It’s All About Daisies, Violets, Lilies, & Roses

By Cathy Miller

Newsflash! Women are gaining ground in the field of agriculture.

Nearly one third of farm producers, those who make decisions for a farm, are over 65 years old and fewer young people are picking up the mantle. However, within those statistics, the number of female farm producers is growing, while their male counterparts are in decline.

In 2018, a US Department of Agriculture survey revealed that NJ’s’s nearly 5,000 female farmers represent one third of its total farmers, up 60 percent from a decade ago.

Brienne Youngman is one of those women. Hailing from Phillipsburg, she owns and operates Bread Lock Botanicals in Stewartsville.

Noting she just “stumbled into farming” – her first farming job was an internship while she attended Centenary University studying pre-med and biology – Brienne said, “I discovered I loved growing flowers and loved the farm market scene. I knew this is what I wanted to do.”

She gained experience by working both organic and conventional farms in PA and NJ for eight years before establishing Bread Lock Botanicals, an organic flower farm.

Her farm is leased through the Foodshed Alliance’s SAgE (Sustainable Agriculture Enterprise) program, which makes preserved farmland accessible to farmers with affordable long-term leases.

This summer marks Bread Lock Botanicals’ fourth season. For now, Brienne farms only four of its five acres, but plans to expand, eventually cultivating the entire farm.

She originally raised both vegetables and flowers, but soon decided to concentrate on flowers. She specializes in weddings, events, and cut floral bouquets, selling her pre-made bouquets at farmers’ markets in nearby Blairstown and Washington Borough, and Newark, NJ and Horsham, PA.

Farming is labor intensive. Her parents frequently assist Brienne at the farmers’ markets, and her father helps with just about anything on the farm.

Brienne explained, “Last year weeding took too much time, but mulch beds have helped a lot this year. Right now making bouquets takes a huge chunk of time. You’re creating a piece of art, coordinating color, selecting blooms, shaping the bouquets – a lot of thought goes into it.”

When it comes to farming, does it leave any spare time? It’s mostly limited to a couple hours at the end of the day and the winter, when she can take some actual time off.

President Dwight Eisenhower famously said, “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.”

Not everyone is cut out for this demanding line of work, but for Brienne Youngman she is doing precisely what she loves to do – growing flowers, being a good steward of the land, and relishing the results of her calling.