Piscasaw Gardens

Jennifer Kinney

With farming in her blood, Jennifer Kinney and her husband decided several years ago to try their hand at growing vegetables and flowers.  They soon found out that vegetables were not going to be their future but Jennifer discovered a love for growing flowers! Piscasaw Gardens, named for Piscasaw Creek which runs through her family farm, has grown over the years and is a testament to Jennifer’s hard work and love of flowers.

After working out an agreement with Twin Gardens in Harvard, Jennifer was able to turn a once, undesirable plot of land on their property into one that blooms with color!  She grows her flowers at Twin Gardens as well as on a little over an acre of land that she owns in town which is primarily used for her perennials.  After many years of growing and researching flower varieties, Jennifer has determined the varieties that she loves to grow and are enjoyed by her customers.

Although she has her favorites, Jennifer is always experimenting with new varieties to bring to market.  She uses a hoop house for her experiments and right now she is working with carnations.  This past spring Jennifer rented greenhouse space at Woodstock Farmers Market vendor Rich Brook’s farm for her seed starts. This allowed her to get a jump start on her growing season.

Jennifer relies on helpers to pick the flowers prior to the market. Starting just before dawn, large quantities are picked and kept in coolers until they are delivered to the market.  Jennifer provides flowers for several markets but the Woodstock Farmers Market is her largest.

Jennifer grows annuals and perennials and even looks for wildflowers such as Queen Anne’s Lace and Goldenrod.  Growing over 75 varieties, she focuses on customer favorites such as Zinnias, Snapdragons and Lisianthus.  She also grows Sunflowers, Strawflowers, Amaranth, Asclepias (a cousin of milkweed) and many other varieties that can be used as add-ins in bouquets.  Although we did not visit her perennial garden, it is where you can find her peonies, lilacs and lilies.

Piscasaw Gardens is a favorite of market-goers at the Woodstock Farmers Market!  You can find Jennifer and her helpers at the market making beautiful bouquets that customers can buy pre-made, but you will find many market-goers enjoying the make-your-own option!  It has become a Tuesday or Saturday morning ritual for some and with the ever changing palette of colors and flowers the end result will be different but always beautiful!

 Want to come make a bouquet of your own?  Check out these happy market-goers: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzcG7K8XtPnZWHRTVk1ocmNCdWs