Farmer Friends Series: Treadlight Farm
Treadlight’s Gorgeous Fields
Welcome to our new series on the blog: Farmer Friends! We have the honor of working alongside such a beautiful group of Flower growers here in the Hudson Valley, who produce absolutely the most beautiful product so close to home! Our local flower season will start in April, but, while the season is ‘slow’, we reached out to our favorite farms with some questions so that we can share a bit about where our gorgeous product comes from April through October (and, when we’re lucky, into november!)
First up is Treadlight Farm! We’ve worked with Irene & Matt from the beginning and it’s been so special to see them grow — ha! — into the robust organic farm they are today! Read on to hear a bit about our friends at Treadlight!
Tell us about you! Who are you, what is your farm and where are you located?
We're Matt and Irene of Treadlight Farm in Kerhonkson, NY. We're about to enter our eleventh season growing cut flowers.
What first drew you to flower farming? How did you know this was what you wanted to spend your time doing?
We were trained on a vegetable CSA farm that grew a small amount of pick-your-own flowers for CSA members. Over time, we realized that there's so much more freedom in growing ornamentals — as long as it's beautiful and has a sliver of vase life, you can grow it and sell it. Though there's a lot of loss in trial and error, there's so much joy in bringing new and different products to the trade. Right now, we're focused on figuring out which northeastern native plants also make great cut flowers and introducing them as a new collection.
What part of the farming process brings you the most joy? The biggest challenge?
Working outside for a living is by far the greatest joy and challenge. By virtue of spending so much of our time outside, we are witness to small natural wonders all of the time–crazy sunrises, rainbows, blue herons that visit our fields, a monarch emerging from its chrysalis, spiderwebs in the morning dew, etc etc. But the flipside to that is we work in all weather — in rainstorms, in the cold, in the mud. It's uncomfortable and unpredictable.
What makes a florist/grower partnership feel good and collaborative to you?
The best partnerships are the ones that share our excitement about the new and weird things we grow, and where there's mutual respect for the care we all put into our work. It's so fun and rewarding to see our flowers transformed into arrangements and installations, and even better when they're alongside fresh product from our peers and colleagues. We are all — florists and farmers — hustling so hard in the high season that it's easy to get overwhelmed by the day-to-day demands, but it's nice to step back and appreciate the little regional economy and community we've all put so much work into building over the past decade.
What excites you most about the local flower movement right now?
The growth of the Hudson Valley Flower Collective! We've been trying to make this happen for YEARS. We're thrilled to be part of it and excited about its evolution.
THank you, Matt & Irene — and everyone at Treadlight — for bringing innovative cut flowers to the hands of local designers <3 Can’t wait to get our hands on those stems soon!
Check out treadlight on Instagram and their site!
… and, speaking of the Hudson Valley Flower COllective, we’ll feature some more about this integral system to our regional flower economy! Keep posted :)
Our next month will feature March’s seasonal blooms, and round out our year of Flowers: Month-by-month! Looking forward to welcoming spring in just a few short weeks. We’re so ready for spring, I’m sure you are, too.