Fundraiser for Four Blooms Farm in Bristol, VT

I'm Emily von Trapp, of von Trapp Flowers and this fundraiser was created to support the replacement of greenhouses lost in the recent storm at Four Blooms Farm in Bristol, VT.

On Thursday I visited Sarah Heffernan of Four Blooms Farm in Bristol to see the damage her farm sustained in the early morning hours of January 9th.

This past week a storm was predicted to bring heavy wet snow, rain and extremely strong winds throughout New York state and Vermont. Farmers I know throughout these regions battened down the hatches and braced for the weather. Fortunately for many, the damage was minimal. Sadly as you can see from this photo, that wasn't the case for Sarah Heffernan and Thomas Demars.

Sarah and Thomas run Four Blooms Farm, a new and growing flower farm in Bristol, Vermont- named for their four children. In the early hours of Tuesday morning strong winds wreaked havoc on their farm. Their two newly constructed greenhouses were damaged by the wind. One greenhouse was a complete loss, while the second sustained significant damage. These greenhouses were both built this past summer. One was planted with a row of 8,000 tulips and Sarah had plans to fill them both with flowers during the next couple of months for the upcoming season.

I met Sarah and Thomas this past fall when they attended our on farm Tulip Workshop here at my farm in Waitsfield, Vermont. I was excited to hear about their enthusiasm and energy to grow a new flower farm over the mountain in Bristol. Starting a farm from scratch is hard work, especially when you're juggling other jobs and raising four young children. It takes a special kind of grit, determination, and passion to make that work. Seeing their hard work tossed and mangled by the wind was absolutely devastating.

After visiting their farm I wanted to share their story with the hopes that people might be inspired to help out if they can. I have started this GoFundMe page to raise funds to help them repair and re-skin their one greenhouse and replace the other. It would be great to see them get some love and support from the community. If you're able to pitch in, any donation helps- it all adds up!

Sarah has some tulips growing hydroponically in her indoor growing space that wasn't damaged, and she will be selling these within the Bristol community. Please give Four Blooms Farm @fourbloomsfarmvt a follow on instagram to learn more about their farm and how to get your hands on their beautiful flowers.

Thanks for your support!!