Fresh From the Market

High Mountain Flowers at the Farmers Markets…

As clearer skies and sunshine become more frequent in the North State, the Shasta farmers markets start taking off with the vendor/consumer relationship providing a direct link to people and their food. However, the farmers market provides more than just fresh, organic, nutritious fare. Many artisans and even a few flower vendors are there, too – just in time for wedding season. 

Lone Pine Blooms
When Tiana and her daughter Cara Chandon both realized their mutual love for growing flowers, they launched Lone Pine Blooms and started selling them at the Mount Shasta Farmers Market, held on Mondays from 3:30 to 6pm. The mother/daughter team grows all their own flowers at their home on the outskirts of Mount Shasta, managing 20 raised flower beds on a part of their 2.5-acre property. 

“Some people do buy flowers in bulk at the farmers market, but we mostly accommodate small events,” Tiana says. The biggest event Lone Pine Blooms has provided flowers for was about 20 centerpieces and a few large bouquets, but they do have another wedding in the books for this summer. 

“We have dahlias as our primary focal flowers along with statis, straw flowers, snapdragons, zinnias, celosia and Lizianthus. Those are beautiful flowers,” Tiana adds, mentioning they also grow cosmos, bleeding heart amaranths and phlox. They start planting their seeds in January and most of them come into bloom in late June/early July.  

She likes all flowers, but her personal favorites are the cheerful dahlias. “My grandmother used to grow them in Mount Shasta and my daughter loves wildflowers, so they make a nice combination in a bouquet,” says Tiana. 

While locals come to the farmers market every week for a bouquet, Lone Pine Blooms does a lot of custom orders for celebrations of all kinds, as well as making deliveries in the Mount Shasta area. 

“We had a lot of really good feedback from last year’s farmers markets. We had a build-your-own-bouquet bar which included a bouquet of three focal flowers and 12 medium flowers. People loved it and kept coming back; we sold out at several markets.”

The Lone Pine Blooms duo will be keeping the momentum up this year. 

“We plan to grow more types of flowers. We’re trying to convince my husband to let us take over more of the garden,” she says with a laugh. “We started with three flowerbeds but then we built a bigger garden last year, being more resourceful with wooden beds and repurposing materials.”

Lone Pine Blooms will also continue with its Front Porch Fridays. 

“Every Friday we draw a random name of a person who lives in the Mount Shasta area and someone gets a tiny bouquet as a surprise on their front porch. We feel like this fulfills our mission of providing hope, giving back to our community and doing something fun.” 

For more information about Lone Pine Blooms, visit www.lonepineblooms.com. 

Kindred Gardens
“My mom went to school as a horticulturist,” Tiffany DeVault says, and therefore grew up in her mother’s garden. Tiffany herself worked in the medical field, yet minored in botany when she went to school at Humboldt State University. When she got pregnant, she fully transitioned into opening Kindred Gardens.

With her son, daughter Madison and husband also helping, Kindred Gardens truly is a family business, managing their nursery at their home on a quarter of an acre in Weed. Between all the trees, shrubs, houseplants, berries, herbs, vegetables and more, Tiffany says she likes to work with all of them as they evolve throughout the seasons, but then admits that she really likes succulents (“because they’re easy to propagate,” she says) and fruit trees. 

Kindred Gardens didn’t always grow flowers, but Madison got into selling bouquets at the Weed Farmers Market (which takes place on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 6pm in May through September). “My daughter has more of an eye of what looks good. She likes flowers. She’s done a lot of wreaths at Two Sisters Floral and has a lot of succulent parents,” she says. 

While Tiffany says people usually go to Native Grounds Nursery or Two Sisters Floral (the local florists) to find their flowers for weddings and bigger productions, Kindred Gardens has found a small niche in making succulent bowls for giveaways or centerpieces for events. “Those are really trending right now. We make two-inch succulents which are easy to transport and plant.”

Kindred Gardens has many Hens & Chicks because those are easy to grow and just take off, but they also have jade, echeveria and Jewel of the Desert succulents. “They’re so versatile,” Tiffany says. 

Kindred Gardens mainly sells vegetables and houseplants at the Mount Shasta Farmers Market on Mondays, but Madison “is going in the direction of bouquets” which are sold at the Weed Farmers Market on Wednesdays in the summer. •

For more information on Kindred Gardens, visit www.kindredgardens.net.