Photo by Lauren Allen.
Past Plano, Allen, McKinney and even Anna, you’ll find Van Alstyne. It’s still a small town in many aspects. Older homes sit shaded by decades-old trees on large lots, even as the cul-de-sacs and cookie cutters slowly creep in. The streets get a little narrower, and local businesses abound.
Driving down Van Alstyne Parkway, it is certainly possible to pass Children’s Home Healthcare thinking it’s just a collection of houses-turned workspaces on an amply-sized plot of land. But turn in, drive down the short gravel driveway, and suddenly it’s there.
Rising out of the grass, row after row of sunflowers and almost every shade of zinnia illuminate Freshly Cut Stems’ fields, teeming with hummingbirds and butterflies. But that’s just what was there when we visited — it’s constantly evolving.
“You can come in July and then you can come a month or two later and you’re gonna have a different experience every time.” says owner Jennifer Hadfield. “Because we’re constantly growing different flowers, some flowers are fading, some are coming in.”
Launched earlier last year, Lochwood neighbor Hadfield has turned extra space on her family business’s property into a full-on farm. She supplies local florists in Lake Highlands, delivers hand-picked bouquets from the farm and brings her “Stem Bar” to local events and private parties.
But the main draw is U-Pick, added earlier this year.
For $30, customers can come to Van Alstyne and grab a bucket, gloves and snippers. Hadfield gives a short tutorial on how to properly cut and trim, then she lets them loose. The price of admission includes around 25-30 stems of the customer’s choosing, although more can be picked for an additional price. Afterwards, Hadfield helps customers assemble their bouquets, and sends them on their way.
“I think if you are the type of person who likes to go to the Arboretum, this is the place for you,” Hadfield says. “And you get to actually pick the flowers whereas the Arboretum, you’re just looking at what’s going on, what they’ve planted, so my hope is to give them an experience.”
She started off primarily delivering bouquets. But customers were curious about the mysterious farm up north.
“When I would deliver the bouquets, everyone would always be like, can people come visit your farm?” Hadfield says. “They’re always interested in visiting a farm. So I think adding the U-Pick is something interesting for people to explore.”
She isn’t from an agricultural background, but for her, planting has been passed down. Hadfield’s mother always kept a garden wherever they lived, she says.
“I always have loved gardens,” she says. “And when I was little and we would go visit my grandparents, my sister and I would always go out and cut little wildflower bouquets for my grandmother, and we always loved looking at other people’s gardens.”
After she met her husband, who she describes as having a green thumb, she reignited her love for gardening in her backyard. Delving deeper and deeper into the hobby, she made a connection.
“I think the flowers really came in after I started growing my own garden,” she says.
“We had this land up here, and my dad didn’t really know what to do with the land, because we have the business in the front, and then the lots are so long in the back, and I just kind of had an idea, like, why don’t we try doing a flower farm? It’s not really too much of an initial cost, we can just kind of try it in that area, and we did, and I really liked it.”
As she’s navigated the process that comes with farming for the first time, she says she’s “always learning.” She’s begun planning out her plantings months in advance. Taking the seasons into account, she tries to schedule blooms with precision — although preciseness can often mean approximation in her business, especially when severe weather enters the mix.
After more than a year in the business, she says she’s connected with other area farmers to hone her craft.
“I have flower farmer friends now that are in the area that I’m always kind of throwing ideas, bouncing ideas off of,” Hadfield says. “We all help each other out. I think it’s a really great community of people who really enjoy farming.”
You might ask, why drive almost an hour to pick bulbs or go to the trouble of specially requesting a bouquet delivery when convenient grocery stores are just down the street?
“It’s kind of the same thing as going to a farmers market,” she says, “This is going to appeal to people who would rather buy their vegetables and appreciate the people.”
“I feel like the other thing that happens when people buy fresh flowers, or local flowers is, they’re really going to appreciate it after they buy the bouquet, a lot of the flowers will kind of continue moving and growing. Whereas, I feel like when you’re buying flowers from a grocery store, the day you buy those flowers is going to be the best day that that flower has, it’s not going to get any better than that.”
Freshly Cut Stems emphasizes the importance of buying local. Sustainability too. Hadfield says she stays aways from plastics and doesn’t use chemicals. Her blooms go directly to florists or her customers, eliminating the waste and carbon footprint that comes with what you might see in stores.
“I encourage people, when they come to do the U-Pick, to bring their own vase so that we don’t have to reuse something,” she says. “I think that it’s important to make sure that you’re not wasteful or using things that you don’t need to use.”
With fall just around the corner, she’s currently planning out her spring blooms. She says she’s looking into lesser-known varieties to offer along with crowd favorites.
If you can’t make the trek up US-75, no worries, she says. There’s a local spot that can save neighbors the drive.
“If people aren’t able to come up to the farm they should visit Lake Highlands Flowers,” Hadfield says. “Because that is a place where we sell our flowers, so they can always go in and request the local flowers. I really enjoy having a relationship with that florist. And they’re right there in the neighborhood.”
Meanwhile, she will continue driving close to an hour several days a week to her vibrant oasis. Surrounded by a myriad of bright hues mixed in with Grayson County brush, Hadfield says the reactions to her products can be as rewarding as the flowers themselves.
“I personally love delivering flowers,” she says. “I mean, you’re giving flowers to someone, it makes them happy, even when people come to the farm. I’m like ‘Here, I’m done with your bouquet’ and they’re like ‘Wow this is great.’ It makes them happy, and I think that’s important.”
