Silverpetals Farm was founded by Chris Losee and Kim Schaye in 1996. The farm produces fresh, field-grown flowers of the types traditionally found in gardens and along roadsides in the mid-Hudson Valley of New York State. Over fifty different heirloom and improved plant varieties, as well as many wild flowers, are grown on the farm in Gallatin, NY.
Kim and Chris met in New York City and lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn for about ten years. But while they loved the neighborhood (and still do), they always wondered what it would be like to lead a less stressful, more independent life in a rural environment.
One day, Chris brought home a special bouquet for Kim. Gathered from the fields of what had been one of the last working farms in New York City – and was now a state park with a demonstration farming program – it seemed to change the couple’s outlook on what might be possible.
The arrangement, made by Chris’ friend Dan, combined loose, aromatic sage leaves and deep purple and red zinnias, spiky amaranths and silky cosmos. It wasn’t like the flowers that came from the corner deli. It seemed warm with the heat of the field and fragrant with the loose brown earth. Although they didn’t know it at the time, this bouquet marked the start of a whole new life. You can read more about how they changed their lives in their book, Stronger Than Dirt.
Today, Kim, Chris and their two daughters Samantha and Juliana live about 100 miles north of New York. All four return to the city frequently to visit friends and family – and to sell their flowers in Greenmarket. These days, when they aren’t helping at market or around the farm, Jules is going to college in Washington, D.C., and Sam is more local, attending college in the upper west side of NYC.
