Early bloomers at Two Birds One Stone
Cut flower farm in Hall’s Harbour enjoys growth in success
The unfolding majesty of the tulip is an annual rite of spring. As the flower transforms from a small bud to a colourful bloom, the smooth calyx and silky petals contain a peaceful stillness.
“Tulips go through this really amazing metamorphosis,” says Two Birds One Stone co-owner, Sarah Macalpine. “As they open up, they take on this whole other life and it’s really neat to watch that.”
Two Birds One Stone Farm is a cut flower farm and design studio in Hall’s Harbour, operated by Macalpine and her husband Kenny. From early April until Mother’s Day a wide range of tulips – upwards of 50 or 60 different varieties – are shipped far and wide.
“Tulips are one of our main crops and we sell mostly mixed bunches, so you’re always going to see something different,” Macalpine says. “We grow our tulips in a greenhouse, so we get them six to eight weeks before the field-planted varieties.”
The tulips were just poking through the soil in spring of 2020 when COVID restrictions were going into effect. With people stocking up on toilet paper and canned goods, Macalpine wondered if anybody would still be buying flowers. In fact, it turned out to be a good time to be in the flower delivery business.
“Because people couldn’t connect with each other in person they were sending flowers,” she recalls. “As fast as we could harvest tulips, they were going out the door.”
Specializing in fragrant and beautiful blooms, grown seasonally and organically, the operation has two greenhouses and just under three acres of land in production. From April until late October their Hall’s Harbour operation is a vibrant, colourful amalgam of azaleas, peonies, ranunculus and summer annuals.
“We grow more than 100 different kinds of flowers, grains and grasses,” Macalpine says. “We’re pretty diversified.”
Everything grown at Two Birds One Stone is organic, with no spraying or synthetic fertilizers. The business is at the Wolfville Farmers’ Market every Saturday and the farm is open Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m. A bouquet subscription service is available, which offers weekly delivery service across the Annapolis Valley throughout the growing season. Customers outside the Valley can sign up on WFM2Go.
Macalpine puts on workshops throughout the year, which are always in high demand, especially the Christmas wreath workshops. By joining the Bloom Club customers not only get first dibs on the workshops, but also receive a discount the Two Birds One Stone line of soaps, candles and merchandise.
“Bloom Club members get VIP access,” Macalpine says. “It’s our way of saying thank you to our customers.”
Sarah and Kenny moved to Hall’s Harbour from Dundas, Ont. five years ago.
“We really wanted a change and we’ve always loved Nova Scotia,” she recalls. “I went back to school and took some horticulture classes, taking in as much information as I could about farming.”
While her original idea was for a market garden, the more research she did, the more flowers captured her imagination.
“I really wanted to have a job where I was growing something, but where I would also have this awesome creative outlet.”