Beginnings

Beginnings can be challenging—many unknowns, leaps of faith, questions, and lessons that are yet to be learned. But they are also exciting. They give space for dreaming, creating, and the first steps into a new and beautiful experiment.

When I first moved to Warwick, NY, I knew I wanted to do something that involved the (very small) amount of land that our new home was on, but I was unsure about what exactly I wanted to do. Before we moved, I had already started a few seeds for some vegetables and flowers. The thought was to get them ready in the old space and transplant them right into our new yard when we moved in. That took quite a bit longer than I had expected, and I killed all but a few tomato plants. These sad little seedlings must have had an impressive will to live because they grew and offered some fruit… that was still green when I quickly harvested them the day before our first frost.

I spent that winter in deep research about growing vegetables and flowers. At night, I began learning about homesteading and permaculture, about the needs of various plants when growing from seed, and about native plants and their importance in the local ecosystem. And during the day, I baked sourdough bread… lots of sourdough bread. By the next growing season, I was much more equipt. And I had the very beginning of a little homestead. 

It was over that summer that the picture became clearer of where I wanted to go with all of this. The vegetables I grew nourished my body, and the flowers nourished my soul. And I wanted to share with my community the beauty and joy I experienced with these flowers. I also wanted an excuse to spend my days hanging out with plants.

Not all of my flowers for bouquets are being grown in traditional rows in a field. Many are doing double duty as companion plants for the vegetables that feed our family by bringing in pollinators and preventing an overpopulation of pests. Others can be found throughout my garden, tucked in here and there. And there are some being grown in more traditional rows.

So this is where the journey starts. This is where I offer up my lovingly grown flowers and homemade breads.