Field of Dreams

A couple moves from the city to the country to establish a flower farm on family land.

- By Ashley Abramson

Like many dreams, Alicia Baron Barlow's and Tim Barlow's vision of living on a flower farm started as a small seed. Before the pair embarked on what they call "the great farm experiment," Tim planted his own tiny version of the Golden Gate Park dahlia garden-where the couple met-on a plot in his backyard in San Francisco. They were both working office jobs at the time, but when they heard Tim's family was considering getting rid of their farm, they uprooted their lives to acquire the property. Now married, the pair grows dahlias and more than 100 other species of vegetables and flowers on a 40-acre plot of land in Buchanan, Michigan.

FIRST STEPS

While the sudden abundance of outdoor space was inspiring, they took their time to decide how they would use the land, researching everything from farm startup costs to composting before planting anything. One thing became clear during the research phase: They wanted their garden to be more than just a pretty sight. "We want to keep the ecosystem alive by trying to use as few chemicals as possible," Alicia says. "As much as I don't like pests, they have a job, so I don't mind them living on the farm."

After working hard to clear out the overgrown fields, Alicia and Tim started small, planting seeds on just 1 acre of their land. "We did a little bit of everything to see what we liked and didn't like," Alicia says.