Remembering the Sunflower U-Pick 🌻

For the past 20+ years a local farmer leased our 5 acre field from the previous owner and cycled through a variety of crops, and so, when the lease ended when the property changed hands there was one last agreement to fulfill: replanting the field. After a few phone calls, a lot of googling, and a trip to the Farmer’s Co-op for six 50 pound bags of birdseed on June 1st a large tractor made laps around the field tucking seeds of sunshine into the soil.

On the morning of August 17th Percy was making coffee in the kitchen when she heard Clary squeal from the living room - “they’re blooming!!!!!!” We rushed out into the field and waded in to the small patch that had begun blooming about 20 ft into the 5 acres of flowers.

We were over the moon - and headed to Mabou for Blueberry Jam Music Festival for the weekend. When we got back Sunday night even more flowers were blooming and we decided that Percy would take the week off work, try and paint the house, and maybe point a couple people towards the field if they came by. We made up a little poster and put it out on facebook.

However, that’s not quite what happened…

Within 24 hours of posting about the u-pick, and the night before it was set to open, the post had been shared over 500 times. We weren’t sure what to expect - however we didn’t have to wait long as the first people showed up at 10 o’clock the next morning and then the joy truly began.

That first day we had over 300 people come through and pick 1,500 flowers from the field. Over the course of Tuesday to Sunday 1,000 people would come to our farm and pick over 10,000 flowers. Some were our close neighbours, some drove from Sydney, and some even drove from Ingonish + Port Hawkesbury. Some picked them and brought them across the street to the cemetery, some brought buckets and picked enough to adorn the tables of a wedding in Neil’s Harbor, and some bought a bouquet for them + a bouquet for their nan.

The most joyful 2 weeks of our journey so far

Have you ever seen a kid with bubbles? It’s one of the most joyful things out there. Well, for that glorious week of the u-pick we saw adults with the same look of joy on their faces. There is something special about flowers, and their power to bring beauty and joy to people when they need it. It’s one of the things we love about them, and one of the reasons we want to have a flower farm.

At the time of this publishing we’re heading into the last week of our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. If it’s still live when you’re reading this we would be so grateful for your support to help us create more beautiful joyful moments in Cape Breton like the sunflower u-pick was 🌻