Every week, from spring until the first frost, we make the same journey.
Leaving the city behind, we travel east to the Loyalist Townships, where a family farm has quietly shaped the way we live, the way we create, and the flowers that find their way into Bloomfields.
Long before it became part of our story, Sandyhill Farm was home.
Over more than three decades, Wendy has transformed what was once largely open fields into a living landscape of native trees, flowering shrubs, heirloom lilacs, perennial gardens, winding paths, and countless quiet places to pause. Season by season, plant by plant, she created a haven for birds, pollinators, wildlife, and people alike.
There is a quiet magic there that cannot be hurried.
When Jamie and I were married in 2002, I moved Bloomfields from Toronto to Ottawa, and Sandyhill Farm became part of my story too.
My parents were both born and raised in a small mountain village in Greece, where farming wasn't simply an occupation—it was a way of life. My grandparents tended sheep, grew vegetables, olives, flowers, and fruit, and lived from the bounty of the land. Everything came from the seasons, and every season had its own rhythm.
Although I was born and raised in Toronto, we returned to that village often throughout my childhood. Some of my happiest memories are of wandering through the pastures, gathering little bouquets of wildflowers and herbs.
Through my parents, grandparents, and relatives, I learned about the cycles of the land—what each season brought, what was ready to gather, and the beauty and abundance found in living close to nature.
Looking back, I realize those moments quietly shaped me.
They taught me to notice beauty. To appreciate what was growing in that season. To understand that flowers and nature weren't separate from life—they were simply part of it.
Today, we're grateful to return there with our own boys, sharing with them the same village, landscapes, and traditions that first taught me to see the beauty and bounty of the land.
When I walk through Sandyhill, I often think of those childhood days.
The landscapes are different, but the feeling is wonderfully familiar.
It's as though, in some small way, I've returned home.
Throughout the growing season, Jamie makes the journey week after week, gathering flowers, foliage, grasses, seed heads, and branches by hand before making the journey back to Bloomfields. Whenever I join him, time seems to disappear.
The scent of sweet peas drifts through the morning air. Buckets slowly fill, one stem at a time. Birds provide the soundtrack while the breeze moves gently through the gardens.
The flowers may only last a week.
The work of growing them has been unfolding for decades.
For us, Sandyhill isn't simply where flowers grow.
It's where generations of our families quietly meet.
It's where we reconnect with one another. Where conversations unfold while gathering stems. Where every season reminds us why we chose this way of life.
While Sandyhill is deeply personal to us, it's also one chapter in a much larger story. We're grateful to work alongside remarkable local growers—including Roam Flora, O'Meara Farm, Hardscrabble Orchard & Gardens, Northfield Flower Farm, and many others—whose care for the land and respect for the seasons inspire us every day.
Together, they remind us that every bouquet begins long before it reaches our hands.
It begins with generations of people who chose to care for the land.
And a reminder that the most beautiful things are always worth growing slowly.
Until next time, may you find beauty in the everyday.
With love, Virginia
Founder, Bloomfields
