For the Charlestown-based seasonal cut flower farm South County Flowers, 2023 has been a year of gradual change. South County Flowers co-owners and married couple Nancy and Dean Viseth are pausing the wedding venue portion of the business and will be focusing on its rapidly growing community-supported agriculture membership, “DIY Brides” program, and supplying local florists.
After taking ownership of the family farm in 2008, Nancy Viseth said it’s been an incredibly fulfilling venture. Even though South County Farms has no plans to resume using the farm as a wedding venue, the farm has been busy planning the addition of food production to their repertoire with a future availability of beef and lamb. “It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Nancy Viseth said. “I am looking forward to this next chapter. We are always going to [have] a small and unique vibe with the highest quality products… It’s a small operation, and it always will be.”
Nancy Viseth said the farm already had cows, but the addition of sheep was prompted particularly by having access to nutritional sheep’s milk. The Viseths are eager to share the animals with the community via their community-supported agriculture (CSA) membership. “It’s such a good experience to know exactly where your food is coming from,” Nancy Viseth said. The transition from wedding venue to food production was inspired by Nancy and Dean Viseth’s two children planning to get married in June 2023. They both got married on the farm — ceremoniously marking the culmination of South County Farm as a wedding venue. “We are entering a new phase of life,” Nancy Viseth said. “We are not going to slow down completely; we are just making a shift.” Originally, South County Flowers started as a wholesale flower farm for florists. Nancy Viseth said the farm started with a delivery van that went around Westerly and Wickford, slowly expanding its radius throughout South County.
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