One of the things we are most proud of at the Collective is our amazing team of local growers!
Owner: Cate Crawford
Location: Salisbury Center, NY
Website: https://www.lyndakerfarms.com/
Top crops: We specialize in peonies (lactis, itohs and herbaceous hybrids). We also have hydrangeas and delphinium which are currently maturing and should be ready for harvesting in the next few seasons. This year we are trialing various native plants for foliage and fillers.
Proud farm moment: The first was when one of our tree peony seedlings (a seedling is an un-named variety being evaluated for market introduction) won the American Peony Society's virtual flower show for "Best Seedling" category. I hadn't even entered the competition. Because I volunteer for APS, I'd been testing the photo upload capability for the show website to make sure it worked before we rolled it out. Apparently those running the judging didn't realize my uploaded photos were just tests, entered them in the competition, and we won the category.
Another was being the only farm selected to be part of the 2023 American Peony Society's national convention. Given we only started selling roots in 2019 and are likely one of the smallest retailers in the country, this felt like a real honor.
Something exciting happening in 2024: This collective! For several years, we've been trying to figure out how to farm "in community." We're thrilled about the fact that now seems so much more possible.
To rebuild rootstock (and give our bodies a much needed break!), we're going to take a couple years off retail root sales. This also allows us to really learn the cut flower side of the business. We are super excited about this!
Other offerings: We offer farm tours and sell bare-root peonies, although we will be taking time off from both of these during the 2024 season.
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