Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Bull.
Hi Stephanie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I never considered myself a country girl. I grew up mostly in the suburbs and never had a garden or nurtured anything other than an occasional pet fish or stray cat. My husband grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and was surrounded by old farmhouses and rolling pastures of farmland. He has always wanted to own land and I’ve always admired historic homes that oozed with character. When we relocated to the Charlotte area from Atlanta in 2014 we built a home for our family in a growing community called Fort Mill, SC for its small southern town feel and great schools. The town quickly became one of the fastest-growing towns in America as thousands flocked from all over the country for the slower pace of life. In early 2020 we decided the suburb life wasn’t for us and dreamed of having a small farm to raise some chickens and provide a different way of living for our family. We purchased a small farm and a 150-year-old farmhouse in early 2020, just before the pandemic began. In a sense, it was perfect timing. We moved in and immediately busied ourselves in the work of getting settled into a new home and learning how to garden. My husband was always the one with a green thumb. For most years, he kept a small raised bed garden to grow vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers or squash. But as for me, I had zero gardening experience. That’s why I thought it would be funny to set up a Facebook and Instagram page for our family and friends to follow our journey. Two suburbanites diving headfirst into farm life was bound to present some entertaining stories to share.
When we moved into the farm, we quickly filled up the existing raised garden beds with every type of vegetable you can imagine. It was a beautiful and abundant garden that summer! I also planted a couple of dahlia plants, some gladiolus and marigolds, and fell in love with the blooms among the vegetable plants. But my journey into flower farming actually began with a small packet of zinnia seeds. I scratched up some dirt next to our greenhouse and sprinkled them in as an experiment to see if I could grow something there. The flowers bloomed tall and prolific all summer long, providing me with fresh flowers for my home and to share with friends. They brought me so much joy during the difficult time we all experienced with the pandemic. I noticed that when I shared photos on social media of my flowers, it brought joy to others too. And I was hooked.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Farming is not for the faint of heart. The nature of farming is full of obstacles and challenges. I’m not really sure why I thought starting a business during a pandemic with zero knowledge or experience in farming was a great idea…but here we are! I think ignorance was actually beneficial, otherwise, I may have talked myself out of venturing down this road if I knew all the things that could go wrong. I think the constant challenges and learning curve is what keep me intrigued. I am a problem solver, creative and love to learn new things. Growing and nurturing flowers allows me to employ my strengths and definitely teaches me something new every day. When I decided to make this a business, I invested in an educational course, and many other resources to help me learn as much as I could about cut flower production. I spent a full year reading, watching and listening to industry experts, and began building relationships with other experienced growers to glean from their experience and exchange ideas. Knowledge and experience are critical for surviving pest and disease infestations, uncontrollable weather variables and many other hurdles. I have fallen in love with the process of discovery, observation and understanding of nature just as much as I love harvesting the beautiful blooms that are produced from our labor.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Indigo Iris Farm?
We are a boutique specialty cut flower farm in upstate South Carolina. Our mission is to encourage creativity, incite wonder and curiosity for nature, and cultivate joy through flowers. We accomplish that through a focus on growing high-quality specialty and heirloom varieties and offering on farm experiences. Our desire is for our customers to discover flowers they have never seen before and can’t find elsewhere. We want to provide our customers with blooms that they won’t see at the grocery store and in some cases, can’t get through a florist either.
Uncommon varieties and heirloom flowers that aren’t grown in mass production are what we want to be known for.
What sets us apart from other growers is our desire to share our love of beauty and learning through on-site events and creative workshops. My vision for our farm is to create a place that brings together art, education and horticulture. I want to encourage visitors to our farm to slow down and appreciate the beauty all around them, and leave feeling inspired, informed and refreshed.
How do you think about happiness?
Bringing joy to others makes me happy! This past summer was our first season to offer a pick-your-own garden where our customers can come and spend time in a mass of blooms choosing their own flowers to take home. I looked forward to each and every session because the flowers and whole experience had such an impact on people. You can see a noticeable change from when they arrive and when they leave. Their shoulders relax and their faces are less tense. They seem lighter and happier because of the flowers and their time doing something peaceful! During the past couple of years when the entire world struggled with grief, anger, isolation and so many other dark and heavy feelings, it makes me feel privileged to contribute something that offers hope, joy and makes others feel loved. Because what we do here is certainly a labor of love!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.IndigoIrisFarm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indigoirisfarm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigoirisfarm
Image Credits
Carissa Rogers Photography
