15/12/2024
We do quite a bit 😀 if you didn't already know - fun fact - I recently opened another small business, Jessica's Cleaning Services. Get to know me a little more and my goals by reading more! Lily's Garden is really special to me. I named it after my 3 year old daughter, Lillian to have somewhere we can bond and capture memories and to plant and expand every year as she grows. I wanted to see a small garden that when I look at it, I am surrounded by love and memories with my baby. I then came across flower farming one day and it was instant for me, I knew this was my one thing I was called to do. Why not make an even bigger garden and let others experience the same beauty? From there, everything kicked off pretty quickly. I did most of my learning on YouTube. The first year turned out pretty successful just attending the farmers market which allowed me to make many new friends and really help me test the market for locally grown flowers so I decided to make it official finally. Planning for my second year is when I decided to open my you pick. It's small, in the middle of a neighborhood without beautiful acres of woods surrounded by it, and early on I mainly have zinnias, basil and sunflower while my perennials and newly planted trees are maturing. I wasn't sure anyone would think my garden is special because of these things it was lacking. I admit, I'm a little worried about the location, but it's growing on me. I was confident, yet scared and unsure if what I imagined would be what actually would happen. I finally decided to have my you pick opening at the end of June 2024. I sat there outside for hours and no one came. I was pretty heartbroken. I was so excited and this is the only you pick in town, how could there not be more guests? Then I saw my first customer finally and a few more pulled up. I was so happy talking to them about my garden, my daughter played with theirs, and they were running along the aisles. It was so beautiful and exactly what I imagined, even though I didn't have the crowd I expected. But, one thing about me, is I have hope instilled all throughout me. I know no matter what, that it's going to work out for the best so even though I do get stressed and worry, I tend to not be so worried and still look forward to what's to come because I just know it's going to be okay - another reason my garden is so special to me and what lead me to a relationship with God and a story of hope. A couple weeks went by, my garden is full of beautiful flowers and no customers in sight. No one was coming. I was starting to feel defeated. I decided that if I was going to have to cut all of these beautiful flowers, I wanted to at least be able to share them with my community in some way instead of composting them and that gave me the idea on how to give back to my community when I can and now I do like to offer fundraising events and other opportunities to help small community clubs help our community. I decided my first would be to invite everyone in my church to come pick flowers for free that Saturday and Sunday. From there, my flower farm got much busier with other guests finding out about me through my church posting the flowers they just picked. Although I had spent basically 1.5 years on spreading the word about my flower farm, still so many people didn't know about me and to this day, there are still so much of our small town who hasn't even heard of Lily's Garden and will travel up to an hour or more away to another flower farm. I planted a massive amount of seeds and seedlings in the Spring to accommodate as many people as I possibly could in my small front yard garden. I actually never once sold out of flowers, even while serving 335 guests in July alone which is a huge amount for me. Of course, I did plant for many more people, but I almost didn't actually expect that many people to support me and my flower farm, however all of you showed out and helped support my vision. I am so thankful. My goal for 2025 is to add a Spring season to my you pick garden and officially open in March once the tulips and daffodils start and stay open until November. I have also added hundreds of new flowers this year to the garden, including iris, allium, anemone and ranunculus for the spring season. I am expanding the main you pick garden to have a constant supply of sunflowers that are fresh. For photography sessions, I am growing two different successions of sunflowers in the back by the barn, one for July photos and one for September photos, along with the absolute beautiful images that are able to be captured in the main you pick garden. I also have one pretty big goal, that may or may not happen, but I am hoping it will and working hard to make it happen. I am wanting to provide shade and seating for you to sit and enjoy the flowers and maybe some ice cream or enjoy a picnic, or just enjoy the silence and read a book in the garden. I would like to have two gazebos, one about double the size of the smaller one, the bigger one in the back and the smaller one up front in the main garden. The bigger one will be considered a party venue where myself and other small businesses in our town collaborate and teach classes and host events. Also, you will be able to reserve parties and events which include picking flowers for your guests. Then for the front garden, just a nice shady gazebo with comfy furniture and pillows to sit and relax and enjoy. And also I'd like to be able to have bathrooms. It is my goal and priority to make these things happen for you, which is another reason I decided to start Jessica's Cleaning Services alongside Lily's Garden to increase income to expand the farm and to expand my available services as I have a passion seeing gardens and homes transform all from just a bit of hard work, elbow grease and belief that you can make it work and I needed something to do in my off season and something else to focus my efforts on. My favorite jobs are starting from scratch or renewing an overgrown garden bed, working in normal, cluttered homes who need just a bit of organization ideas and help to make their home lives more manageable, helping transform a shower/tub/toilet with lots of soap scum and hard water stains (to the best of my ability), washing and renewing frequently touched doors and light switches and the wall surrounding it and pressure washing sidewalks, driveways, porches and patios. I also really enjoy big jobs left by tenants - moving out left behind items/trash, removing ni****ne stains, carpet cleaning and a full move/in out clean which includes every single wall and nook and cranny is cleaned. The bigger the challenge, the more I enjoy it. I have big goals for both of these businesses that I work towards everyday and I am so glad you guys are here for the ride and helping make my dreams and vision come true, a lot of you from the very beginning back in January 2023 when I started Lily's Garden. I feel like 2025 is going to be a big year for me and my two small businesses. If it wasn't for all of you supporting me in any way you have even if you've just shared or reacted to my posts or told a friend about me, I would not have the confidence to continue to expand my brand and have the big dreams that I do. I appreciate you all so much for coming to my garden, buying flowers at the farmers market and pop up events, shopping for flowers at Duncans, and now allowing me in your homes to help clean and organize them and to work in your landscaping. I've built many beautiful relationships with so many of you the last two years and can't wait to build many more with all of you who I have not spoken to or met yet ❤️❤️
