OUR ROOTS

Hi, I’m Amanda. Broadside Flowers is my tiny little flower farm. I moved to Terra Cotta a few years ago from Toronto, where I had worked as an artist and landscape gardener for close to a decade. Our 1 acre piece of paradise didn’t start out as a farm though - in fact, the land was nothing but grass when we moved in. One of the first things I did was remove as much ‘lawn’ as I could and planted extensive perennial gardens surrounding the house. I spent every bit of spare time I had working on those gardens.

In 2017, after commuting to Toronto full time and feeling pretty burnt out, I pitched this crazy idea of starting a flower farm to my partner, Steve. He was on board right away. I set to converting unused space to new flower beds - 50 and 100 foot rows of flowers instead of the rambling perennial beds that I was used to.

My years as a gardener had prepared me fairly well for this new endeavor but I had so much more to learn. Farming comes with its own unique challenges, even on a small scale, and I made a ton of mistakes in my first year. I also had lots of successes though!

I’ve had the chance to meet the most amazing florists and growers, and make connections in my community. I’m so excited to continue growing this little farm. We’re a small operation with big dreams! And of course our dog, Hank, is a huge help as well.