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Moment: Southerly Flower Farm brings couple closer to their dreams and each other

Sarah Ervin brings bouquets from her fields at Southerly Flower Farm back to the house on Thursday, July 23, 2015 in Graysville, Tenn.. She and her husband, Matthew, inherited the land and a log cabin from his parents and are in the swing of their first flower season. (Staff photo by Maura Friedman)
Sarah Ervin brings bouquets from her fields at Southerly Flower Farm back to the house on Thursday, July 23, 2015 in Graysville, Tenn.. She and her husband, Matthew, inherited the land and a log cabin from his parents and are in the swing of their first flower season. (Staff photo by Maura Friedman)

By Maura Friedman 4 min read

Sarah Ervin combs through her flower rows, clipping dahlia stems with her right hand and collecting a bouquet in her left. Beyond the trees on the horizon, she sees black clouds grumbling. Her husband, Matthew, is two rows ahead, running his fingers over each leaf, checking for june bugs and beetles.

By the time rain starts to patter on the couple’s Graysville, Tenn., log cabin windows, the flowers are nestled in a pewter pitcher on the windowsill.

Owning a flower farm isn’t as romantic as it sounds. There are insects. There are hot days. There are rainy days. And there is dirt – dirt in the ground, dirt in your gloves, dirt in your eyes.

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To place an order from Sarah and Matthew Ervin, visit southerlyflowerfarm.com.

But when Sarah and Matthew are in the field together, laughing and pruning chest-high blooms at Southerly Flower Farm, the job feels romantic – at least a little bit.