Business Blooming

By CAROLYN R. WILSON/Correspondent

Business is blooming for Beka McCune.

At the end of each week, McCune harvests dozens of her homegrown field flowers to sell to the early morning customers at the Abingdon Farmers Market on Saturdays. The avid gardener is not only turning a lifelong interest into a source of income, she also enjoys sharing her love for the outdoors with people in the community.

The Abingdon Farmers Market will open Saturday, Aug. 11, at its new location on the corner of Cummings Street and Remsburg Drive behind the Fields-Penn House. The market is open Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon and Tuesdays from 3-7 p.m.

“Flowers make people happy,” said McCune, who said it’s scientifically proven that the presence of flowers improves emotional health. Flowers, which have been described as messengers of love, help people to share their feelings. McCune said people often do not think about displaying fresh flowers in their homes. “Flowers are known as something to give when a person is sick, but why should we only have them when sick?”

She said that in England and other parts of Europe, flowers are a normal part of a person’s shopping. “You don’t go to the market without bringing home flowers with your produce.”

The Meadowview resident has spent the past few months planning a flower business, coping with the recent drought and spending a multitude of labor intensive hours nurturing a variety of plants. Overall, McCune is pleased with her first business venture. She named her business Blaithin Blair (pronounced blah-heen blare) which is Gaelic for “flower field.” Her goal is to offer fresh cut flowers that have not been stressed from shipping. “I don’t plan to go statewide or nationwide, just offer local flowers for local people.”

McCune takes a variety of old-fashioned favorites with her to the market, such as zinnias, cosmos, gladiolus, bachelor’s buttons, baby’s breath, dahlias, corn cockle, daisies, purple coneflower and one of her favorites, sunflowers. She prefers to grow varieties with strong stems, striking colors and good vase life.

“I make different sizes of bouquets for different households. Some people want a small bouquet to brighten up a corner, while others ask for a larger one for tabletops.”

McCune takes orders for large flower arrangement upon request. She also sells flowers by the stem for the customers who like to create their own bouquets. Surprisingly, her best customers at the farmers market are men, even boys as young as 7, who want to buy the bouquets.

McCune has enjoyed farming since she was a child. Her first love was raising cattle, but because producing crops is more feasible, she directed her attention to a flower business.

“I have always liked to arrange flowers, branches and other pieces of nature to bring the outdoors inside. I love the outdoors. My house seems gloomy and sad without something from the outside.”

She is neither a stranger to the outdoors, nor to hard work. A 2005 graduate of Virginia Tech, McCune graduated with a forestry degree with a concentration in environmental resource management. Planting seeds and watching them grow is one of her greatest rewards living on a farm.