Family beginnings.

Once upon a summer our daughter decided to plant a small corner of our vegetable garden in cut flowers…

But first, a bit of family history.

Growing up in the classic 1940’s home place where my father was born, I was blessed with a happy childhood on an acre nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. My mother, an artist— is an accomplished seamstress, painter and gardener. She enjoyed cultivating her beautiful backyard where I spent many hours in the creek and the woodlands on the mountain behind our home. I remember watching her dig and transplant wild things into her landscape. An appreciation for beauty is well-ingrained into my soul.

She came east from a family of fruit and nut farmers in the Central Valley of California— from growing beautiful roses to producing peaches and almonds. My grandparents traveled across the US, meeting people and collecting antiques. I had the privilege to accompany them often. This influenced my love of collecting and eventually led to opening an Etsy shop in 2012.

My dear Granny Boone who lived next door, was always there nurturing the neighborhood grandkids and teaching us about love. Because of her I have a strong vision for home life built on the strength of family relationships.

Married to my builder husband, we settled in Ohio and built our home on a 5 acre piece of ground that his great-grandfather farmed all his life. We live deeply in a rich heritage and desire for our children to know the fruits of labor and love of our past generations.

Growing & Learning.

Blessed with 6 children, it is important to teach them to work with their hands and to fill their time with meaningful pursuits. Gracey, our second daughter dreamed of growing flowers and I guess you could say that began our farming adventure… and the rest is history!

In 2018, as a mother-daughter duo, we poured our heart and soul into growing flowers. We’ve discovered that it takes a lot of sweat equity to succeed in agricultural floristry. We are constantly learning and seeking to grow better and more efficiently. Our desire to succeed in some small way is fueled by the pleasure that we find spending quality time with our family and serving the amazing community around us.

We are alumni of The Gardener’s Workshop Flower Farming School and became members of The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers as well as the Slow Flowers Society. It has been quite a journey as we find ourselves a small part of a nationwide movement to return the commercial flower market to U.S. soil.

The Flower Girl.

Between the busy social life of a teenager and farm life of a homeschooler-- Gracey is a mainstay to our little operation. Planting, harvesting and the master bouquet maker—she is the all around get ‘er done person on the farm. You may have met her in person at the Farmer’s Market and our popular Popup Flower Markets. She loves interacting with our faithful customers and cheerfully wraps and hand ties every bouquet sold.  One of her favorite things is to deliver bouquets to the sweet folks at the local retirement home… they look forward to her visits and affectionately dubbed her “the flower girl”. During the off-season she works part time for a local florist. We are delighted that she has shown a talent for design work. We couldn’t do it without her! Gracey’s input is important to the success of our business.

Building Character.

Flower farming is not all a bed of roses. 90% of what we do takes real grit and diligence. From finding a comfortable division of duties as we plant grow and harvest to those necessary home duties that are always calling— this is indeed a family venture with many supporting roles and everyone helping to pull the load! While it isn’t easy, we are learning to be real farmers, florists and business owners.  We work hard to cultivate and nurture family relationships and we constantly teaching ourselves and our children patience and perseverance. Hard work builds character and seeing the fruits are the reward!

When I grow up.

In the beginning, starting a flower farm was not my (Wendy’s) dream but it is fueled by a love for learning new things and the passion of a teaching spirit. As a child I lined up all my dollies and played school for hours. When I became a mother I knew I wanted to teach and train our children at home.  It is a blessing to instill in them the values that will give them a good start in life. It is also my pleasure to nurture that part of their hearts that only God can fill. I have been granted that dream for 23 years and counting! Now a grandma of a sweet little granddaughter, my prayer is that I can inspire the next generation to work together in harmony and to share the beauty with others.

Scattering petals of joy and hope is truly a labor of love!