Taking the Hard Path

Time and time again, I am asked what Frank and I do during the winter months. I know that the majority of farmers living in a cold climate experience this as well. First off, there are a multitude of duties to perform while our soil rest.  We have seeds to start, dahlias to bring back to life, plugs to tend to, and not to mention maintaining friendships.

Currently, we are dealing with one of the most grueling winter tasks: protecting our low tunnels and hoop house. Yesterday we woke up to a collapsed low tunnel. We got our snow pants on and got to work. With the low tunnel’s hoops being made of PVC, the house bounced right back up as we removed the snow. One piece did snap, but that is an easy fix. Our low tunnels are 3 years old and this is the first problem we have had! After shoveling the wet, heavy snow, I knew that my hilltop hoop house could be in peril.

We built our hoop house this past summer in a recently logged spot at the highest point our family’s land. The hoop house was not a kit; it came in a million pieces from a fellow Westmorelander for $300. We had no instructions to go by, just the information my farmer friend volunteered. The final outcome is in fact a working hoop house, but I will admit there are a lot of mysterious extra pieces still lying around. So here we are, our first winter with a hoop house, in a location with no road access, surrounded by trees.

I took a video to show you my journey up to the greenhouse. In the summer months, the hike leaves me gasping for air. Yesterday, I did this trek in snow gear, through 18 inches of snow. I am glad I did, though! There was heavy snow building up on both ends of the hoop house’s roof. The sides of greenhouse were piling up as well. The weight of the heavy, wet snow was pushing in on the greenhouse plastic.

End result: The hoop house lives to see another day! But I must remember, while I won this battle, there is no certainty that I will win the next. I will remain vigilant and guarded as I await the next storm’s arrival… which is tomorrow.

Where It All Began: Kristen's Story

As a wedding planner, floral designer, venue owner and flower farmer, I find my days busy and fulfilled. I am very grateful that I am somehow lucky enough to spend my time doing the things that I genuinely enjoy. There were lots of arduous, long days and nights before I got to this point. While I don’t miss those days, they were eminent in making me the person I am today. They developed my character and gave me the experiences I needed to run my business successfully. 

I grew up working in my father’s restaurant in central Massachusetts where my priorities were a little different.  At the time I enjoyed arranging deep fried frog legs on a plate in shapes that resembled synchronized swimmers. When I was in high school, I had differing interests. I became a vegetarian and wanted to explore a field where I was surrounded by nature. For this reason, I took on an additional job.

My second job was at a place that I had always loved going to as a kid. It was packed to the gills with flowers. My favorite part was their woodsy display of shade grown plants, trees and shrubs. With decor sprinkled throughout, I felt like I was in a perfectly curated, mystical forest. Working at this garden center assured me that I do love working with flowers and plants. I love every aspect: tending, shaping, designing, seeding… I used to take home little stems that had fallen off of the plants. I would make mini bouquets to put in my bedroom. The vibrant colors of chrysanthemums and dahlias were the first to catch my attention.

I certainly enveloped the “work hard play hard” aspect at a young age, which I have since grown out of. I was very social. With my father’s restaurant in a different town, I had a wide range of friends. My parents were just as social, which left me with an empty house on the weekends. This is when I developed my affinity for party planning. It wasn’t until many years later that it proved to be a useful skill.

In the spring of 2008, I graduated and went off to Green Mountain College, where I received a degree in environmental studies with a focus on policy. In my time there, I found myself gravitating toward sustainable agriculture, more parties, and Frank Riley. At the age of 19, who would have known I would have my whole future in front of me? All of my interests had been unveiled and I just had to figure out how to make them all fit together.

I spent a summer interning at a community garden in Atlanta and catering weddings. For the rest of my time in college, I would continue to help build and maintain community gardens in my surrounding area. I also continued to build a beautiful relationship with my future husband, who was also interested in hospitality. 

Frank and I settled in my family’s farmhouse in Westmoreland, NH in 2013. It was the perfect place for us as we love nature, and there is plenty of land. It allowed me to explore what I like to grow, and how to grow it. We started various landscaping projects on the property over the years, the first being our perennial garden, then our rose trellis, then our outdoor cocktail garden where an old barn used to be.  While tending to the land during the day, we spent our evenings serving and behind the bar.

By 2021 I had worked at various restaurants interacting with a myriad of personalities. I found and accepted early on that because I was a young woman, there would be different rules for me. I will have to work a thousand times harder in order to “deserve” that lead role. If I get it, I will be questioned by all staff, sadly men and women. I have always just kept doing my job, because I was held to a different standard than my male colleagues, or my manager’s next side piece. I knew this industry wasn’t always (or ever, really) fair. I knew if I let it get to me, it would swallow me whole.

These jobs shaped me. It feels so good now, knowing that my husband and I have a business that we built together. It also feels good that we can employ young women who can feel valued for their hard work. In an industry that has such a way of making their talented employees feel dispensable, my husband and I aim to make our employees feel valued and appreciated. We work toward creating a safe working environment where we encourage our employees to put out their best efforts. 

If I can give any advice, it would be to get your partying phase over when you are younger so you can stay laser focused on your goals. Never get distracted by the naysayers that will always be lurking in the shadows. In the words of the great Kandi Burress, “I rise above all the haters. It is beneath me.” Your true friends and supporters will be there, and that is all you need. When you do inevitably have that moment of self doubt, just go do that thing that makes you happy. For me, I go to my garden because the only thing that can happen in there is the growth of a beautiful flower.