Today we’d like to introduce you to Allie Long. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Philwood Farms started when we moved into our home 6 years ago, we, Jacob & Allie Long, got married in June 2016 and bought around 10 acres with our house. After talking to many neighbors around us, we discovered the person who originally built the house had a few gardens so we knew the next summer we wanted to plant something to utilize the land. Spring of 2017, we got out in the garden area with a hand tiller and spent many hours going back and forth tilling up that soil that hadn’t been used in many years.
After we got the area prepared, we spent one evening dropping seeds where we thought they should go. We’d call my (Allie) grandfather, Poppy, and ask him about spacing for corn – then we’d get it planted and then we’d call him back and ask about okra and so on. The garden that year did incredibly – you know you don’t have to plant a whole row of okra to have enough. It produced like crazy, so Allie, being a teacher and having summer off, decided to go to the Anderson Farmer’s Market to sell some of the produce. It was fun getting to know people and seeing some “regulars” and such. That winter we grew 5,000 collard plants as well as some broccoli. That was exciting and the temperature was better too!
The next year, we signed on with another farmer, Tom Garrison, to grow some hemp in our field. Wow – that was quite the experience, it was a whole year process and I think we may still be recovering. It was so labor intensive and the market was flooded that year, so needless to say it was a great learning experience, but not fun. That’s when we knew we wanted to get back to vegetables, which people enjoyed and I wanted to try some flowers because who does not love flowers? This is our third full year of flower farming and we are still learning a TON. In fact, this year due to drought our dahilas have not done as we wanted. Deer have also been a big influence on our field area this year, they have even eaten our zucchini, squash, and tomatoes, which they have not done before. They also feasted on our 4-acre field of sunflowers.
It really wasn’t until 2020 that we started officially Philwood Farms, it was very COVID induced as right as March 2020 hit people had to stay at home and the flowers were producing abundantly and people wanted to send them to their loved ones or receive for themselves to enjoy in the confines of their own home. We continue to learn as we try our hand at growing different plants every year, while also having fun doing it together as our hobby/business adventure.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Are any roads smooth? No, it hasn’t been a smooth road, however, we have learned with each bump and obstacle in our path. Some of the struggles include:
– Deer eating our sunflowers and veggies.
– Learning about what bugs are in our environment and what to do about them (i.e. eucalyptus leaf beetle… death!).
– Learning about tomato bottom rot – calcium will cure that.
– Soil pH.
– September storms will come through and knock over a whole row of dahilas.
– The list goes on and on.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Philwood Farms?
We are Philwood Farms, specializing in farm and floral. More recently we have leaned more towards the floral part, producing locally grown cut flowers for weddings, events, and for people to enjoy. We also continue to grow an abundance of greens in the fall – collards, broccoli, kale, etc.
While Philwood Farms is not our full-time job, we are most proud of our hard work ethic, despite difficult years like when deer have terrorized a lot of our crops, etc., we continue to be optimistic about future years. Also, we are most proud of Philwood Farms being a place for people to find joy, whether it’s in beautiful flowers on their dining room table or enjoying grandma’s collards on New Year in hopes of good fortune.
How do you define success?
Success is defined by actions and your willingness to accomplish set goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: philwoodfarms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philwoodfarms/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philwoodfarms
