Meet Our Crew
Last year my intention was to share the behind the scenes of starting our cut flower farm, which I think I did a medium job of over on Instagram. Things got hectic between the seven weddings we had (along with the respective bridal showers and bachelorette parties), planning our own wedding, and the actual farming, harvesting and selling and I fell behind on documenting the process.
Perhaps it’s the New Year energy, or realizing I could write here instead of trying to keep up with Instagram (reels, etc.), but I’m looking forward to regularly carving out time to share what’s happening around the farm and telling our story as it unfolds.
As with any good tale, you need to know the characters. So today I thought I’d introduce you to our tiny team and tell you who’s tasked with what.
Robbie
The executor of all my ideas, and spreadsheet extraordinaire. Don’t tell him I said this, but it’s very likely nothing would get done around here without him. It would just be a pile of seeds and grand plans. He keeps us on track, and is the rational brain to my idealistic (ahem, maybe at times a touch unrealistic) one. Which is why, for example, we don’t have an entire field of poppies that will die in one day and provide no profit. But they’re so pretty!
Robbie is the handiest person I know, and loves a good toy. Which works in my favor when we need things like a flower stand (his chance for a new saw), or making a new bed (“sounds like we’ll need a tractor”). Flower farming provides a creative balance to his full time job in software sales, which requires him to be online most of the time. We still put his aptitude for Excel formulas to use though - someone has to figure out how many seeds we’ll plant per bed.
Favorite flowers: sunflowers, snapdragons, dahlias, black eye-susans, and roses.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Bridget
Self-appointed creative director, I earn my keep around here by planning what to grow, harvesting and arranging the flowers, and determining how we’ll get them into the hands of happy recipients. Mostly I read a lot of books, scour seeds shops for anything (everything) that catches my eye, and poke around the garden to pick flowers “for other people.”
Outside of farming, my time is spent as an Intuitive Eating Counselor - my partner and I at Wisebodi help women reconnect to their body’s inner wisdom and make peace with food. These two careers felt compartmentalized in my mind for awhile, until l realized my personal ‘why’ runs through it all: to make the world a better, more beautiful place, to help others find peace and joy, and to create a space for connecting with our souls. They’re just different modalities.
Favorite flowers: (the agony of choosing!) dahlias, ranunculus, peonies, tulips, and zinnias.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
The dogs
There are two of them. Two quirky, not particularly well-behaved, but lovable, rescue dogs that can often be spotted roaming the gardens. Lucy, the 9-year-old beagle, is our senior citizen, though hardly acts like it. She has two settings: asleep or getting into trouble, and requires constant supervision come spring, when the ground is ripe for digging. She loves a car ride, and will often come along for deliveries, racing to her food bowl the second we get home with hopes that it might be dinner time.
Rapha is our 7-year-old pointer mix, who despite technically being the baby, acts like he’s boss around here. He does a good job of keeping squirrels at bay, but also has a thing for tulip bulbs which proves problematic during winter, when you think they’d be safely tucked into the ground and we could all just chill out for a bit. Raphie puts on a tough front, but is loyal to a fault and follows me around the garden, happy to keep me company while weeding or harvesting.
Favorite flowers: tulip bulbs, ranunculus corms, anything that can be dug up in wet soil, and does rolling in compost count?
Clover
The newest Nowadays addition. While she’s not a human or canine, our 1970 VW Transporter feels very much a part of the family. Clover came to us from Canada, or rather - we went to her - after months of searching for the perfect flower truck (you remember about Robbie and the toys…). Her fragile build doesn’t care much for snow, and she’s safely stored away for winter. We couldn’t decide on a name, so in true democratic form we tapped all our wedding guests to vote for their favorite and Clover came in at the top of the list. With a mint green paint job, she’s true to her name, and a little bit lucky. Fun fact: the previous owner picked her custom paint color from a sock he happened to be wearing that day! Come growing season, she’ll be spinning around the Seacoast with a bed full of flowers - think pop up shops, private parties and retail partnerships. Learn more about Clover here, and stay tuned for updates on her whereabouts come Spring.
Favorite flowers: she likes it all, but she’s a diva once the snow starts falling. Hard pass on things like holly and hellebores.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
That’s the whole crew! We’re all getting a little antsy for spring, and can’t wait to see what this season has in store. Seeds have all been ordered and we’re starting some crop planning this week, so I’ll soon share what we’ll be growing and how the schedule is looking. If you have any burning questions or if there’s any aspects of flower farming in particular that you’d enjoy hearing about, send us an email at hi@nowadaysflowers.com and I’ll share more here on the blog!