Meet Chey from Farmhouse and Blooms
I'm so glad to be able to share my flower farming journey with you and to let you know a little about me!
Hello, I'm Chey from Farmhouse and Blooms!
My partner Doug and I own a small family farm in rural Nova Scotia Canada, which we have converted to a working flower farm.
There is always something to learn when you are gardening and growing flowers. Every season can be different, with new challenges and learning experiences.
Here I will share all my knowledge and experience on growing ornamental flowers, herbs, and even flowering trees and shrubs, for the garden and for cutting. All photos on the blog were taken by me, and most photos were taken of the plants and flowers growing right here at the farm.
I have been growing flowers for most of my life.
Flower Farming
What started out to be an idea for a small micro farm here on the property, quickly morphed into the beginnings of our flower farm, when I discovered that almost all the seeds I felt compelled to purchase were flower seeds.
Now, six years into our farming journey, I not only purchase new seeds, but also save many seeds from the garden and flower fields, to plant out the next season. These seeds over time become adapted to their growing area, becoming hardier plants.
I will be sharing lots of information on collecting and growing all the different flower seeds from the farm.
We also dry a lot of flowers, so I share lots of tips and tricks on drying and using everlasting flowers.
We grow in zone 5b, and have a short growing season without season extension. We don't get most of our annual plants into the ground until mid to late May, due to late spring frosts that can wipe out tender crops.
Cold hardy annuals and perennials are some of our favourites, and well as ornamental flowering shrubs.
This doesn't hold us back, and our season is filled with hard work, beauty, and inspiration.
A Little About Me
I have worked as an RN my whole life, and retired early to pursue my dream of flower farming .
My nursing career has spanned many different areas, including teaching nursing students, working and teaching in obstetrics, and working in acute care and community supports for mental health (where my heart remains).
Doug and I have nine children and three beautiful grandchildren between us. We are truly blessed.
Life can be tricky, and sometimes unpredictable. I try to go with the flow, and am a glass half full kind of girl!
For the last 15 years I have been hybridizing daylilies, and creating new hybrids. I will be blogging about this fun passion, and teaching others to do it!
You can find me over on the LILY AUCTION, a daylily seed website, under the username of "Maya".
Inspiration
We called our farm Celtic Roots Farm because of our Celtic background.
Doug's family came from Scotland to Nova Scotia four generations ago. We can trace my family generations back to Ireland and Scotland.
Thin Spaces
There is a term in Celtic Christianity for some very special places that exist on earth.
These places are referred to as "thin spaces", places where the heavens and earth come closer, where the thin veil between the two is thinner, or collapses, and one experiences heaven on earth.
I have always felt that this place, on our farm looking out towards the harbour, with the flower fields and rolling hills, and the water in the background, is a spiritual place, a thin space, and nothing less than heaven on earth.
Please follow along with us on our journey as we share the beauty and inspiration found in our life at the flower farm, which will include our flower farming, our simple life, farmhouse style, DIY projects, and farmhouse recipes!
