Three years after an initial chance meeting, a mutual friend volunteered Steve to help drive Mandy from Georgia to a temporary farming gig out in California. They fell in love on day two of the road trip and spent the next six years cultivating both a lifelong relationship and a grand plan for their own farm.
"Mandy has been a farmer and creative her whole adult life, with an absolute compulsion to work in nature and a strong determination to run her own farm," Steve says. "I had been working with sustainable technologies and construction for many years, so when our lives and visions commingled, 3 Porch Farm was the natural manifestation."
At 3 Porch Farm, They Pick, Not U-pick
Their farm duties don't leave Steve and Mandy much time to see what's happening on other farms, but when I brought up the growing "U-Pick" trend, Steve said 3 Porch is the opposite. "U-picks are more of an agritourism approach. They are great to let families and friends get out to a farm and have an experience," Steve says. "Their revenue is largely generated by selling a fun experience. Ours is by providing a high-quality product."
3 Porch Farm is more interested in the act of cultivation itself than bringing the public to the farm. Wherever their flowers land — be it in a bud vase at your favorite cafe or on your mom's doorstep on Mother's Day — "you're getting the best, the freshest, and the longest-lasting."
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