Despite the forecast, the rain spared Vilas this morning — yet the tablecloths are wet. Picnic tables beneath a pavilion at Springhouse Farm hold vases of pink, orange, purple, and yellow blooms for a Flower Child Party, a special you-pick event for mothers and their young daughters. The venue is a floral wonderland, and all would be perfect — except that the weight of the blossoms keeps tilting the vases over onto the linen-covered tables. But farmers don’t cry over spilled flowers.

Amy & Jean Fiedler photograph by Tim Robison

Owner Amy Fiedler isn’t aware of this mishap yet. She’s busy collecting edible blooms across her eight acres, which her guests will decorate cupcakes with. “I was up at 4 o’clock this morning thinking of 10 little kids with scissors in the flower field,” she says with a nervous laugh, then reassures herself: “They’ll grow back.”

Amy returns to the pavilion, where her mother, Jean Fiedler, is waiting to tell her what happened. But there’s no need to worry, because Jean has already put the tablecloths in the dryer, drained the vases, and added stones to balance their weight. Amy started Springhouse in 2008, turning bare land into a blossoming farm and business with a full-time manager, a dozen or so interns, five dogs, and weekly seasonal events. But sometimes, when problems arise, a girl just needs her mom.

• • •

Before Jean was the Flower party hero, she was a kid in Dallas, Texas, who loved playing with petals. When she was young, she’d help her grandmother, a florist, design arrangements. This instilled a lifelong love that she later passed on to her children. “Flowers are my love language,” Jean says.

She and her first husband raised Amy and her siblings in the New York City suburbs while Jean pursued her career as a lawyer working to protect vulnerable children. As an attorney and mother of three, she had her hands full. When school let out for the summer, she would send her kids to their grandparents’ farm in Indiana.

Amy remembers these Midwestern summers fondly: “I just fell in love with it.” Jean, however, holds different memories of Amy’s early farmhand days. “I would get letters from [the kids] saying, ‘Please, let me come home, we’ll do anything!’”

Later, Amy moved to Boone to attend Appalachian State University, traveled the country, and had two children of her own. Meanwhile, Jean retired and traveled with her second husband, Leonard, eventually settling in Southport.

On select dates in July and August, Amy and Jean open Springhouse Farm to visitors to come pick their own flowers. photograph by Tim Robison

One day, while Jean was visiting Amy in Boone, they came across a stretch of flat land in Vilas. Amid the High Country’s towering peaks and rugged skyline, this level terrain appeared like a tranquil surprise. Horses roamed the fields on either side of a white clapboard farmhouse with red shutters that matched the property’s old barn. Jean had been looking for a rental home in the area and struck up a deal with her daughter: She’d buy the property, and Amy would rent the house and transform the land into a proper farm.

Amy, eager to revive her love of farming, got right to work — with some help from Mom. “I could start plants so much earlier in Southport than she could here,” Jean says. “I had a back porch that would be filled with plants. I would meet her halfway, generally in March, and give her all of the plants that I had started.”

Over their first few seasons, the pair transformed the empty land into acres of fresh produce and a haven of beautiful blooms. In 2010, Jean and Leonard moved to Foscoe, just 15 minutes from the farm, to be closer to Amy and to work at Springhouse more regularly. Jean’s plants helped kick-start the farm, but it was her faith and emotional support that Amy is most grateful for. “I need that sounding board to say, It’s OK, it’s no big deal, it’ll be OK,” Amy says.

“It’s her farm, and she needs to try out different things,” Jean says. “If they work, great, and if they don’t work, next year we’ll do better.”

Filling a bucket with blooms — including zinnias, cosmos, and feverfew — is more fun with a farm dog like Zion the golden retriever. photograph by Tim Robison

As Springhouse grew, Amy and Jean dreamed of ways to share the farm with others. Amy supplies local restaurants, like Artisanal in Banner Elk, with seasonal produce. She’s fostered a decade-long relationship with the Watauga Medical Center, offering a CSA and free farm events for the staff. She’s also provided produce for the Hunger and Health Coalition. After fielding interest from some students at Appalachian, Amy began an internship program that now has 12 to 20 students each semester, plus a waiting list. “These 20-year-olds are working in the rain and the cold and the heat, so you know the reward goes deeper,” Amy says.

The young women work alongside Amy, her mother, and a group of her mother’s friends, many in their 70s, who are also drawn to the farm. “My friends feel the same way,” Jean says. “This is a place of peace. People really enjoy coming here.”

The woman-led community that mother and daughter have created has allowed them to focus on offerings like their wreath-making workshops, plein air painting events, farm-to-table dinners — plant-based meals that feature their produce — and their latest addition, flower child parties.

• • •

Gravel crunches beneath tires as cars pull into the driveway. Doors swing open and little clouds of color float onto the farm. The group of 6- and 7-year-old girls are clad in floral overalls, violet sundresses, pastel bows, and frilly socks. The flower children have arrived.

Amy guides the girls and their moms to a field, where she hands out child-friendly clippers. She instructs them where to cut on the stalks so the flowers can grow back. The girls, attentive but eager, scatter to search for the prettiest blooms — or at least the ones that best match their outfits.

Jean sits in the shade with some of the mothers as they watch their daughters in the field. She observes as Amy compliments the girls on their selections. She can’t help but smile at the kids running around with cosmos tucked behind their ears and bunches of zinnias in their hands, blissfully unaware of the hours of hard work, planning, patience, and prayers that made this event — and this farm — possible.

Cosmos are beloved by both bees and butterflies — and by folks who come to Springhouse to pick their own flower arrangements or during events like You-Pick Date Night and You-Pick Brunch. photograph by Tim Robison

At 80, Jean still works with her daughter five or six days a week. She’ll offer advice, but she’s happy to watch Amy take the reins.

“In the beginning, I knew a lot more about gardening than she did,” Jean says. “That’s changed as we’ve progressed. She’s very knowledgeable, and I’ve taken a step back. I have much more of a secondary role at this point, and that’s the way it should be.”

As the girls finish clipping, Jean gives Amy a quick hug goodbye. The party isn’t over — the girls still need to decorate their cupcakes — but Jean knows that Amy’s nerves have calmed, and she can take her leave. Jean’s thrilled to see the girls having fun, but even more rewarding is seeing her own girl’s dreams come true. And sure, there might be another overturned vase, but her daughter has everything under control. Whether Amy knows it or not, Jean has already given her everything she needs.

Springhouse Farm
433 Silverstone Road
Vilas, NC 28692
(828) 719-6825
facebook.com/springhousefarmnc