Before planting roots here, we spent years working at sea. Karel is originally from the Netherlands, where he trained as a chef in some of the country’s top hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants. He spent a decade as Executive Chef with Holland America Line, sailing across 50+ countries and soaking up global food cultures along the way. Julie worked as an Assistant Cruise Director and Port Lecturer, and later built a career in hospitality and e-commerce with Marriott International. We met onboard, bonded over a shared love of beauty, travel, and creativity — and started dreaming about the kind of home we’d build when we were ready to slow down.

When the time came to leave cruise life behind, we narrowed our next chapter down to two places: Oregon or North Carolina. We chose Hillsborough for its warmth, its woods, and its sense of community — and we’ve never looked back.

Since then, we’ve been steadily transforming our land into a living, blooming landscape. We took classes, learned from local farmers, read everything we could, and made plenty of mistakes along the way. We built raised beds for flowers, expanded fences to keep the deer at bay, and planted a pollinator garden filled with native North Carolina perennials. One day, we hope to open the farm up for u-pick flowers — a space filled with color, joy, and bees. Karel brings his chef’s eye for color, texture, and seasonality to the flowers we grow. Julie draws inspiration from her Assiniboine and Santee Sioux heritage — and from memories of wildflower walks in the Montana mountains with her dad. 

Today, we don’t long to travel. We’ve found what we were looking for: a quiet dirt road, a small piece of land, and the chance to grow something meaningful together. We plan to keep learning, keep blooming, and keep being good stewards of this wild, beautiful corner of the Piedmont.