There is a flowering gem in the heart of the North Thompson Valley, and it sparkles with the success of realizing a dream.
Curlew Farm is nestled beside the Yellowhead Highway in Darfield. The farm raises livestock, and also produces quality hay for the farm and for sale.
Curlew Farm is owned by Pam Simpson, a hard working lady who puts many hours into maintaining the farm and in keeping it productive and financially viable.
However, this spring, Pam made the decision to sacrifice a prime hayfield based on a leap of faith to follow her heart.
“I love flowers,” said Pam, “Flowers bring joy and happiness – and I have always grown flowers.”
She says the decision to follow her dream and start a “flower farm” meant the loss of a hay field that produced annual income for the farm.
However, Pam also noted that growing hay requires a lot of work, growing flowers is also labour intensive, but once established, the flowers will bring more income than the hay sales.
Pam’s dream of a flower farm started to take shape last April with the building of a large greenhouse, then the laying down of heavy duty landscape fabric to keep grasses and weeds from competing with the flowers.
Pam tells that she started all of the seeds herself, beginning in March, and then through the rest of the spring for succession planting.
As this reporter was shown around ‘Curlew Flower Farm’, it became very obvious that Pam is definitely blessed with the proverbial “green thumb”. We were walking through a geometric jungle of brilliant colours and heady fragrances. Hundreds of flowers swayed in the breeze, and numerous honey bees busied themselves among the myriad of blooms.
“The first year has been great,” said Pam, “I have lots of tried and true flowers – sweet peas, zinnias, snap dragons, stock, dahlias and cosmos, plus lots of interesting new varieties.”
Her large greenhouse is filled to capacity with giant blooms of every colour while sweet peas fill the earthy air with their scent. Pam smiles with pride and peace as she examines a giant petunia, or trims back a leaf.
Curlew Flower Farm, although still in its infancy, is already selling bouquet subscriptions in Barriere, marketing flowers at the Clearwater Farmers Market, and filling requests for special events. The demand for Pam’s flowers is growing and the future looks positive. Plans are already in the works “to double the outdoor planting size”.
” Ha-ha!” says Pam, No I’m not crazy – I don’t think!”
Curlew Flower Farm is not open to the public, however, you can order flowers by calling (or text) 250-819-0366, or email: curlewflowerfarm@hotmail
