Harpers Ferry Gardens

About

Located on land owned by the Blocker family since about 1784, Harpers Ferry Gardens (HFG) is a new farm specializing in peonies, popcorn and select annual flowers. My husband, Douglas Blocker, and I, Scott Hasty, started HFG in 2020 partly as a response to the isolation imposed by COVID and partly because we wanted the 77 acre Blocker Farm to be an actual farm again. The half acre we are starting with was originally Douglas’ grandmother’s, Eulalia Blocker’s, vegetable garden.

The twenty-ish herbaceous existing, “legacy” peony bushes on farm were the inspiration to plant the 300, and counting, new roots over the past three years. Since those bushes have been thrived for at least 75 years, and more recently with little to no maintenance, we thought our chances of succeeding by growing new ones were pretty high. The two types of legacy plants have recently been identified. The cream & pink one is Madame Calot, and the magenta variety is Benjamin Franklin. We think that Douglas’ great-grandmother, Daisy May Blocker, planted all or most of the legacy peonies originally.

We’ve experimented with popcorn, pumpkins and annual flowers and plan to build on our success, and learn from our failures. We shared the overabundance of both experimental crops with friends and family because who doesn’t like popcorn, pumpkins and beautiful flowers?

Follow us on Instagram @HarpersFerryGardens