NRCS Helps the Petal Patch Flower Farm
The Petal Patch Flower Farm is a small, rustic flower farm located outside of Cochranton Pa, where flowers are home grown in the field and hand arranged. The farm tries to be environmentally friendly and does not use any pesticides or sprays in their flower field.
By Cheryl Panciera, NRCS
The Petal Patch is family owned and operated by Tiffany McCurdy, her husband, and their young children. Along with their half acre flower field and high tunnels, they also have a few animals, including horses, beef cows, pigs, and some chickens.
Prior to starting the flower business, Tiffany was a biology teacher and loved getting her hands dirty out in the field. She started the business several years ago by turning her vegetable garden into a flower garden. And her small “petal patch” turned into a small business.
Tiffany loves the connections she makes with the local people through her business, and she loves supporting local businesses. In the past, she has even partnered with a local artesian to use some of their pottery pieces as vases on special holidays. Tiffany also sells her beautiful flowers locally at farm markets and other locations. She has a rentable flower cart that her father-in-law built, which is available for weddings or local events where guests can make their own floral arrangements to take home.
During the flower season, she offers many services including bulk buckets of blooms for DIY projects, “pick your own” sessions at the farm, flower arranging workshops, as well as offering bouquets for all occasions, including weddings, birthdays, funerals, and anniversaries.
The Petal Patch was nominated for the best florist in a retail category for the Meadville Tribune’s 2022 Newspaper Readers Choice awards. There is a Petal Patch Facebook page that showcases her beautiful arrangements, offers some flower blooming tips and shares photos of her high tunnel and seeding methods. They also have a website thepetalpatch.org
NRCS started working with Tiffany in 2020 when she called our office asking for information on high tunnels. She had been researching flower farming on the internet and the articles highly recommended to stop by a USDA office. She stopped in and applied for NRCS programs and got a contract in 2021 through the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) program. The high tunnel was constructed last fall, and she is now able to extend the growing season for her flowers.
After working with NRCS during the summer of 2020, she wanted someone to come out and walk their woodlot, as they are interested in keeping it healthy. We requested the NRCS forester to come out and do a site visit and make some recommendations. From this visit, Tiffany expressed an interest in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the pollinator practice. She signed an application and was approved to plant a pollinator area. This planting was completed in early June of 2022. The NRCS grazing specialist also made a site visit and wrote a small grazing plan for their farm and made some recommendations for them to optimize their small acreage.
With NRCS programs being able to reach out to new and beginning farmers and non-traditional farmers, places like The Petal Patch are learning about NRCS and the types of services and information we can provide. Similarly, NRCS is learning how important it is to reach out to these small, non-traditional and new businesses and in the process, meet some amazing people!