By Carolyn Twesten, Weaver Street Market Produce Merchandiser
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Bluebird Meadows Farm in Hurdle Mills with two of our produce department managers, Greg and John. Farmers Stuart and Alice White were outside preparing some of their field crops for potential bad weather coming through that night and the next day. While it was a grey day outside, the hoophouses were bursting with the color of freesia, snapdragons, ranunculus, and deliciously scented stock. Some of these flowers will be making an appearance in Weaver Street Market’s floral department in Carrboro!
We first visited Stuart and Alice on the Piedmont Farm Tour of 2009. At that point they had only been farming at Bluebird Meadows for one year. A lot has changed since then! Starting out with rich soil but an otherwise blank slate, the couple built a greenhouse for seed starting and a rough packing shed before even starting on their house. They lived in a run-down farmhouse in nearby Roxboro while they got the farm running. A small farmers’ tool co-op started by some fellow farmers with help from a Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) grant supplied the tools needed to work the land. Now the farm has grown to include several hoophouses (unheated greenhouses that protect delicate crops and moderate extreme temperatures), two walk-in coolers, a new packing shed with a floral design studio, and of course, a house to live in.
The Whites began the search for their own land after working several seasons with Ken Dawson at Maple Spring Gardens. They finally found what they were looking for at Bluebird Meadows in rural Person County. They said, “We will never forget the feeling of immediate connection and nostalgia we experienced as we walked the land, as if we had come across something reminiscent of our childhood days of unbound freedom and possibility.”
Their land does seem magical, although being a full-time farmer is not always as idyllic as it seems. The crew at Bluebird Meadows were preparing for a coming storm that was to bring heavy rain, wind, and even hail. Earlier in February, unseasonably warm temperatures caused some of their outdoor crops to bud, and the buds were then damaged by freezing weather in March. While such weather is potentially harmful for any farmer, flowers are especially delicate and susceptible to damage. Stuart and Alice have added the hoophouses to protect the crops from weather extremes and to allow year-round flower production. Cool-season flowers like tulips, freesia, and ranunculus thrive in the winter when given just a small amount of protection from the elements.
Bluebird Meadows’s main marketing outlet is the downtown Durham Farmers’ Market, where you will find their corner stall filled to the brim with beautiful bouquets and vegetables year round. We are very excited to announce that they are now supplying our Carrboro store with cut flowers as well! Stop by to pick up a sustainably grown bouquet this week.