Can you introduce yourself?
Hi, I’m Samantha, the founder of Sea Change Farm & Flower. I love flowers of all kinds–the weirder, the better! I believe that flowers have the power to connect us with nature and are grounding for the soul.
What made you want to start a flower farm?
I used to work in the tech industry, and I really missed having tangible work to do with my hands and body. I have an art background, so having 100% virtual work was hard for me.
I read about other flower farmers, and thought this sounded like the ideal life! A really great blend of creativity and problem-solving.
Say more about your art background.
I have a background in sculpture installation. I used to want to go back to art school and get an MFA, but I think the Art World is a crazy place, and I don’t think I’d like to be embedded in that. We can talk a lot about “art” vs. “craft,” but I think flowers can be both.
Anyway, I used to make these bizarre sculpture installations with things like scrap wood and nails and pantyhose. So I get really excited about the site-specific floral work, floral arches, floral meadow installations, and other flower sculptures. It’s very different working with a perishable medium!
How long have you been doing flowers for weddings?
Ironically we did our first wedding in 2020! So five years. At this point we’ve done over 100 weddings! We had a low-key little party for our 100th wedding, I brought brownies for our crew that day.
And what about the farm?
Sea Change Farm is in Accord, NY. We started in 2018. We’re a pretty small farm, both in that we have a small space, and a small team of farmers. It’s about 1.5 acres. Our farm is in the middle of a wooded area, too, and on a slope, so our field has a lot of strange little microclimates! I like to experiment with what unusual flowers we can grow in the wet spots, or the shady spots.
Is the farm open to visitors?
Currently the farm is only open by appointment, for example we invite our full service wedding clients to come visit for a table mockup. But we do have a self-serve farmstand that’s open on the weekends. We’re also starting a new thing, it’s still kind of secret, called the Arrangers’ Club, like a weekly flower membership that meets at the farm. We also do host workshops and private lessons on flower arranging.
Are you guys organic?
We’re not certified organic, but we do use all organic growing practices. Maybe one day we’ll look into certification. For now, when we buy things like fertilizer, I make sure they are organic-approved, and we don’t use any weird chemicals in our field. We actually make a lot of inputs ourselves, it’s kind of witchy! For example I make a calcium supplement for flower plants using eggshells and vinegar at home.
Do you have a favorite flower?
Usually whatever flower is newly-blooming on the farm becomes my current favorite. But there is a special peony that I especially love, it’s called “Green Lotus.” I love it because it’s so unique, it has twisty green petals, a fluffy yellow center, and smells like honey. It’s like a charming little alien flower!
Where can folks go to get in touch with you?
Well, you’re already on our website 😉 but we do send out a farm newsletter with updates as well as lots of flowery pictures and inspiration, so signing up for that is a great way.
For weddings it’s best to use our inquiry form, because it keeps everything organized and collects important information about your wedding. But folks can also email flowers@seachange.farm with any questions.