It’s an otherwise quiet April afternoon, but Laura Beth Resnick is feeling a little frazzled. The owner of Butterbee Farm, a five-acre flower farm tucked down a side street of a Pikesville neighborhood, is usually cool and calm, but in the middle of the night—with the outside conditions hovering around freezing—an alarm went off warning that the temperature had dropped dramatically in one of the heated greenhouses. Resnick had to wait until the sun started peeking out to assess the damage to her treasured flora. Luckily, she says, flashing a relieved grin, “Everything is fine.”
Such is the life of a flower farmer. One off element—a temperature flux, a powdery mildew, too much rain, too little rain—can derail months of work. But that makes the victories all the sweeter. Walking her farm—past the rolling hills, beehives, vegetable garden, greenhouses, and hand-worked flower beds—she appreciates the beauty because she knows how much work goes into it.
Resnick grew up in Anne Arundel County, but her family moved here so she could attend the Friends School of Baltimore for high school. Even as a latecomer to the city, she felt an instant kinship. After high school, she continued her flute studies at a conservatory, but left before graduating—transferring to Barnard College to finish her undergraduate degree.
CREDIT the Source: Laura Beth Resnick is Sowing Her Seeds at Butterbee Farm