This picture really was the start to our “all-in flower farm.” Our farming journey has been a long one, and we have changed a lot of what we do based on what we have learned along the way. 
I remember the feeling of excitement and nervousness as we finally committed to what we had always wanted to do for a very long time, which was to grow and sell flowers. To understand this process, I will go back a little bit…
We have always had the love for gardening and farming since we were kids. We grew up in a large family, in a small home on what we referred to as “the best street ever” as we had woods and sod fields around us. At the time, our home was in the “middle of nowhere” RI, where you could bike two miles to the bridge to watch the train fly by and feel the breeze as it raced down the tracks. As children, we would play manhunt, capture the flag, and bike until the dinner bell rang loudly from our homes. You heard correctly…we had a dinner bell that could be heard for long distances telling us that we were needed back home. We would write scripts and create outdoor kid neighborhood theatricals. It was a great time to be creative and our parents encouraged it. I think this has helped all of us as we became older.
Our parents always created sections of our yard for us to use to grow different crops like pumpkins, peas, fingerling potatoes, winter squash and more. We ate most of what we grew (donated some) and we explored different varieties of vegetables that weren’t in the grocery stores at that time.
One of our Gardens in the late 80’s
My mom loved flowers and had us grow flowers all over the yard, while my dad planted fruit trees everywhere, which became awesome bus stop treats as we waited in the morning. Throughout the seasons, we would always can the fruits and vegetables, giving us ample experience in preserving food for the winter months. I can still smell the grape jelly cooking on the stove! So sweet!
Our mom, adding more perennials to her flower beds in the late 80’s
As time went on we all ended up working in agricultural fields to help pay for college. We all ended up going to school for different things like engineering, biology, horticulture, and toxicology. We used our different sets of knowledge and some of us decided it was time to do what we all loved to do…Farm!
We started Cedar Edge Farm in 2001 on 2 acres. In 2007 we became certified organic. We grew mostly just fruits and vegetables and sold them to various farmer’s markets. We then grew and needed more land. Land in Rhode Island is ridiculously expensive and unless you have inherited land or know someone, it can be a major challenge to come by. The only way around this was to lease land - we leased 20 acres in the Northern part of the state on an old farm that we converted into certified organic production. We grew mostly certified organic fruits, vegetables, and some flowers and began selling to grocery stores, restaurants, farmer’s markets, and did a CSA, all the while working full time at our other jobs. We would work in the southern part of RI and then immediately after work, drive 45 minutes to the farm and work until dark, drive back home, eat dinner, and repeat this each day afterward.
An early CSA Share Our melon field that we planted/harvested for grocery stores
Having 2 full time jobs was very challenging, but as the years passed, we learned to try and become more efficient during the hours we had available. It did not always work in our favor, but we did try really hard. We loved doing what we were doing and the neighbors along the leased property were happy to have us there and we were doing well. As a couple of years passed and we became a couple of years older, we began getting married and having children. Farming with children has been quite the experience. Everything you think you are going to get done in a day is not necessarily what happens:) We could create a whole blog on how to farm with babies, toddlers, and kids, but that is for another time.
Leasing land was a challenge; when we went to renew we found out that the owner of the land wanted to sell the land for house lots and no longer wanted it farmed, and there wasn’t another large piece of property around, so we moved back to 2 acres and we also had to use our own home gardens to increase on farm space. Everything works out for a reason.
We all lived about 15 to 30 minutes from each other and because land is crazy expensive we decided that we would “share” each other’s yards. We are a close family and even siblings that are not part of the farm still allow us to use parts of their yard for farming. Some of our non-farming siblings are engineers and when equipment breaks down, they are always there to help us get things back up and running. Our parents have also been a major part of this farming endeavor and have always been the cheerleaders we have needed to keep us going on our love for farming.
We started growing flowers in larger parcels for my oldest brother’s wedding. This was really the beginning for our flower farm adventure. My sister-in-law wanted to grow her own flowers for their big day, so we learned all the different ways to prep and cool them and how to transport them 4 hours away up in New Hampshire for their beautiful wedding. We grew so many different varieties that year and they were stunning. We then started selling them at farmer’s markets and grew and arranged our own flowers for all of our own weddings after that. We then helped out and did the flowers for some of our friends we grew up with on our street. We loved it! We began to read and learn more about it and always did a mix of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. It was not until after 2020 that we decided it was time to take the leap into full time flower farming…
One of our first flower farm fields many years ago Two days before my wedding, getting our flowers ready!
2020 was a mixed feeling year that put things into perspective and allowed us to dream. I am a high school teacher and I love teaching students. I love creating engaging lessons for kids to help them learn the content and get excited. I just do not love the politics of the job, and the politics in education have increased. So in 2020 while I was home with my own kids, I would make engaging homemade videos and hands on activities for my horticulture and chemistry students to get them inspired about these topics. During this time my sister and I would talk about being able to just farm full time versus two full time jobs one day.
My job has forever changed because of 2020. Some people hated being home with their kids all of the time, but for me… I loved it! It was the first time in a long time that we were able to get everything around the house and in the house done. I gave my kids sections of our yards to build their own gardens. We went fishing daily at a nearby stream and pond, and I felt like my kids were experiencing what I had as a kid…time to just play outside and be creative in the woods…to just be kids!
Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of bad things in 2020 that took place. We had a family member that almost died, but we were fortunate that year. It was a year that allowed my sister and I to reflect on our future goals.
2021 as a teacher was the hardest year. I will not dive into why in this blog, that is a for a different blog, but it was a year that really made me reflect on my life and it is when I knew I had to do something different, something that would make us feel appreciated and happier so that our family could see the happy version of us. This next piece became the game changer… a woman from my husband’s work named Hannah:)... To be continued…