We grow our certified organic blooms for flower lovers across southwestern New York State and northwestern Pennsylvania. You’ll find our sustainable, locally-grown cut flowers in our Bouquet Share CSA or Bulk Blooms for special events or do-it-yourself weddings.
Hickory Hurst Farm has been family owned since 1908. I inherited the farm in 2009 when my older brother died; I decided to take on the farm as a legacy to my family.
In 2003 I started selling cut flowers from my former gardens in canning jars atop a picnic table. That “flower stand” set the impetus for converting the former dairy farm to a flower and vegetable farm.
Fourth-generation family farm grows certified organic cut flowers, herbs, and native perennials. We offer a Flex CSA for our veggies and market our fresh flowers via our Bouquet Subscriptions, DIY Bulk Blooms for weddings and special events, and seasonal bouquet bar. We also feature Make-and-Take workshops. Visit our on-site Farm Store, open year-round.
We started selling cut flowers and vegetables at local farmers’ markets and business spiraled from there. We also used a variety of grants and loans to help us launch new products and offerings, and are forever grateful for them. If you are interested, then find other free grant money for MWBE businesses.
We also noticed that there was niche for a certified organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). We’ve been certified organic since 2014 and started with four CSA members the following year. The CSA creates a more stable market allowing us to accurately forecast the amount of cut flowers, herbs, berries, and vegetables to grow. We now have 30 CSA members and would like to increase it to 35 members. We market all of our cut flowers directly to customers via our Bouquet Bar where customers make their own bouquets, as an add-on via our CSA, via Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Bulk Blooms, with the remainder used in special events or weddings. We’d like to increase and strengthen our market share of Bouquet Share subscriptions. One of my life-long dreams has been to start a plant nursery. Last spring brought me one step closer when we started growing and selling potted, certified organic native perennials.
Adrienne’s story
I grew up on my family farm in western New York State and returned quite by accident in 2009 when my older brother died and left me the farm. I decided to take on the challenge of carrying on the farm as a legacy to my family because I’d lost so many family members as a child. Several years earlier I’d started a flower stand from scratch with a picnic table, mosquito tent, and canning jars of flowers and brought that with me to the farm. I am one of the few women or minority owned farms in the region, and for that matter the entire nation. To that end, find other women owned farms.
I’d worked in various aspects of horticulture and injected my passion of working with people and plants into the farm. As a child I’d chased enough livestock through broken fences that I knew growing crops in gardens or greenhouses would be easier to manage. Part of my greatest challenge was converting the former dairy farm into a cut flower and produce farm. I started by planting a small orchard, berries, and perennial gardens.
There was only one functioning tractor when I arrived. Soon, I bartered some landscape design work in exchange for a walk-in cooler. I now had storage space for harvested flowers and the boxes of vegetables for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) customers. With another farmer’s advice I constructed a greenhouse using pallets and electrical conduit in which to grow cut flowers.
I’m extremely grateful that I can provide families with access to fresh, certified organic food for their families via our CSA or to grow their own food from our vegetable transplants. I also enjoy brightening someone’s life with flowers. Life’s unexpected gift of the farm has truly humbled me in many ways and I’m very thankful.