From City Life to Flower Farming: How an Unexpected Detour Changed Everything

Feb 25

Summer 2020: A Vacation Turned Into a Life Shift

Summer 2020, in the midst of a pandemic. My husband and I just landed back to the states after being “stuck” in Turks and Caicos for half a year. What was supposed to be a 5 days vacation turned into a 6 months lock down in paradise (please don’t hate me) after the local government shut the airport down to protect the citizens.

The thing is, while we were stranded, our apartment lease in NYC came to an end. Since we had no idea when we’d be able to come back, we decided not to renew. Movers had to pack our belongings and put them in storage for… who knew how long?

So when we were finally able to come “home,” we had no actual home to move into. Unsure if we wanted to keep living in NYC (everyone was working from home, everything fun was closed, and we’d be paying ridiculous rent just to sit inside), we decided to stay at my in-laws in Delaware while figuring things out.

Falling in Love With Upstate Living

While staying with them, we took a trip to visit some friends Upstate. We completely fell in love with the relaxed lifestyle—waking up to birds singing, having coffee with our feet in the grass, and ending the day by the pool. What if we just looked at houses on the market? You know… just for fun.

We thought we for sure wanted to live in a village. No way were we moving to the middle of nowhere—what would we do with no neighbors, cell service, or a coffee shop to walk to?

After visiting 4 houses in the village and feeling “meh” about it, our friend came up to us with a listing “Guys! This has been on the market for a while… Not sure what’s wrong with it but it might be worth checking out?”

And here we were, on a glorious summer day in the middle of this incredible land, a creek to our left, a meadow to our right and a woodland in front of us. Holy magic!

The farmhouse was charming, sure it needed a new kitchen, bathrooms, paint, dusting, tearing out the ugly cheetah carpet and repainting over the red walls (wtf?) - but being that, we were in love. “Where do we sign?”

And just like that (well, not just like that, but you get the point), we became homeowners.

Reality Check: The Farmhouse Wasn’t as Dreamy in Winter

Fast forward to November 2nd, the day we moved in… A gloomy drive up the Taconic Highway, we arrive to what felt like a completely different house. The chilly and quiet air surrounding us as we walk past the falling ugly wallpaper. Was this stain by the bathroom here before? Is there even heat in this house? I think I’m allergic to the dust in the carpet.

Oh god… What have we done?

Cue buyer’s remorse.

After months of sleeping on the floor while everything was getting a fresh coat paint, all carpets torn apart, reveling perfect wooden planks, we were finally starting to feel ok with our purchase again.

The Accidental Start of a Flower Farm

By April, the grass was green again, the wooden alive with singing birds, and I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I lived in the country and didn’t have a potager (that’s French for vegetable garden).

I picked what I thought was the perfect garden spot. Spoiler: it wasn’t. Just because an area is sunny in spring doesn’t mean it will be in summer. By the time July hit, the trees had filled in, shading half of my garden. By fall, the sun was so low I had to give up on my dream of homegrown Brussels sprouts.

Even though my vegetable garden wasn’t thriving, I had planted a few flowers to attract pollinators—cosmos, marigolds, sunflowers, and dahlias—the easy stuff.

I should first tell you that I never liked flowers… I know, what’s wrong with me?

Growing up in the French countryside, I was way more interested in the 20 puppies our labs had just brought into the world than whatever was blooming in the garden. And later, living in NYC, my only interaction with flowers was the sad, plastic-wrapped bouquets at bodegas—sitting under fluorescent lights next to piles of one of NYC’s signatures, trash and rats. No, thank you.

Imagine my shock when my first dahlia bloomed. OMFG!! This is what a flowers is supposed to look like!? Pure beauty, pure magic, absolute vibrant creation. Wow. I need a whole field of these.

And that’s it, that was the moment. I was going to start a flower farm. Why not? I already grew 5 dahlias, how much harder could it be?

Turning Passion Into a Business

That fall and winter, I went all in. I traded my novels for books on soil health, replaced Friday movie nights with my husband with 58 seasons of Gardeners’ World (yes, I became a full-fledged grandma), and took a six-week intensive online course on flower farming.

By spring, I called up a nearby farmer to till a portion of our land so I could get planting ASAP. Easy, right? Ha! There was no water supply, poor soil, and a thriving deer and rabbit population that saw my flowers as an all-you-can-eat buffet.

But I was determined. I spent every extra dollar I had on this vision—had a water line installed, put up an ugly-but-effective fence, and trucked in compost. I even signed up for a local farmers market before I knew if I’d have flowers. Thank goodness I did—well, most weeks. Others weeks? I survived purely on blind optimism.

🌸 Key Lessons From My Journey

🌸 Be open to unexpected opportunities—sometimes, they lead you to your dream (or, at the very least, a six-month tropical “lockdown”).

🌸 Take risks—if something excites you, follow that feeling (even if it means buying a house covered in cheetah-print carpet).

🌸 Nature is unpredictable—trees will shade your garden, deer will snack on your hard work, and weather will humble you.

🌸 Invest in what you love—even if it means spending your savings on compost and deer-proof fencing instead of vacations.

🌸 Learn from those who’ve gone before you—I didn’t just wing it (well, not entirely). I devoured books, binge-watched Gardener’s World like it was a thriller, and took an intensive flower farming course. Whatever dream you’re chasing, someone has done it before—study them, learn from their mistakes, and then make your own magic.

🌸 Commit before you feel ready—I signed up for a farmers market before I even knew if I’d have flowers. Some weeks, I crushed it. Other weeks? I smiled through mild panic. But that commitment pushed me forward.

🌸 Let yourself be surprised—I never cared about flowers until I grew my first dahlia. That single bloom changed my entire life. Sometimes, the things you never expected to love end up being the most important.

🌸 Success doesn’t happen overnight—My first growing season was chaotic. I made mistakes, faced failures, and had moments of what have I done? But I kept showing up, and little by little, things bloomed—literally and figuratively.

🌸 Happiness isn’t in a paycheck—it’s in purpose—I used to think success meant a fancy NYC salary. Now, I make twice that growing flowers, breathing fresh air, and working with my hands. More importantly? I wake up excited every day. That’s worth more than any paycheck.