HIGHGATE — Heather Daudelin is finally fulfilling her childhood dream of owning a roadside farmstand.
“I always wanted my own vegetable stand,” she said Monday, standing amongst her new flower garden. “But then I started growing cut flowers a few years ago, and I just loved it.”
This weekend, she opens Heather’s Vermont Flower Farm in Highgate for you-pick. The field adjacent to her home at 74 Beaver Pond Road is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday.
Customers can cut bouquets of 20-25 stems for $15, with cups to hold the flowers provided. There are currently six flower varieties to choose from, including black-eyed susans, snapdragons, zinnias, statice, bachelor buttons and calendula. Cosmos and sunflowers should bloom in the next few weeks.
“And here we have even more zinnias, because you can never have enough,” Daudelin said as she toured the garden.
Heather’s Vermont Flower Farm offers zinnias, snapdragons, black-eyed susans and more for bouquet-making. Three hundred flowers sprout in each row.
Bridget Higdon
She taught herself the basics of flower growing at scale this past winter through watching social media videos and DMing other farm owners.
With the help of her partner Chris, they measured and dug about 10 rows in their side yard wide enough to fit 300 seedlings each. Daudelin started some of the seeds indoors before transplanting them outside as the weather warmed up.
She succession-planted the sunflowers so their blooms are staggered from now into the early fall.
The growing was similar in many ways, she said, to the fruits and vegetables she already loves to grow. An avid canner, Daudelin plans to soon open a little stand near the flower garden to sell her canned goods, like berry jams, dilly beans and pickles.
In the coming weeks, the flower farm will host other small business owners for pop-up events. In addition to picking-your-own flowers, guests can check out permanent jewelry from Ember + Gold on Sunday, Aug. 10 and from CINful Confidence on Saturday, Aug. 23.
Tuesdays with Tracy will sell handmade clay and resin earrings at the farm on Saturday, Aug. 16.
Snapdragons in the you-pick garden. Heather Daudelin said they are her partner Chris’ favorite.
Bridget Higdon
Overall, Daudelin hopes the flower field becomes a fun, affordable activity for local families.
“I remember when my daughter was little, wanting to take pictures of her and beautiful flowers,” she said. “Sometimes, you don’t have a lot of money to pay people, so just come here and take the picture yourself.”
Daudelin is already scheming of ways to expand for next year — including rows of perennials and a larger sunflower field — but for now, she’s just excited to see folks this weekend.
“Let’s make it fun,” she said.