Now in its fifth year of operations, Zekiah Ridge Farm and Flowers in La Plata, Maryland, continues to expand with rising demand for its flowers and a growing name reputation. This year, owner Cindy Bliss built a third high tunnel greenhouse to grow more flowers and entered new markets such as baby showers and a local church. “My retail markets are doing very well,” she told us. “I sell out every week before I can even put some on my own farm stand.” She has plans to grow even more flowers next year.
Cindy has been a Bloom customer for the last two years and says it’s been working great. “More people down here in southern Maryland are catching on to Bloom as a better alternative to chemical fertilizers,” she says. This year, she grew lots of snapdragons, zinnias, gomphrena, dianthus, calla lilies, and a new flower called feverfew, which she discovered from a nearby Amish flower farm.
Cindy is also proud to operate a non-profit called Veterans Bloom, which offers a farm-to-table dining experience at the farm using locally sourced food to raise money for different veteran causes, including Leashes of Valor, which provides service dogs to military members in need. She also invites veteran families to the farm to experience flower farming firsthand.
Zekiah Ridge Farm sells its specialty flowers locally through a network of stores, including Nick’s and Hancock Family Farms, at a Saturday farmer’s market in La Plata, as well as its own farm stand Friday to Sunday. The farm, which Cindy took over from her late father, also serves as a picturesque event venue for weddings and other occasions.
