Waldoboro flower farmer Ann Marie Gallant sits with a bouquet while taking a short break from tending her flower fields on Sunday, July 14. Gallant, who is also a painter, started flower farming in 2019 and hasn’t looked back since. “It’s all about beauty,” she said. (Molly Rains photo)
For Ann Marie Gallant, a painter and saleswoman who five years ago added the title of “flower farmer” to her resume, the intensive and sometimes arduous work of her new trade is well worthwhile to add a measure of beauty to the world.
Walking among the fields of her property, named New Moon Cottage Flower Farm, the evening of Sunday, July 14, Gallant reflected on the process of building her operation, stooping now and then to pull a vagrant weed.
“It’s part of my identity now, and it’s a part of me that I’m proud of, because I started this when I was 60 years old,” Gallant said.
Originally from Portland, Gallant bought her property on Gross Neck Road in 2019 in what she said felt like an exhilarating step toward making her dream of flower farming a reality.
Initially, Gallant said, her vision was to grow lavender. She planted 100 lavender plants in 2020 and another 100 the following year.
The farm thrived seemingly right away, Gallant recalled. But when winter winds blew the lavender plants’ cover off one cold night and many of them froze, Gallant decided to branch out and planted a wider variety of flowers in their stead.
Now, her garden is extensive and diverse. Walking the grounds on July 14, Gallant pointed out a rainbow of dahlias, cosmos, bachelor’s buttons, zinnias, snapdragons, eucalyptus, basil, strawflowers, and more.
With her summer-long harvest, Gallant creates colorful bouquets that she says are characterized principally by their “whimsy” and wildness.
“I try, when I order my flowers, to think about how they’re going to go together, but honestly my bouquets are mostly just a lot of color,” Gallant said.
Gallant is committed to growing her flowers organically. This, she said, is something that has been important to her since childhood.
“My dad was an engineer, and he always had a garden,” she said. “He was really good about not using pesticides.”
Instead of applying chemicals, Gallant recalled, her father would research alternative ways to address garden pests.
Today, pollinators and wildlife love Gallant’s garden. Moths, butterflies, and other insects frequent the blooms; in the morning, Gallant said, she sometimes observes bees “asleep in the buds.”
The flowers that Gallant grows have also proven popular in human markets.
In previous years, Gallant sold her bouquets through a community-supported agriculture, or CSA, system, delivering blooms to subscribers throughout the season. Last year, however, a rainy, damp, and moldy season made flower production difficult, and Gallant discontinued her CSA for the time being.
Gallant now sells bouquets at Rockport butcher Bleecker and Greer, also taking orders by email and online.
Gallant continues to live and work in Portland, but the farming process requires her to travel to Waldoboro multiple times each week to water her flowers and make bouquets. Gallant sometimes stays at a cottage at her flower farm, which she also lets as a short-term rental.
The most laborious steps, Gallant said, are weeding and dead-heading. Both tasks are essential, however. Weeds spring up continuously in the rich soil, and dead-heading the planted flowers ensures they will continue to blossom rather than going to seed.
Gallant waters her flower fields heartily whenever she is in town, knowing that when she leaves, she said, she can only “pray for rain.”
The biggest thing that farming has taught her, Gallant said, is not to be afraid of trying something new. The fact that she started her flower farm at the age of 60 is a point of pride for Gallant, and a risk that she said she is glad to have taken.
The name, New Moon Cottage Flower Farm, references the lunar phase that represents new beginnings and potential, Gallant said.
“At 60, most people are winding down. I said, ‘I’m going to start a flower farm,’ and my friends said, ‘You’re insane,’” Gallant laughed. “Now they’re saying, ‘I can’t believe you did it.’”
Farming, Gallant said, has brought novelty and continual learning to her life.
“I’ve learned something new every year. Farming is a teacher,” she said. “It teaches you patience, it teaches you perseverance, hard work, appreciation … it keeps you young. It makes me happy.”
As a painter, Gallant said, her farm also provides her with continual visual inspiration. Gallant brings the same artistic eye to her bouquets as she does her canvases.
“It’s all about beauty. Just making the world a better place, visually,” she said.
The pursuit of beauty is one principle guiding Gallant’s big dreams for New Moon Cottage Flower Farm’s future.
“When I bought this place, I wanted it to be a destination for inspiration and beauty,” she said.
Gallant hopes to make New Moon an inviting space to one day bring artists together and even hold classes in the barn, she said.
Gallant said she loves Waldoboro for its scenery, community, and dynamic cast of characters, and is glad to have wound up in the town.
“I feel like it’s a magical place,” she said.
New Moon Cottage Flower Farm is not open to visitors at this time, but interested parties can go to newmooncottageflowerfarm.com or email newmooncottageflowerfarm@gmail.com to place an order or for more information.
Ann Marie Gallant, owner of New Moon Cottage Flower Farm in Waldoboro, assesses her garden on the afternoon of Sunday, July 14, in between watering and weeding. The process of growing the blooms that Gallant later uses to craft her bouquets is time consuming, she said, but fulfilling. (Molly Rains photo)
