Two Boots Farm

4226 Maple Grove Rd. Hampstead USA

(443) 507-8428

A family run farm and floral design studio in Hampstead, Maryland. We grow a wide variety of cut flowers and produce. We also have over 100 cultivated pawpaw fruit trees. We use ecologically sustainable practices so that future generations can continue to grow in healthy soil.

Mother's Day & Market Day

May 08, 2025  /  Elisa Lane

Greetings!

Once again, we’re in the midst of a chaotic week. I think we’re all looking forward to next week, when we’ll be able to catch up on planting and maintenance. The weeds are really growing quickly right now! We had couple free hours on Wednesday during which we were able to do a bit of bed preparation and weeding, but there’s still a lot to be done. We’ve been so busy that we’re going on three weeks without a proper field walk to identify what actually needs to get done. Generally, we circle the farm on Fridays, checking out each field for planting, weeding, and maintenance needs, and identifying any issues with crops. The longer we go between our to-do list field walks, the more things tend to get away from us. I think we’re all looking forward to getting back in the regular groove post-Mother’s Day. The farm thrives best when we’re more organized!

Thanks to all who came out to Flower Mart last weekend. It was an absolute whirlwind and we had a blast.

A jam-packed van full of Mother’s Day blooms.

Cylburn Market Day

This weekend is the annual Cylburn Market Day at Cylburn Arboretum. We’ll be there on Saturday from 8:00am- 2:00pm with seedlings and a small selection of Mother’s Day bouquets. This market always has a great group of vendors, with many people selling perennials, natives, artisan gifts, and more!

Peony Season

Peony season is in full swing! We’re delighted to welcome these giants of spring back into the spotlight. Peony season is short, lasting a little less than a month. We begin harvesting peonies in early May, and from there it’s a sprint to keep up with the blooms.

We harvest peonies every day, generally twice a day. Peonies are harvested at marshmallow stage, when the buds begin to swell and get squishy like a marshmallow. We cut the stems long and then strip the foliage into crates that we later remove from the field, as leaving the foliage around the plants can lead to disease. Once we’ve got all the peonies harvested, we take them back to our cooler and organize them by variety. You can store peonies harvested at marshmallow stage out of water for several weeks. We try to keep them moving out of our coolers in an organized fashion, and don’t like to hang onto anything for too long because it’s easy to lose track of what we’ve got on hand. We’ve, at times, stored peonies into mid-June, but at that point it’s really a gamble as to how long they’ll hold up in a vase. Those blooms only go out to florists with a fast turnaround on event times, and they get a fair warning that they might not do too well. Ideally, we’re getting everything out the door much sooner than that!

This toad loves to sit in this bowl that rests above the pond. It’s akin to a toad throne.

Mother’s Day bouquet sneak preview—can’t show you too much this early!

Sunday Market

We’re back at the Baltimore Farmers’ Market starts this Sunday, May 11th, from 7:00-12:00.

It’s Mother’s Day! We’re keeping it simple this week- for market we will have bouquets, peony bunches, and, if we have any left over after Cylburn Market Day, seedlings.

Thanks for reading, and, as always, we appreciate your steadfast support.

Wishing you all the best,
Amelia, Elisa, and the Two Boots Crew

I don’t think I ever shared this photo of myself (Amelia) with a swallowtail butterfly we rescued from the high tunnel and, fittingly, a bucket of butterfly ranunculus. It was the first butterfly we saw this year, in late April.

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