The Beginning

A Petals Story Part II

When the beginning arrived I had no idea.  My plans for the future were to open a restaurant and grow delicious food and be in a place of laboring in the kitchen and in the fields bringing fresh seasonal food to the table.  I  did not find myself in the kitchen. I found myself in Maine.  Where I grew up.  Where childhood memories surrounded me and my community welcomed me home with open arms. 

I was expecting my first child. That is when my world stopped. I knew in my heart my life path would change. I was sad to leave my dreams behind. I was in a place of love and support, but also uncertainty and unknown. I knew I had to pivot, evolve with my skills and talents and become a new (different) version of myself. I would still continue to cook for a few more years. I was given opportunities in my community I was so thankful and blessed to embrace. I took on the roles of managing the deli in our natural food store, Morning Dew, becoming a personal chef to those near and dear, and even trying my hat at catering events. You know when you grow up in a small town where everyone knows everyone, well Bridgton, Maine was this place for me. I would work full time waiting for my baby to be born and then part time once he was a few months old. It is at this very point in my story where Petals Farm & Garden was born. It is 2007, I have no land of my own, I have never grown anything commercially and I have to be honest, my plant identification was the worst….AND I was a chef. One of the nicest families in town owned a gardening business, I would see the old VW bus put-put-put her way around town with flowers bulging out of the windows and workers caring for beautiful garden beds. I was going to work for this family and I was going to be a gardener….at least that was my plan.

Look for part III next time