This week’s inspection takes us to another farm that is new to our market this year – Bumblebee Meadows.

Theresa Abraham-Godbey spent 30 years working as a nurse, most of that time at Wake Med in labor and delivery.
She had always wanted a garden, it just required more time than she had to give. But when her first husband passed, spending time in the yard with her flowers became her form of grief therapy. Nurturing plants from seed to bloom helped her heal.

After some time, she met Ted. It was actually their shared love of gardening that brought them closer together. When they married, they dedicated a section of their property to growing flowers and Bumblebee Meadows was born.
Over the last 5 years, Theresa has slowly been building the garden. It’s taken some time to convert that hard North Carolina red clay to loose, nutrient dense soil, but the garden is now fully thriving.

As we meandered through the whimsical space, color surrounding us like a Monet, Theresa gave each peony bud we passed an oh-so-delicate pinch. She was looking for just the right level of tenderness. Cut them too early and they won’t open. Cut them too late and their bloom won’t last long enough when put into bouquet.
This is a part of farming that is so often overlooked…the tiny window of opportunity that farmers have with so many of their products. And knowing that window really comes from building a connection with the land and its plants.

Over the course of the year, the garden will fill with flowers like zinnias, sweet peas, dahlias, peonies, heirloom mums, celosias, and roses.
It’s not just the garden that is her happy place though. Theresa also finds joy in the creative process of arranging bouquets. She’s an artist at heart. Each bouquet starts with a single flower, then others are added one-by-one based on how they complement that particular bloom. The results are arrangements that are uniquely their own. Built by inspiration and intuition.

Intrigued? Come visit Theresa at the market to see her beautiful creations. Oh, and did we mention this weekend is Mother’s Day? Just sayin….