The Deliberate Agrarian: Thea Folls' Flower Farm(A Beautiful Agri-Preneurial Idea)

Dateline: 4 May 2014

Folls Flower Farm, in Owasco, N.Y.
(photo by Thea Folls)

I had to stand outdoors, in a slow-moving line to get my 40 Hardwood Tree Seedlings a couple days ago. The woman behind me struck up a conversation about the weather (cool, overcast, and spitting rain). Then she mentioned that she had a flower farm, and was soon getting her first hive of honeybees. I told her my "Can You Feel The Energy?" Honeybee Swarm Story, and asked where her farm was. She told me it was up around Frozen Ocean and handed me a business card. Thea Folls, Folls Flower Farm. Well, it turns out Thea's farm is pretty close to where I live. We're practically neighbors, in the rural sense of the word.

My book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian, has a chapter titled, "A Summer Evening's Meal," in which I wrote about the farmer's market in Skaneateles, New York. One of the vendors I mentioned is Heather, a "young woman that sells beautiful bouquets of flowers at the market." Come to find out, Heather is Thea's daughter.

I wrote that story back in 2005, so Folls Flower Farm has been in business for several years. The local newspaper published an article about Thea and her flower farm a couple months ago: Hobby Blooms into Career at Folls Flower Farm in Owasco. The article is informative, and so is this article (written by Thea) in Country Woman magazine: Flower Farm For Weddings.

If you're looking for a unique agri-preneurial niche (as I know many who read this blog are), perhaps flower farming would be just right for you. And, of course, if someone you know is getting married in Central New York, you will certainly want to check out Folls Flower Farm.