Our little farm started on a leap of faith in 2009 with our first crop of 300 mums. Today we grow over 15,000 mums, vegetables, and strawberries. In the early years, both Greg and I worked full-time off the farm. In 2013, we decided that our little side venture was quickly becoming a full time gig for at least one of us. So in 2014, Greg transitioned to our farm operation full time. At that time, we started renting additional ground five miles south and east of our current property to grow sweet corn and vegetables.
Most don't know this tidbit, but almost four years ago, Greg and I attempted to purchase an old, vacant fixer upper farmstead that I drive by every day on my way to my full-time job in Bloomington. I would dream about going Chip & Joanna Gaines on the house and growing our business with the additional land and old barn on the property. After a couple years of driving by it and noticing it was vacant, I set out to learn the story of the farmstead. I spent almost an entire year trying to track down anyone who knew about the place and the owners. It was an extremely exciting moment when I made contact with one of the owners in Florida over Facebook. And then the conversations to purchase the farmstead began.
After several months of back and forth over emails and us visiting and inspecting the farmstead on several occasions, the owners changed their minds about selling the acreage with the home and buildings. Our main goal was to purchase more land, so when that part was off the table, we walked away from the opportunity. It was a punch to the gut at the time and those who knew about it, knew how bummed I was over it all. But at the end of the day, we loved our little piece of ground, our beautiful foursquare home, and the stories and history about our place that we often hear about from locals. We moved on and kept working with what we had, yet I continued to dream about the what could be.
Fast forward a few years and eight months ago, the opportunity to purchase additional acreage connected to the east side of our property started to take shape. This past Friday, we made it official with this Facebook video. The amount of land we now own as of Friday the 13th (yes - I was very skeptical about closing on Friday the 13th), is the same amount of land that we wanted to purchase with the old fixer upper, farmstead four years ago. I guess it was all meant to be.
We are beyond grateful to have the opportunity to improve efficiency with having all our core crops in one place, and let's not forget to mention, MORE parking for Mum Fest! Stay tuned for updates as we break ground on our expansion in the coming weeks!
Here's to the next chapter of Triple M Farm: Mariah's Mums & More!
Your Farmers,
Greg & Mariah Anderson