A Letter to Our Retail Customers

Where do I begin?

This past summer of 2024 has been tumultuous, to say the least. It began innocently and joyfully enough with the birth of our fourth child, Rhett, in early May. We had to bow out of Mother’s Day flower sales because of his arrival.

I spent the next several weeks just enjoying the baby. No worries about the garden and if flowers were going to be planted right away. I confess it was quite nice to just focus on the baby–something I didn’t do when the last two were born. Back then, I was in the thick of building my business and didn’t have time for extra cuddles. I was also, quite frankly, “touched out”. I needed a break from the constant demand that is motherhood. Spending time with the flowers was therapy.

In June this year, my family’s world changed. Our patriarch, the rock of our family, the Shepherd of our flock, my father-in-law, underwent a treatment for his primary cancer. The secondary cancer, mind you, was still raging. The night he came home from the treatment, he became violently ill due to an unexpected infection. We thought we lost him that night, but instead, he would go on to spend a month in the hospital. This man that was so strong, so capable, suddenly wasn’t. 

We were able to bring Raymond home on July 26th, but it wasn’t the homecoming we had originally planned. Just that week, he’d made great strides with physical therapy. But the infection was winning. He could hardly swallow or talk. He would fall asleep and awaken every few minutes. 

The next day, on Saturday, July 27th, the house was filled with family and friends for a Mass that was to be said by a priest that is a friend of the family. Raymond received the Anointing of the Sick and his last rites. He left this earth about an hour after that beautiful Mass that was held right on his dining room table. 

I have reflected much on Raymond’s life and his passing these past few weeks. If anyone was “a man after God’s own heart”, it was Raymond. He was a Shepherd that took you into his fold with a gentle hand, but he was also a fierce warrior for Christ. 

My husband, Hayden, has said to me over and over again throughout this journey of our flower farm: Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed–taking care of our family is the most important.

As a homemaker and mother, we often feel like we aren’t “doing enough”. I want to take care of my babies, reap a bountiful harvest from the vegetable garden, provide a small income to ease the burden on my husband, flex my creative side, and be a light for Christ. To be the ultimate Proverbs 31 woman and more. I can do all of these things, right? My social media feed is filled with ads and influencers that say so.

When Raymond came to Christ, he was filled with a restless spirit. He was ready to uproot his entire family to become a missionary in some far away land. God came to him and said, “Stay here and grow.” And he did.

A few years ago, I went to confession with a priest when I was pregnant with my third child. I shared the burdens of my heart, namely that I felt like I wasn’t doing enough for God. I wasn’t spreading his message like a good servant should do. He just shook his head at me. “Taking care of your family is the ultimate way to bring people to Christ. You have one of the biggest responsibilities there is–leading your children to know Jesus.”

Sometimes we think we should be doing some great, fantastic thing in this world. Something earth-shattering or “successful”. We underestimate how important it is to be at home with our family. To stay home and “grow”. Grow our families, grow our friends–to grow and share our faith.

What is the one thing I can do to honor Raymond and to honor Christ? I can take care of my children–Raymond’s grandchildren. I can fill their bodies with nourishing, wholesome food and I can teach them how to work and play and enjoy life. I can teach them about our Creator and instill in them the values and the love that Raymond graciously shared with me–not so much in his “preaching” moments, but in the way he asked questions during our conversations. He allowed you to come to your own conclusions through a series of remarks and questions that made you critically think.

Wow, what an honor. What an honor to have known a man after God’s own heart. To quote Luke Combs, a man “with a heart of a lion”, like the warrior King David. What an honor to be able to nurture his legacy.

“For Everything There is a Season”

And so, my point to all of this is to say that “for everything there is a season”. I have been so depressed that I can’t share flowers with you all like I had hoped. I have been torn apart inside because I haven’t produced the income that I had hoped, too. I haven’t had the gusto to make social media posts or send emails to let you all know that I had a backyard full of roses and perennials this past year (2024). They were all for sale, but I didn’t have the energy to market them.

I am thankful for each and every customer of Sievers Blumen Farm. To serve you has been an honor.

However, I’ve come to accept that now may not be my season be a farmer-florist. And maybe this farm that I’ve built will become something much different than what I had planned–and that’s okay!

I had dreams and visions of U-Pick flowers and events, of opening a greenhouse, of growing and drying herbs, of being more present in my local community. With my kids at the ages they are at and by choosing to homeschool, it just isn’t feasible at this time. 

I am heartened to see that Webster’s Peach Orchard near Hamburg has opened a U-Pick flower patch. Go see Julie in 2025 and cut yourself a beautiful bouquet. It will be worth it, I promise! Immersing yourself in a flower patch is great therapy–let me tell you.

I have another friend, Berdan Garden Flowers, that will be opening up a greenhouse near Carrolton in the Spring of 2025. Go see Rachael for all your bedding plant needs! I am so excited for her.

We’re still here, so I don’t want to say that Sievers Blumen Farm is coming to an end. As I type these words, we have cattle grazing in a nearby pasture that will hopefully be a source of local grassfed beef. I’m still flexing my creative side by writing with the dreams of releasing my first fiction novel before Christmas.

As for our flower farm, we have two high tunnels that will be filled with a few flower crops instead of many. We’re going to cut our teeth at selling our flowers wholesale to florists and designers so that we can focus on quality and consistency.

If you’re a florist or designer, I’d love the chance to show you some of our lisianthus in 2025. Next year our focus on the farm will be mostly wholesale lisianthus, peonies, garden roses, and a few other crops. By focusing only on a few crops, we’re hoping that we can produce large quantities of flowers of high quality. Our focus will be on growing, not growing AND designing (which is hard to do when you don’t have a team behind you).

Basically, we’re still here. We’re just in the shadows for now–like a flower bulb sleeping beneath the earth. Our priorities have shifted and grown. As always, family comes first and always will. When we sense that it’s time to sprout again (in a big way), we will.

Thank you all for reading. Thank you all for supporting us. Every message, every order, every critique, and every smile or exclamation over our flowers has been worth it! 

Much love,

Taylor