The farm - part 1 - How it started
It’s been over 2 years since I embarked on this dreamy idea of becoming a flower farmer. Two years is a long time and a short time. My kid was 6 and now he’s turning 9. That’s an eon in kid years. Lots has happened that led me here, and it all began with a decision to grow a new life for my son and myself, literally from the ground up.
When my son was under five, I ran a home-based kids art school and managed a popular municipal pottery studio. I was busy, but it was fun and the hours were flexible. I was out in the community connecting with people, being creative, and bringing folks together in the pursuit of collaborative projects and big ideas. I was responsible for a staff of ten artists and the artwork of hundreds of kids and potters.
In the winter of 2022, as we all started to re-emerge after Covid, I suddenly became a full-time single mom to my awesomely autistic kindergartener. This is not the forum for sharing those details, but let’s just say it’s been a matter of keeping my son and I safe and supported ever since. This transition made it impossible for me to keep up my business and my job and provide my son the support he needed. I closed my much-loved art school and took a leave of absence from my job to try and work it all out.
That summer we stayed home. We made art. We gardened and baked. We played with our cats and ordered groceries in because he couldn’t go out. We invited our friends and family to come to us instead of the other way around. We bounced on the trampoline for hours every day. We learned about autism and trauma and went to therapy. We made our own safe little world filled with clay and flowers and sourdough and home-grown tomatoes.
Ever the entrepreneur, I started a tiny little garden stand at the end of my driveway. It was literally a rickety old bookshelf that I bungee-corded to the fence. It was a fun way to connect with the neighbours, make a little extra money and have an outlet for both my creativity and the bounty I was managing to grow in my yard.
As the summer passed and we entered into Fall 2022 still at home, it became more and more clear to me that my son’s access to education will look different. Not just as we transitioned into a 2-person family, but long-term. It will never be a linear path because he carves his own path (…and frankly, I know where he gets it from). I needed to work from home for both of us to thrive in a meaningful way.
Neurodivergent kids like my son need the right kind of support and environmental accommodations to thrive in the public school system. It’s just not set up for their needs, and despite a lot of effort made by wonderful educators there is a monumental way to go.
The right support often starts with a parent who is willing and brave enough to advocate for those things and understands the sacrifices and changes needed to support that unique child. It is very common for one parent in a neurodivergent family to stay home for this very reason. It’s a full-time job, even when they’re in school. No joke. As the only parent, I had to come up with a plan that allowed me to be flexible and drop everything if I needed to go and pick him up, and to stay home during holidays (and the endless list of Pro-D days) because group childcare and summer camps are not an option for us.
So, in typical Renée fashion, I came up with a gigantic, life-changing, somewhat spontaneous ‘plan’, drew a few pictures in my sketchbook of what I had in mind, and got to work on creating a path to my future.
In November 2022, I resigned from my job. I signed up for and completed a 6-week flower farming course from Erin Benzakien at Floret Farms. I turned my rented, urban backyard into seven 3x20’ flower beds. I put a note in my neighbour’s mailbox asking if I could garden on their un-tended urban farm that’s directly across the street from my house (more on that in the next post). I got permits from the municipality for my home-based business and farm-stand, decided on a name, got a domain and made a website.
Never one to go small, I planted 3000 tulips on that Christmas Eve and I was on my way….
What started as a way for me to find peace and listen to myself and the birds and my son quickly bloomed into a vision I’ve been following ever since, despite the roadblocks life has offered along the way.
Thanks for being part of my story as a witness to the journey.
xo - Renée
In Part 2, I’ll share how it turns out the neighbour across the street is someone I’ve known for over 10 years (having taught her kids art in my basement studio when they were younger!).
You’ll hear how I roped another neighbour two doors down into transforming the overgrown gardens on that historical property, and you’ll see how we turned what was underneath all the weeds and tangled deer fencing into a thriving garden full of flowers, bees and the future.
