Glamping on a Flower Farm
In 2020, responding to a couple's request, we introduced glamping on our flower farm. The tent, launched in Spring 2021, quickly became a hit, earning us 'Super Host' status on Airbnb. Featuring a king-sized bed and outdoor amenities, the glamping experience provides a serene countryside escape with access to our 20-acre flower farm and nearby attractions like the Bridges of Madison County. Imagine unwinding in this unique floral retreat.
It started in 2020 at the request of a couple visiting the farm for one of our popular Al Fresco Dinners with Tangerine Food Company. They told us they would LOVE to come to stay at our flower farm for a unique travel experience (thanks Gilmara!). Later that evening we talked it over a little, then we talked about it for a couple more months past that. We hashed out the the cost/benefit analysis, requirements for building, etc. It’s not the fun or sexy part of business, but it’s definitely necessary. After all of our research and number crunching was completed, we decided to move forward with putting everything in place for Spring 2021, to host flower farm glamping tent stays at PepperHarrow.
That’s when our first ever glamping tent was built on a beautiful, private area of our property with the intention to offer guests a unique flower farm stay experience.
When we first released dates for our glamping stay, we limited available just from Thursday-Sunday. It was our first year hosting and we really wanted to make sure we gave ourselves enough time to clean the tent and change linens in between guests, all while running a full time, thriving flower farm. It was the perfect way to ease into the cadence of hosting guests and running a flower farm.
Any guesses how it all panned out? SPOILER ALERT: It was a total HIT! We spent the summer and fall of 2021 fully booked up each and every weekend. We had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people through our hosting experience and loved all of the positive feedback guests gave us after their stays. After our first year, we achieved designated ‘Super Host’ status on Airbnb. Such a great first year accomplishment!
During the first year we also learned a lot about hosting guests on our farm that weren’t intuitive initially, like how to handle weather when guests are staying in the tent, and other important learnings. Starting with shortened availability really helped us get used to hosting while managing our flower farm as well.
What does a stay look like for guests who stay on our flower farm at the glamping tent?
The inside of the glamping tent comfortably accommodates two people with a large, king sized bed with luxe, soft linens, a small sitting area, chest of drawers, dining table and chairs. The windows inside the tent roll-up, as well as the front door, so there’s tons of opportunity to let in air for a nice cross breeze. On the front of the tent sits a cute bistro table and chairs, so you can sit on the front porch to enjoy a Madison County sunrise, or appreciate the lush, green landscape.
Outside is even more setup for living space! There’s a shaded special spot to the side, which has a small cooking setup: outside cook stove, grill and a small space for basic washing. There’s a hammock for relaxing, a fire pit area setup with a stack of firewood, and Adirondack chairs with a small table to enjoy an evening by a campfire.
Bathhouse accommodations are provided inside of our newly constructed event barn, located roughly 1 minute from the glamping tent by vehicle, or a 3-5 minute walk. Restroom facilities, with a hot water shower is available inside the bathhouse with towels, and basic wash essentials available. This isn’t the most glamorous thing to talk about, but so necessary to complete a perfect glamping stay.
A glamping stay at the flower farm is meant to be a quiet escape into the countryside, where you can energize your spirit and connect back with the land, but if you’re feeling adventurous, we also highly recommend guests explore the wonderful sites and scenes of Madison County.
Home to the famed Bridges of Madison County, you can make a whole trip out of visiting each of the covered bridges, as well as other local attractions. Once inside the glamping tent, you can find a list of our favorite places to eat, drink, grab a cup of coffee and other great local ‘must see’ places.
Photo by Aly Carroll
Even though the glamping tent is wonderful, it’s not even the highlight of the stay. Guests have unlimited access to our 20 acre flower farm. We welcome guests to walk our flower fields, take photos, and even to cut a bouquet to take home. There are roughly 8.5 acres of flower gardens to explore and enjoy, which many guests take advantage of.
Our 2.5 acres of lavender are made up of three distinctly separated beds, each dedicated for specific uses: essential oil, culinary, and simply to enjoy! The lavender fields are usually in bloom from mid-June through mid-July, but even when they’re not blooming, the fragrance from these beautiful plants are incredible. Need a nap in the lavender? Help yourself!
Can you just imagine yourself relaxing and enjoying a glamping experience at our flower farm?
XO Jenn and Adam
PepperHarrow Glamping Tent Tour
Forcing Blooming Flower Bulbs
Forcing vibrant spring blooms, including tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths, is a simple and rewarding project. This year's success involved intentional potting, minimal watering, and the necessary chilling period. Bulbs, potted in clay pots with pea gravel for drainage and adorned with Spanish moss, thrived with regular but light watering. Replicating this process for tulips, including a fringed mix, brought delightful results, making it an ideal project for both seasoned gardeners and first-timers, offering a burst of color and joy.
What’s Better Than Spring Blooms?
Gorgeous, scented, vibrant, cheery spring blooms from bulbs. You know who they are! Tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, grape hyacinth. All the pretties! Could there be anything better? The have wonderful fragrance and when cut in a mixed bouquet, look like something from a Dutch still life painting…swoon.
For the last two years, we’ve experimented with forcing spring blooming bulbs. I’ll be totally honest, last year was a total flop. It was a good try, but I didn’t do it right. I brought in bulbs early spring, plopped them into pots and watered away. They did sprout, but they didn’t perform like I needed them to and ended up totally failing. What a bummer! Well, this year, I learned the correct way to do this and now have loads of forced blooms to share with my friends, family and customers. I’m totally excited to add some cheer into people’s lives, especially right now with all of the isolation and social distancing happening. They’re a sure way to add some cheer.
Gorgeous rustic terra-cotta pots with forced hyacinth.
Crating: this year, instead of pulling bulbs out at the last moment, I intentionally potted them up in crates when they arrived in early November. I added a layer of dirt (about 5 inches deep) and gently pressed the bulbs into the dirt, leaving the top of the bulb exposed—I didn’t cover with dirt.
Watering: bulbs actually take a minimal amount of water. I maybe watered lightly every month. If the bulbs become too wet, they will rot. I did have a few hyacinth bulbs that ended up rotting. I took them out as soon as I saw it and tossed them in the compost pile.
Temperature: bulbs must be kept cold until you’re ready to allow them to bloom out. We kept out bulbs in our minimally heated shop space, near the front door (for extra cold). The space was kept around 40 degrees all winter long and this was enough to give the bulbs the ‘chill’ period they need in order to be force. They have to be kept at this temperature for at least 12-16 weeks. Our were actually in the chill stage from November through March, so much longer than needed; however, if I had wanted to pull them out earlier, I could have done that.
Potting: bulbs were placed in a deep clay pot. I placed about an inch and a half of pea gravel in the bottom, because the pots I used didn’t have holes in the bottom. This gives the water a resting place without the roots becoming too water logged. On top of the pea gravel, I placed about two inches of dirt, then added the bulb, roots down, into the dirt, filling in dirt around the remainder of the bulb. Water them in, lightly. On the top, I placed Spanish moss (shown above) and a tag from the farm. Voila!
Care Advice: water once a week, but not heavily. These bulbs don’t need a ton of water to produce their gorgeous blooms and we want to make sure that the roots don’t sit in water.
I also copied this same process for tulips, daffodils and grape hyacinth. Since the tulips are smaller, I added four bulbs into a shallow pot, again putting pea gravel at the bottom for drainage, and added a bit of pea gravel and Spanish moss on top. The tulips are pretty special, because they’re a fringed mix, which everyone absolutely goes gaga for. They’re just gorgeous!
If you’ve never tried to force bulbs before, I highly suggest it, even if you have failed in the past, like me. It was fun and encouraging to give it another go, seeing success this round. If you’re a first time gardener, you should also try this at home. It’s a simple process and you can find any of these bulbs at your local nurseries, and/or hardware stores in the fall.
Get Growing!
XX Jenn
Floral bliss retreat
Our first Floral Bliss Retreat at PepperHarrow was truly amazing! Despite the drizzle, we enjoyed a day of play and design on the farm. After a farm tour and foraging session, attendees dove into creating beautiful flower crowns guided by Jenn. A delightful catered lunch, centerpiece design, and a traditional English tea service added extra charm to the day. The retreat was a success, and we're thrilled to bring this unique experience to you again with even more special touches! 🌸🍵 #FloralBliss #FarmRetreat
Well, we had our first Floral Bliss Retreat this weekend and I have to say that it was totally amazing. We gathered together with a small group of people for a day of play and design on the farm. It was a drizzly day on the farm and created a calmly wonderful ambiance.
Adam and Jenn O’Neal - PepperHarrow farm
Photo By: Andraya Stender
We started the day with introductions followed by a personal tour of our farm. We then let everyone head out to harvest and forage at their leisure. It was cool to see what everyone gathered for their designs from the lovely perennials throughout our gardens to branches of unripened fruit and cattails.
With everyone’s amazing finds, Jenn began a session on the ins and outs of flower crown design. I think that was a sesh that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.
Jenn guiding a student with her design
Photo By: Andraya Stender
Donning beautiful floral crowns, we sat down to a wonderful catered lunch provided by Catering By Cyd. That was personally my favorite part because we got to sit with everyone and really get to know each other. And the lunch was amazing! Thumbs up to privately catered lunches. 👍 Catering in took a huge weight off of our shoulders with this event and enabled us to participate more!
Lovely catered lunch for the floral bliss retreat. Flowers And food forever!
After lunch we headed to the centerpiece design portion of the retreat. We loved seeing everyone dive into a full buffet of flowers and also how they incorporated their unique garden finds into their centerpieces. Apple branches and grape vines with little unripened fruits? Yes!
Attendees enjoying the flower bar
Photo By: Andraya Stender
Adam guiding the design portion of the workshop
Photo By: Andraya Stender
And if the day wasn’t already full enough, Jenn put together a lovely traditional English tea service for the retreat. We were inspired when we went to England and visited Chatsworth Gardens. While visiting, we sat down for a nice tea service in the café on the grounds. We had to bring that special experience with us back to PepperHarrow!
Teatime at PepperHarrow
Photo By: Andraya Stender
This retreat turned out amazing and we can’t wait to bring it to you again. We’re also excited with all the new ideas we have to make this experience even more special. Looking forward to the next one!
Rainy Day Weather. What Does a Flower Farmer Do?
Rainy days have slowed down field work, but they offer guilt-free time for business activities. Planning additions to the event space, Adam's construction skills come into play, while I focus on sourcing house plants, practicing floral design, seeding for the next flower planting, and managing various farm services. The rainy respite turns into a productive day for PepperHarrow! ☔💼 #FarmLife #BusinessPlanning
This early flower season has been incredibly rainy. It’s been tough to get out to the fields to plant, weed, and for the flowers to grow. In my most recent field check, I saw standing water in one of the dahlia fields and the corn cockle plants are melting into the ground. Boo! Please pray for some sunshine for the next few days. This rain is definitely rough!
However, the one good thing about the rain…it sure gives us lots of extra time to work on other business activities and it feels pretty guilt free. When it’s sunny and amazing out, it’s hard to sit down and do some of these tasks, but when it’s raining, it’s like a mental bluebird.
So, what are some of the business things we do when it’s raining outside? Well, today we’ve been planning out adding some additional elements to our event space. Adam’s the construction king, so he gets the honors of working with the workers who will make it happen and he also does all of the ordering for the parts and supplies we need.
I’ve been working on sourcing amazing house plants to have for the flower cottage, practicing floral design for fun (and pics), seeding more seeds for our second succession of flower planting, working on bridal and other event floral quotes, adding pages to Squarespace for additional services we’re offering on the farm, and working on scheduling some social media posts for the next few weeks. I could go on and on. It feels absolutely amazing!
