From Distant Dream to Rural Reality

Est. 2010

WE ARE FEMALE-OWNED, FARMER FLORISTS SPECIALIZING IN GROWING & DESIGNING WITH UNIQUE FLOWERS USING CHEMICAL FREE, SUSTAINABLE FARMING PRACTICES.

Our farm is dedicated to growing the most special flowers outside in the fresh air. Each stem is harvested with care on the week of sale. Harvest time combined with hydration are key to extending vase life for our flower lover fans.

In 2010, Iowa natives Kerrilyn & Meredith Nunnikhoven attended a seed starting class offered by Indian Hills Community College. At that time Barnswallow was a distant thought. Having the experience of growing and marketing sweet corn through the 80's and 90's, it was easy to entertain the thought of growing for local community once again. With generational farming knowledge, combined with a passion for growing beautiful and unique specimens, the business started innocently with wholesale peonies, dahlias and tomatoes. Barnswallow was in the making to help diversify the small family farm for long term sustainability.

In the fall of 2019, Meredith retired from her filmmaking career and purchased what is now, The Barnswallow Cottage AirBnB. While retiring from filmmaking was an adjustment, this allowed Meredith to give a full-time effort to the building of Barnswallow Flowers. Using her MBA and filmmaking experience, she applied her skills to various needs like CSA program building, agro-tourism events, e-commerce website formation, farm stand + farmer's market expansion and daily employee management.

Today, Barnswallow continues to grow chemical free on three acres at the farm homestead while serving a wide variety of customers both local and across the U.S.A. The fresh-cut, flower operation grows hundreds of unique specimens yearly. In fall of 2020, a six-acre organic chestnut plot was planted and installed to further diversify and provide a nutritional product to SE Iowa. The Barnswallow Cottage AirBnB serves as a farm stay for flower enthusiasts.

We will continue to update this page as our story unfolds. Enjoy the journey along with us through our Instagram and Facebook pages under Barnswallow Flowers.

Thanks for checking in with us and we hope to hear from you!

Xo, BSF