Hi, I’m Toya!
I’m a Mountainville native, a flower farmer and a tailor. I love wearing ballgowns in fields, sewing pretty things, and rolling up my sleeves to work in the flower field.
Toya the Tailor
I went to SUNY Purchase to study costume design and construction after sewing for my ballet companies in high school. I honed my sewing and pattern drafting skills in school, and went on to design and build costumes for dance and theater productions in New York City and Brooklyn.
I also worked in costumes for TV and Film for years, where I really saw that the reason that clothes look good on stage & screen is that they’re fitted to the people wearing them. As a tailor, it’s my goal to have every person who comes into the fitting room leave feeling and looking their very best.
Toya the Farmer
After a few years in Brooklyn I still felt like a transplant. I missed the wild flowered roadsides of my youth and time in the garden. I moved back to my hometown to put down roots closer to my family, and when my mother’s garden was opened to me an absolute mania for flowers took hold.
I planted and grew many of the flowers for my wedding, and with the help of a few cherished friends and family members, we did all the florals for the event. The farm now stands in the backyard where my wedding tent did and I cannot wait to share this season’s blooms with you!
That’s nice, but what are you growing?!
I’m so glad you asked!
This year, we’ll be growing 12 varieties of sunflowers for a total of 1200 plants!
We’re growing 8 varieties of dahlias this year, including the famous Cafe Au Lait dinner plate dahlia, as well as a mix of beautiful peach, pink, red, orange and purple dahlias in ball and decorative shapes.
It’s going to be zinnia madness, with 15 varieties growing. There will be a mix of giant blooms and sweet little minis in the most spectacular shades of coral, pink, peach, and deep wine.
We’re growing a few different kinds of marigolds, cosmos, poppies, amaranth, celosia, rudbeckia and sweet peas. Lots of herbs like mint, basil and bouquet dill will add fragrance to our bouquets, and we’re excited about growing matricaria; it’s a personal favorite for it’s simple good cheer.
