Inspiring Conversations with Marilyn / Michaela Fincher/ Stallings of Behind the Pines Farm, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marilyn / Michaela Fincher/ Stallings.

Hi Marilyn / Michaela , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We’ve always loved growing things, from vegetables to flowers. During the pandemic, we planted a lot of flower seeds, and when they were in full bloom, we knew we had to share their beauty.

We took our Suzuki Carry, a.k.a. the Little Flower Truck, to our local intersection and sold out within an hour. We continued setting up the Little Flower Truck on weekends and consistently sold out. People would say things like, “I love fresh-cut flowers,” or “I was just on my way to buy flowers for a party.”

We started to have repeat customers each weekend and knew we needed to grow more the following year. So we did, we grew more flowers, grew our customer base, and branched out to sell at our local farmers market in Nashville.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Running a flower farm, like any business, definitely has its ups and downs. As Behind the Pines Farm grew, we faced a learning curve, particularly with weed prevention and figuring out the best succession planting strategies to extend our season.

We also discovered which flowers thrived as cut flowers and which ones didn’t quite make the cut. Perhaps the biggest lesson was learning to surrender control to the weather and prepare for challenges like late frosts, droughts, hail, and high winds.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Behind the Pines Farm, LLC, is owned and operated by Marilyn Fincher and her sister, Michaela Stallings, also known as the Flower Farming Sisters. Situated just outside Nashville, North Carolina, our farm specializes in growing fresh-cut flowers.

Once a tobacco farm, Behind the Pines Farm represents a new chapter for Marilyn and Michaela, who are fourth-generation farmers from a long line of tobacco growers. We still have the original tobacco barns, which we hope to renovate someday. Our farm’s name is derived from the tall pine trees planted in the 1970s by Marilyn and Michaela’s PaPa and Grandaddy Hassel. Today, the farm includes a hoop house, a greenhouse, two mini donkeys, goats, chickens, and honeybees.

In 2022, Behind the Pines Farm was honored to receive the NC AgVentures Grant, which funded the purchase of a 20×100 hoop house, enabling us to start the flower season earlier. We offer seasonal bouquets for any occasion, DIY buckets, flower subscriptions, and flower arrangement classes. You can us every Friday from 3-7 p.m. during the Nashville Farmers Market season located at The Nashville Junction (725 S. Barnes Street, Nashville, NC

How do you define success?
Success, to us, isn’t just about financial gain. While growing a financially healthy business is great, for us, it’s really about the lives you touch with what you have, the people you meet, and the lifelong friends you make along the way.

Success is also about personal growth and evolving as a human being. It’s learning how you react to hardships, overcome challenges, and grow from your mistakes

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behind.the.pines.farm/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littleflowertruck/
• LinkedIn: https://linktr.ee/behindthepinesfarm