenhouse production and ornamental horticulture.

Over time, Cheshire earned its now-famous title as the “Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut.”

Zentek Farms became one of the leading contributors to that reputation.

Building a Regional Agricultural Powerhouse

Today, Zentek Farms spans approximately 65 acres, including five acres of indoor and open-sided greenhouse space alongside extensive outdoor vegetable fields.

The modern operation supplies wholesale annual flowers, hanging baskets, potted vegetables, and bedding plants to retail nurseries, grocery chains, and garden centers throughout New England, New York, and New Jersey. Regional retailers including ShopRite proudly advertise their partnership with the farm.

Despite its large wholesale footprint, the operation has retained its local character.

The seasonal farm stand remains a beloved Cheshire destination, known especially for fresh-picked sweet corn, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, melons, and seasonal decorations. In winter, the farm transforms once again, offering Christmas trees and handmade holiday greenery.

For many Cheshire residents, their connection to Zentek Farms begins at that roadside market stand.

Donna Strollo Zentek helped establish the original stand in 1987, initially operating out of a small structure before the business expanded into a larger market across the street in 2004. Over the years, generations of customers returned season after season.

Some shoppers remembered when Paul and Donna’s sons were small children helping around the farm. Today, those same sons — Joe and Ben Zentek — help lead the operation as fourth-generation farmers.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Joe Zentek once said when the farm received statewide recognition for its longevity. “It’s an honor — it’s been in the family for years.”

More Than Flowers and Vegetables

While the farm is perhaps best known locally for its sweet corn and greenhouse flowers, Zentek Farms has consistently adapted to changing agricultural trends while finding creative ways to bring the community onto the property itself.

In 2007, Paul Zentek introduced a three-acre corn maze to diversify the farm and create a new seasonal attraction for families. Designed with GPS technology by a specialty company in Missouri, the maze quickly became a local destination.

Always practical, Paul even selected a special corn variety without heavy kernels to improve safety for children navigating the maze.

The project also reflected the family’s connection to the broader Cheshire community. Following the tragic Petit family murders in 2007, the Zenteks donated a portion of the maze’s proceeds to memorial funds supporting multiple sclerosis research and related charitable causes.

That same spirit of local involvement has appeared repeatedly over the years.

Zentek Farms donated flowers to Cheshire elementary schools, contributed seasonal decorations to school beautification projects, participated in Cheshire Land Trust agricultural forums, and continued farming preserved open-space land throughout town, including portions of Brooksvale Farm Preserve.

Remembering the Earlier Generations

Although the modern farm is now identified primarily with Paul, Donna, Joe, and Ben Zentek, the current operation was built on the labor and sacrifices of earlier generations.

Frank Zentek, who died in 2006 at age 84, represented one of the family members who helped preserve the Higgins Road farming tradition through the mid-20th century. A lifelong Cheshire resident and communicant of St. Thomas Becket Church, Frank remained deeply tied to the family and the land throughout his life.

His passing marked the gradual transition from the older generation of traditional Cheshire farmers to the newer generation balancing modern greenhouse agriculture with community retail operations.

Similarly, Peter “Stanley” Zentek — who worked the farm until retiring at age 90 — became remembered for his kindness, infectious smile, and unwavering devotion to the property his parents established decades earlier.

Michael Zentek also became an integral part of the farm’s continuity during the modern era. Working side-by-side with his brother Paul for decades, Michael helped maintain the daily rhythm of the Higgins Road property while preserving many of the practical farming traditions passed down from earlier generations. Whether tending crops, maintaining equipment, preparing fields, or assisting with the expanding greenhouse operation, Michael represented the quiet but essential backbone common to many successful family farms.

Together with Joseph, Stanley, Frank, and Paul, Michael helped bridge the older agricultural era with the modern greenhouse period that allowed Zentek Farms to survive into the twenty-first century.

Adapting to a Modern Agricultural Economy

Like many Connecticut farms, Zentek Farms has faced enormous economic pressures over the years.

Rising fuel prices, shrinking profit margins, changing wholesale markets, labor demands, and development pressure all forced the family to modernize continuously.

Paul Zentek openly acknowledged that produce farming alone had become increasingly difficult decades ago.

“Twenty or thirty years ago, you couldn’t make a decent living just selling produce,” he explained in a 2008 interview. “We turned to flowers and made more money.”

Modern technology now plays a major role in the operation. Computer-controlled greenhouse systems regulate airflow and rain protection automatically. Water-saving irrigation benches reduce waste. The family transitioned greenhouse heating systems from oil to natural gas to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Yet despite the modernization, the farm still operates with an intensely personal approach.

Customers picking vegetables in the fields often encounter family members working directly alongside employees. Joe Zentek continues operating the seasonal farm stand personally. Sweet corn is still picked daily during harvest season.

The modern operation eventually became a truly multi-generational enterprise. Paul and Michael Zentek worked alongside Donna Zentek, sons Joe and Ben Zentek, and younger family members including nephews Joshua and Nathan, continuing a farming tradition first established by Pawel and Aniela Zentek in 1914.

That freshness and personal attention have become something of a local legend.

In 2021, Cheshire residents debating the town’s “best corn” repeatedly singled out Zentek Farms for praise. One resident joked that the kernels were so tender “if you husk it too fast, you’ll pop some kernels.”

Joe Zentek responded simply: “We pick our corn daily and it’s really sweet.”

Recognition for a Century of Farming

In 2018, the farm received one of Connecticut agriculture’s highest honors: the Connecticut Century Farm Award.

Presented by the Connecticut Agricultural Information Council and the Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station, the award recognizes family farms that have operated continuously for more than 100 years.

For the Zentek family, the recognition represented far more than longevity. It symbolized survival through world wars, the Great Depression, economic downturns, suburban development pressures, and the massive changes that reshaped farming across New England over the last century.

The award honored not just a business, but a legacy.

The recognition also reflected how multiple generations of the Zentek family continued working together on the land. At the award ceremony, family members including Paul, Donna, Michael, Ben, and Joe Zentek stood together representing more than a century of continuous farming on Higgins Road.

Ben Zentek described the recognition as a tribute to the generations who came before them.

“For me personally, it’s an honor to see my ancestors get this award,” he said. “My father, his parents, and his grandparents — it’s definitely nice to know their memories can live on through this award.”

Cheshire’s Agricultural Identity

The Zentek story is inseparable from the broader history of farming in Cheshire itself.

At a Cheshire Land Trust panel discussion titled “Farming in Connecticut, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” local agricultural leaders reflected on how Cheshire evolved from a town of scattered farms into one of Connecticut’s most recognizable greenhouse communities.

Paul Zentek stood alongside fellow farmers from Kurtz Farms, Boulder Knoll Farm, T&D Growers, Michael’s Greenhouses, and other longtime Cheshire agricultural families whose histories collectively shaped modern Cheshire farming.

During the discussion, Zentek displayed photographs of his grandparents, reminding attendees how quickly agricultural history can fade if not preserved and remembered.

Even today, Zentek Farms continues to work preserved agricultural land in town through agreements with the Cheshire Land Trust.

Still Growing

Now operated by fourth-generation members of the family, Zentek Farms remains both modern and deeply traditional.

The technology has changed. The dairy cows are gone. Greenhouses now dominate sections of the property where grain once grew.

Yet the core values established by Pawel and Aniela Zentek in 1914 still define the farm more than a century later: hard work, family labor, community relationships, and stewardship of the land.

In an era when many historic Connecticut farms have vanished beneath subdivisions and commercial development, the greenhouses and fields along Higgins Road remain remarkably intact — a living piece of Cheshire history still growing season after season.

The greenhouses still glow during spring planting season. Customers still stop for sweet corn and tomatoes in summer. Families still visit during autumn harvest season.

And across Higgins Road, beneath the same Connecticut skies where Pawel and Aniela Zentek first broke ground more than 110 years ago, another generation continues planting for the future.

For countless residents, Zentek Farms is more than a business.

It is one of the last enduring connections to the rural Cheshire that once defined the town itself.

Editor’s Note: Uncovering the Deep Roots of Cheshire’s Zentek Family

Recently, I was asked by Amelia Yankovich to look into the history of her prominent Cheshire family. Amelia is the granddaughter of the original Zentek family patriarchs, Pawel (Paul) Zentek Sr. and Aniela "Nellie" (Jablonski) Zentek, and the niece of the late Paul Zentek Jr. For anyone who has lived in town for any length of time, the Zentek name is synonymous with grit, agricultural mastery, and community spirit. Here is a closer look at the remarkable family tree and history I uncovered.

The Lineage of Paul Zentek Jr. (1931–2020)

While many in town immediately associate the family name with the sprawling greenhouses on Higgins Road, the family branches reach wide into Cheshire's civic and commercial history.

On Tuesday, April 14, 2020, the town lost a beloved lifelong resident when Paul Zentek Jr. passed away at the age of 89 at the Summit of Plantsville. Born right here in Cheshire on March 20, 1931, Paul Jr. was a familiar face in the local agricultural community, famously dedicating years of hard work to the local Agway. He was a faithful communicant of St. Thomas Becket Church and was married to his beloved wife, Twila M. (Montgomery) Zentek, for 53 beautiful years before her passing in 2009.

Paul Jr.’s Children and Grandchildren

Together, Paul Jr. and Twila raised three children who have carried the family values into neighboring communities:

• Mari Lea Dziurgot: Paul’s daughter, who lives in Wallingford with her husband, Stanley. They raised three sons: Matthew, Christopher, and William.

• Martin Zentek: Paul’s son, who resides in Southington (predeceased by his wife, Wendy).

• James Zentek: Paul’s son, who has remained a lifelong, dedicated resident of Cheshire.

• Paul Jr. was also the proud grandfather to Shayne Mackiewicz and was sadly predeceased by his grandson, Saxxon.

A Generational Bond: The Ten Siblings

Paul Jr. grew up as one of ten children born to Pawel Sr. and Aniela, who originally established their family dairy homestead on Higgins Road back in 1914. Life on the early farm required unrelenting labor, and the ten siblings forged an unbreakable bond while working the fields together.

Through Paul Jr.'s lineage, we can map out the incredible scope of this foundational Cheshire family:

Sibling	Life Notes & Legacy
Frank Zentek	Passed away in 2006 at age 84; lifelong Cheshire resident, Insilco retiree, and husband to Lyda (Mumley). Raised sons Daniel, Arthur, and Steve, and daughter Carol.
Peter "Stanley" Zentek	Passed away in 2014 at age 94. A bachelor who lived and worked on the family farm until age 90. He helped raise his orphaned nephew, Paul W. Zentek (the modern operator of Zentek Farms).
Joseph Zentek	Predeceased Paul Jr.; a bachelor who, alongside Stanley, dedicated his entire life to keeping the soil of the Higgins Road homestead thriving.
Michael Zentek	Predeceased Paul Jr.; worked the early iterations of the family farm.
Louise Curry	Resided in Wallingford; one of the long-living sisters of the family.
Mary Galko	Settled in nearby Prospect; maintained close ties to her Cheshire siblings.
Helen Petrowski	Relocated across the country to Santa Ana, California.
Anna Cardo	Predeceased Paul Jr.; wed Joseph Corda in 1934 and moved to Hamden.
Stella Behrmann	Predeceased Paul Jr.; remembered fondly by generations of nieces and nephews.

The Broader Family Impact

Amelia Yankovich’s maternal lineage traces directly back to one of these ten foundational siblings, making her a direct link to the early days of Cheshire's rural development. Today, the family legacy is visibly preserved by fourth-generation cousins Ben and Joe Zentek—alongside their father Paul W. and uncle Michael—who run the award-winning Zentek Farms.

From providing hundreds of spring flowers for our elementary school "lucky tray" giveaways to growing the sweet corn that dominates local dinner tables every August, the descendants of Pawel and Aniela Zentek remain central to the fabric of Cheshire.

Whether your branch of the family stayed to work the greenhouses on Higgins Road, worked at Agway like Paul Jr., or built lives in neighboring towns, the Zentek heritage remains a shining example of the hardworking immigrant families who shaped our town's history.

Have a local history question? If you are looking into a specific branch of a foundational Cheshire family tree, or have old town photos you would like investigated, drop us a line!