The Georgia Flower Farm We're Swooning Over

Aside from growing seas of some of the most vibrant flowers in the whole dang South, Steve and Mandy O’Shea also ship stems and seeds nationwide, stock a delightful farm store, blog about farm life, and nurture a team of skilled farmers. They’ve also shared some of their flower power with us. Meet 3 Porch Farm, a small, sustainable Georgia flower farm making waves amid an ocean of others.

A woman in a straw hat arranging a bunch of colorful dahlias in a sunny garden setting. — Steve and Mandy O’Shea, owners of 3 Porch Farm, describe their experience as “being in tune with the rhythms of a place over many years and keeping our attentions firmly planted and grounded here.” Image: Steve O’Shea

3 Porch Farm: Sold! Site Unseen

Three years after an initial chance meeting, a mutual friend volunteered Steve to help drive Mandy from Georgia to a temporary farming gig out in California. They fell in love on day two of the road trip and spent the next six years cultivating both a lifelong relationship and a grand plan for their own farm.

A man and woman standing in the 3 Porch Farm flower garden, the woman holding a bouquet of colorful flowers, with sunlight filtering through trees in the background. — They looked for land for four years, and finally, when the ideal tract popped up, it happened to be 3,000 miles away in North Georgia. But they knew and trusted the area and made an offer site unseen. After setting foot on the land three days later, they knew it was the perfect base to realize their lofty endeavor. Image: Ingalls Photography

“Mandy has been a farmer and creative her whole adult life, with an absolute compulsion to work in nature and a strong determination to run her own farm,” Steve says. “I had been working with sustainable technologies and construction for many years, so when our lives and visions commingled, 3 Porch Farm was the natural manifestation.”

At 3 Porch Farm, They Pick, Not U-pick

Their farm duties don’t leave Steve and Mandy much time to see what’s happening on other farms, but when I brought up the growing “U-Pick” trend, Steve said 3 Porch is the opposite. “U-picks are more of an agritourism approach. They are great to let families and friends get out to a farm and have an experience,” Steve says. “Their revenue is largely generated by selling a fun experience. Ours is by providing a high-quality product.”

A man in a cap inspecting plants in hanging pots inside a greenhouse. — “We’ve done large events,” Steve admits, “but always walk away feeling very disoriented and depleted. That’s enough to know we aren’t built for agritourism.” Image: Mandy O’Shea

3 Porch Farm is more interested in the act of cultivation itself than bringing the public to the farm. Wherever their flowers land — be it in a bud vase at your favorite cafe or on your mom’s doorstep on Mother’s Day — you’re getting the best, the freshest, and the longest-lasting.

A charming garden shed at 3 Porch Farm, surrounded by blooming tulips and other flowers, with a blackboard menu visible inside the open shed. — There is, however, a way to get close to the action. Visit the farm store if you’re near Comer, GA! Image: 3 Porch Farm

Working the Farm is Part Art, Part Science

The beloved and awarded 3 Porch Farm flowers amalgamize vitality, size, color, shape, and rarity. This uncompromised quality hinges upon their farmers being adept and focused. “Knowing exactly when to cut a flower for it to be perfect for a customer is part art and part science,” Steve says. “It requires a great deal of skill and awareness from one variety to the next and from one season to the next.”

Group of five people smiling and holding large flowers in a sunny garden with 3 Porch Farm greenhouses in the background. — Just LOOK at those blooms. “The skill required to do a good job is hard earned over many years; our employees deserve the work, and our customers deserve the quality,” Steve says. Image: Mandy O’Shea

Steve believes that farm workers don’t get the credit they deserve. “To do something that physically difficult with that much nuance, understanding, and skill is something many underestimate. It’s one reason we value our employees and don’t try to cut corners with volunteer labor or interns.”

Finding Harmony Between People and Nature

Happiness and integrity are Steve and Mandy’s life goals, and they weave those goals into the fabric of everything they do. “The bulk of our waking life is spent with our crew, so there must be a harmony within those interactions. We know that if we care for our employees and respect their contributions and their outside lives, this will foster a positive workspace.” Everyone wants to laugh and feel kindness from and towards the people in their lives. Steve and Mandy cultivate that environment for everyone on their farm “because that’s the world we want to live in.”

Two people tending to yellow flowers in a garden, with an old red bus in the background. — Steve says, “If the underlying foundation of this business is one of mutual respect, trust, and appreciation, then we all feel more inclined to do a good job and be happy in the process. Everyone wants their contributions to matter and to be appreciated.” Image: Steve O’Shea

Mum’s No Longer The Word: Heirloom Chrysanthemums Are BACK

Heirloom Chrysanthemums are making a comeback that’s hard to ignore. “There are so many shapes and colors, and they are so bold and bountiful that it’s hard not to be enamored,” Steve says. “Mums got a bad rap due to the proliferation of boring varieties at big box stores over the last few decades, but the kinds our grandmothers grew were incredible and nearly forgotten.”

Close-up of vibrant pink chrysanthemums with detailed petals and yellow centers. — Different mum varieties are bred for various purposes, but for the last decade, 3 Porch Farms has been helping revive some of the heirloom varieties with their fellow flower farmers. Image: Steve O’Shea

A woman in a striped jacket and pink beanie examines flowers in a greenhouse. — From a visual standpoint, one “grow tunnel” in full bloom is unparalleled. “It’s an absolute sea of color, and it’s just a joy to be in each year,” Steve adds. Image: Steve O’Shea

A Common Farm Misconception

Though flower farm pictures on social media might look more appealing than, say, a potato farm’s photos, farming is still farming. And small-scale agriculture can be especially grueling. It’s not all “looking cute in floppy hats and sundresses and flittering about collecting pretty flowers on a warm, but not too hot, day accompanied by your favorite pet butterfly,” Steve funnily points out.

Two women smiling and arranging colorful flowers at a table inside a greenhouse. — The 3 Porch Farm team is dedicated to growing and supplying the best flowers they can. Image: Steve O’Shea

While the digital world has been great for small business awareness and promotion, it tends to obscure the ickier parts: “It’s dirt, sweat, bug bites and stings, frozen fingers, heat exhaustion, small margins, injuries, equipment failures, no evenings or weekends off, crop failures, extreme weather events, pests, diseases, and an alarming crash course in a business with single-digit success rates,” Steve says.

A man in a white shirt and cap harvesting flowers in a lush garden. — After a challenging first decade of all-consuming work, 3 Porch Farm has carved out its niche. They do what they do well. Image: Mandy O’Shea

Get Yourself Down to the 3 Porch Farm Store

“Our farm store is open Thursday through Saturday, and it’s adorable,” Steve says. It’s curated with sustainable goods and handmade products primarily by woman-owned businesses. They are minutes from a beautiful state park with one of the last covered bridges in Georgia. “There are a bunch of cool local businesses and attractions in Comer,” Steve says, who’s even created a local area guide. Take a peek at the store:

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Or Find 3 Porch Farm on Your Porch

3 Porch Farm ships flowers to your doorstep. “They’re fresher and longer-lasting than anything you can find at a store or florist.,” says Steve. Their blooms are harvested with long vase life in mind and only spend a few hours in transit before they arrive at your home, so they’re as fresh as possible when you get them. “Most of our business is people sending flowers as gifts to loved ones, and to be a witness and a conduit for their good intentions during times of grief and joy is truly an honor and frequently floods us with gratitude.”

A person in an orange beanie arranging various colorful flowers, each tagged with a price label, at the 3 Porch Farm flower market. — So much anger and division in this world, yet somehow, 3 Porch Farm gets to pass on love notes and beautiful flowers every day. The impact of this is not lost on the O’Sheas and their team. Image: Steve O’Shea

Not only is 3 Porch Farm completely solar-powered, but they produce twice as much energy as the farm needs and feed the rest back to the grid to provide renewable energy for their neighbors. “Our vehicles run on recycled vegetable oil, our packaging is 100% compostable, and we pay for carbon offsets for every package shipped,” Steve adds.

Get ready for DAHLIAS!

Since 3 Porch is so far South, their spring is almost over, and they’re headed into summer’s downtime. The next big thing will be dahlia subscriptions, which are launching in a few months. “Our dahlias will start to trickle in late in August, hit hard in September and early October, and then we sail right into heirloom mum season through November,” Steve says. Consider gifting farm fresh flowers for all the celebratory events coming up.

A person from behind, wearing a cap, holds a large bunch of pink and white peonies in a lush garden at 3 Porch Farm. — “You have to love where you are and what you’re doing to justify how much of your life it consumes,” Steve adds. “We are happy doing this.” Image: Steve O’Shea

Thank you for chatting, Steve! Discover more at 3PorchFarm.com.

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About the Author
Zoe Yarborough

Zoe is a StyleBlueprint staff writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant of eleven years. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.

The Georgia Flower Farm We’re Swooning Over