I've got some awesome news for ya'all... I've been planting flowers at
The Good Farm in an attempt to bring the Eastern Shore freshly grown, freshly picked, local flowers all Spring and Summer long! When I decided to enter the florist business late last year, I did some research to learn a little more about flower growing on the Mid-Atlantic shore. After reading blog after blog, after scouring Google Maps for hours, and after checkout the flower farm options in other cities, I realized that the Ocean City / Berlin / Salisbury area had nothing of the sort! Depressing, eh?
I met Christie at a women's-only creative small business meeting (Thank for arranging this
Kim &
Jen!) at
The Globe a few months ago. She told us a story about her organic farm located in West Ocean City called The Good Farm and how they wanted to really welcome the community to help raise the garden, have volunteers become more involved, create an open Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group for those who invest time in the farm, and create a greater sense of community in our area. I remember whispering to the person next to me, "I wonder if she'll let me plant some flowers on the farm?"
Fast forward about 6 weeks annnnnddd...
Little Miss Lovely has a whole section of The Good Farm dedicated to growing fresh flowers!
The folks behind the organic farm and Reggie, the super sweet landowner have graciously let me plant hundreds of baby seedlings in a beautiful location on the farm/property. I'm so ecstatic to be growing beautiful flowers to share with others this season. I've already created a few meaningful relationships with those involved in tending to the farm. I can't wait to see what else is in store for me, the farm, and Mariner's Country Down.
The flowers I have planted will be raised in dedication to Mrs. Ann Showell Mariner. Ann was a hugely inspirational woman, the wife of Reggie, and a strong business leader in the Ocean City area. She passed away in January of this year. Reggie, Christie, Ric, and Harry have each told me stories about how much Ann loved tending to the flowers at she and Reggie's property. This year, I hope to make Ann happy my growing thousands of beautiful flowers for her.
You may be wondering why I've been growing
so many seedlings this year? Now you know. Thus far, I've transplanted zinnias, cosmos, helichrysum, sweet william, and a few other sprouts at the farm. My at-home greenhouse and incubator gardens are filled with many more baby plants that will travel from Ocean Pines to the farm in just few weeks.
Photos of the beautiful Good Farm at Mariner's Country Down...
The Good Farm is a small organic farm that nourishes the earth and the community through relationships with individuals and groups. Volunteers are welcome at the farm. A volunteer incentive is also present; come volunteer in the fields, get free food from CSA. Great deal, right? If you'd like to volunteer at the farm, email thegoodfarm@gmail.com. All walks of help are needed: carpenters, seed planters, dirt diggers, plant stakers, anyone and everyone.
Find The Good Farm on Facebook or follow them online. I will be harvesting local flowers (hopefully many grown on the farm) to create fun arrangements that will be displayed at the farm's monthly Eleven Forks Dinners. The dinners are open to the public and take place on the 3rd Saturday of each month seasonally. Visit the Little Miss Lovely Events page for Eleven Fork dates and details.
I'm so happy and excited to be growing flowers for our community. This summer you'll see Little Miss Lovely flowers available at our local farmer's markets and I'm hoping to start a flower subscription program (sign up for the subscriptions and have fresh flowers delivered to your home or business on a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly basis - how cool does that sound?).
I'm thrilled to have met such inspirational and good-hearted individuals who have supported me and my dreams to become a florist and flower grower. Thank you Christie, Ric, Reggie, and everyone who has helped me thus far and has supported Little Miss Lovely by opening worlds of windows and furthering my optimistic dreams. I can't wait to see how things go this season and watch my flowers bloom beautifully!
Ami
