about us
We are Andrew and Julia; two born-and-raised Southern Marylanders who fell in love with each other and flowers while working at Even’ Star Organic Farm. We quickly built a community of friends, coworkers, customers, and mentors who have helped us envision big dreams for the future, and that community has served as invaluable support and encouragement to help us take this first big step. Our farm is currently nestled within the greater Even’ Star Farm in a place lovingly dubbed “The North Field”; a magical 3-ish acres tucked behind a flowing ravine and pine forest. This is just our first step toward our ultimate goal of operating a queer farm collective, run with family and friends, as a cornerstone of community and connection. Thank you so much for taking this first step with us; we hope you’ll stay a while and grow with us.
why “penny laurel farms”?
Each word of our name is chosen with intention, and it is very important to us. “Penny” was a childhood nickname of Julia’s grandmother, and “Laurel” is a play on her aunt’s name. They were two of the most influential people in Julia’s life but are both unfortunately not with us anymore, but she wanted to honor them in a lasting way. Finally, “Farms” is chosen in the plural form as a nod to where we are now and where we hope to be. We will never be just one farm; we are a product of collaboration and fully intend to carry that spirit with us wherever we go.
We believe in a mutually beneficial relationship with the land. Our farm uses low till, no spray, sustainable, and environmentally friendly techniques. We are working every day to learn new techniques and cut out plastics wherever possible. We sell our flowers, grown almost entirely in the open fields, on our farm and at a market less than 5 miles away keeping our carbon footprint low. We personally want to be as safe growing your flowers as you are enjoying them in your home, and we don’t want to hurt our planet doing it.