WILDSIDE FLOWER FARM
 

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Everything here is grown organically, tended by hand, and shaped by the limits and possibilities of this place. I don’t use tractors or heavy machinery. The work—planting, lifting, harvesting, composting—is done by me, in relationship with the land, the weather, and the rhythms of the seasons.​​

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Caring for animals is part of that relationship. My two horses, Brian and Bunji, and my llamas, Coco and Bobo, are companions as well as contributors to the farm’s ecosystem. Brian is my riding partner, Bunji my walking partner, and together they help close nutrient loops through the slow, deliberate work of composting their manure back into the soil.

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I have always felt a sense of calm and purpose in gardens. Both sides of my family include generations of gardeners, and I carry that lineage with me. One of my first books, Flower Works by Hilary Waldon, still sits on my shelf. When I recently opened it, I found pressed flowers tucked between its pages—likely placed there in the late 1980s. That small discovery reminded me that this work has been quietly unfolding across decades.

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Before Wildside Flower Farm, my path included study and work as a naturopath, acupuncturist, care worker, and later as a founder and CEO of a worker‑owned cooperative in aged and disability care. In 2020, amid perimenopause, depression, and the wider disruptions of that time, I stepped away from that work. With my partner, Matt, I bought a piece of land in Charleys Forest. What felt like a break was, in hindsight, a necessary re‑orientation toward a life that could be lived more slowly and more honestly.

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When we arrived, the property was largely a blank canvas. An old miner’s cottage stood with care but little infrastructure, and the land held only mature trees planted long before us. Over time, we have worked to restore the cottage and to shape the land into a place where flowers, wildlife, and human life can coexist. Large areas remain ungrazed for frogs, insects, birds, and the health of the creek and wetlands. We have planted for pollinators, left habitat for reptiles and microbats, and built soil through composting rather than extraction.

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Wildside Flower Farm grew from this process. I focus on peonies and other flowers that thrive in our cold climate, grown for local markets and select florists. Alongside this, I have returned to flower pressing, using traditional, slow methods. I don’t use silica, dyes, or artificial preservation. Flowers are pressed over weeks, allowed to age and change, and then made into artworks that carry the short abundance of summer into the rest of the year.

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All flowers used in my bouquets and artwork are grown, harvested, and pressed by me. I pick selectively, leaving most blooms for pollinators and wildlife. What I offer is shaped by care, limits, and attention, rather than scale.Today, my days are spent tending the garden, growing peonies, pressing flowers, and creating work that reflects this place and the relationships that sustain it. The garden has been part of my own healing, and I see its wider impacts in healthier soil, returning wildlife, and a slower, more grounded way of living.

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I’m grateful to everyone who supports Wildside Flower Farm and welcomes these flowers and artworks into their lives. This work is as much about care and responsibility as it is about beauty, and I’m glad to share what this land offers, in season and in relationship.