Augusta County family opens farm and new store in community

Augusta County, Virginia (WHSV)-The family-owned Harmony Harvest Farm in Augusta County is booming and blooming. The farm is now open for the first time for the general public to explore.

In the early 2010s, Jessica Hall and Chris Orville bought a 20-acre farm in Wayers Cave and later hired a flower consultant to find the best way to turn their passion into a business.

“I said,’Jess, where does the florist get the flowers?’ She said,” I can do that. ” I said, “What can you do?” She said, “I can grow flowers,” and I said, “Can you sell them?” I said, “said Chris Orville.

From there, the flower vision of Trifecta, mother Chris Orville, sisters Jessica Hall and Stephanie Duncan began.

“We started weddings and events for the local community and local florists,” Orville said. “We were making some bouquets for Whole Foods.”

Harmony Harvest Farm later began shipping flowers from the fields to consumers.

“We were shipping them to flower designers across the country holding weddings and events. We were doing mixed bouquets at Whole Foods above and below the east coast. Things went well. And, as you know, COVID was a hit. “

The event stopped and the business switched gears to connect the people of the house with flowers. Harmony Harvest Farm has begun making “Happy Boxes” with home-made flowers and coloring pages.

With such a big response from the community about “Happy Box,” Orville says he knows what to do next is to open farms and farm shops in the Shenando Valley community, which officially opened in mid-July. I did.

“Our property is beautiful and we wanted a space where people could come and buy flowers, of course, but experience this life we ​​were building,” said Stephanie Duncan. rice field.

There are fresh flowers, local artisan goods, and frogs in the farm shop.

“Yes, everyone always asks what the flower frogs are, and I have no problem spending the rest of my life telling people what they are,” Duncan said. rice field. “In short, Flower Frog is a sustainable alternative to non-biodegradable floral foam that contains microplastics in water and contains carcinogens.”

Floral Genuis, another business of Trifecta, makes flower frogs on farms. They say they are the only US manufacturer that makes metal flower frogs, so they ship to 30 countries all over the country and around the world.

The farm is now open to the public, but it is not yet growing.

“We are working on the Virginia Love Trail with an interactive design that allows the community to come out and blossom in hosting workshops. [Love sign] Let’s work together to learn how to create beautiful and creative art, “said Jessica Hall.

Also, later this summer, we plan to add a self-selected “Victory Garden,” an interactive discovery garden.

“You can walk history from a certain point in time and learn through flowers how we are going to make a positive difference in our community in the future,” Hall said.

At the Flower Fair last week, Harmony Harvest Farm welcomed hundreds of people to the grand opening of the farm shop and gave them the opportunity to teach the community at a flower workshop.

“We are holding many workshops in an old bank barn. Next year it will be held as a local heritage museum focusing on the importance of women in agriculture. Mothers, sisters and sisters who raised it, and It’s very important to me. We have a beautiful vision ourselves, “Hall said.

Women-owned companies will continue to host events and workshops such as harvest tours, wedding bouquet workshops and the Autumn Mama Festival.

The farm shop is currently open Tuesday to Friday from 8am to 4pm and Saturday from 8am to 12pm.

For more information on Harmony Harvest Farm, click here to visit our website or click here to visit our Facebook page.

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