How An Iris Grows Farm & Garden

02/20/2026

Have you ever heard of a fairy egg before??

02/19/2026

Pro-Tip: Hit up your friends with a Sam’s Club or Costco membership and ask them to save their plastic rotisserie chicken containers for you! They are PERFECT sturdy little seed starting domes! 🌱🤗

07/17/2025

The rainstorm drew me outside today to check on some of our ‘teenager’ hens growing out in the meat bird tractor. Sure enough, part of it was flooding. I got absolutely soaked moving it to a new location and finding a nice curvy big branch that had fallen off the oak tree for them to roost on up off of the sopping wet ground.

After I was done with that, I meandered over to the garden and started pulling weeds with the torrential rain falling in absolute buckets. It was exhilarating to be outside with the most coolness I’ve felt in weeks—no sticky humidity, just warm rain, me, and the garden.

I discovered even more massive onions that i hadn’t spied yet and am SO excited to show them at fair this year.

God is good and I’m thankful for the reprieve from the heat and am looking longingly toward Friday and a day of forecasted “less humidity”.

Selfie for the memory ⛈️ 🥹

07/03/2025

This is such a happy moment! Growing cabbages always brings me immense joy. They’re just so pretty!

06/27/2025

🍓 The strawberry picking was awesome today! We went home with 36.6lbs of strawberries (with a few eaten in the field) for $2.73 per pound (the farm gave us a deal since we’d picked so much!). From this, I froze 15lbs of hulled berries in 1lb bags, made a huge batch of jam (1.75 gallons!), started a strawberry shrub with nearly 3lbs of strawberry tops + brown sugar, put two pounds fresh into clam shells I’d saved and used a couple handfuls of remaining strawberries to make strawberry sauce.
I’m absolutely destroyed with exhaustion but so proud of the end result!
Next up will be mulberries and then raspberries, black caps and blueberries!

06/08/2025

🥰 Homesteading demands a creative mind. At every turn, you’re challenged to implement new systems to manage all the fruits, the vegetables, the dairy, the eggs, the meat. It takes a lot of grit, determination, and imagination to make it all happen…ever had to fit 10 more tomato plants into an already full garden? 😅 How have you found yourself getting creative on your homestead, in your garden or in the kitchen? 🌿

06/03/2025

I’ve been making elderberry syrup for so many years. I just ran across these photos from 2019. I have always used fresh or frozen from fresh elderberries in my syrups and as the years have gone on, I’ve added wild foraged ingredients to increase the beneficial nutrients. I’m looking forward to making a bunch of elderberry syrup this coming fall. If you want to be notified when I do, comment below or shoot me a message!

05/25/2025

🐝 🍯 Got some delicious honey from Stephanie at Lavendar Acres, freshly harvested this last week! If you’re looking for a great local source of honey, send her a message. The health benefits of buying local honey are innumerable especially when it comes to dealing with allergies. She uses organic practices (not certified) in keeping her bees which is so hard to find. I hope you take the time to reach out to her to get your own honey before she’s sold out! Thank you, Stephanie!! 🐝 🍯 (I love the bears 🐻)

05/25/2025

🦆 🥚

05/22/2025

📸 Calling all local photographers!
I’m opening up our farm for just two special photography access days this year — and I’d love to welcome you.

🌾 How An Iris Grows Farm + Garden is on Gary Rd tucked between Briggs and Bishop in Chesaning — and it’s full of quiet charm: wildflowers, a winding creek, forest edges and paths, a big garden, and a few curious goats and chickens who might sneak into your shots (by request, of course 🐐✨).

🌞 Session dates:
• August 16 – golden summer light + blooms
• October 18 – peak fall color + cozy textures

We’re offering:
• Morning + afternoon photo access
• Golden hour add-ons 🌅 (limited to 3 photographers)
• Mini bouquets 🌸
• Optional farm animal features 🐓
• Private bookings available

🎟 Spots are limited and will fill fast — if you’re interested, you can find full details + request to book here:
👉 https://forms.gle/MbusmYV57DpNayfk6

Feel free to message me with any questions or if you’d like to come by for a quick tour. Would love to see what you create here!

📍 Chesaning, MI | 🗓 August 16 & October 18 Only 🍃 Step into a curated natural backdrop of diverse photo zones, forest edges, creekside stillness, gardens, wildflowers, and a touch of rustic charm. With limited access dates and availability, this is a rare opportunity to capture magic on our...