Fresh Start Farms is a collective brand for immigrant and refugee farmers participating in the New American Sustainable Agriculture Program, a program of the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success. We work alongside new American farmers to bring farm-fresh ingredients to your table via neighborhood farmers markets and stands, wholesale, and our FarmShare and Fresh Start Market. Farmer Fadumo and her daughters have been with us for three years now. They always have a wide variety of vegetables to choose from.
We are a family owned, operated and commercially licensed tea and spice business based out of Manchester, NH. Owners, Heidi and John Piotrowicz are the ones you will most often see behind the table but each family member has a key contribution to the business. Behind the scenes, our 21 year old son, Zach, is our Marketing and Social Media expert. Our two daughters, Emily 15 and Madison 11, are also important members. Emily is our Barista and loves to come up with different ways of serving our tea and you will find her helping to serve up samples and tea by the cup at the summer markets. Maddy is our Bookkeeper in training! You will find her helping to log in sales and learning important math skills like making change! This is truly a family involved business! Our family moto is do what you like and like what you do!
We are passionate about helping individuals find a healthier and more flavorful beverage option for daily consumption that they will enjoy. We encourage and educate people on the benefits of our many different tea offerings while helping them find the “perfect blend.” Whether it’s the perfect cup of tea or the perfect spice blend for your day-to-day cooking or special occasion. We currently offer over 40 different tea blends and a large variety of family favorite spice blends and rubs. New varieties are being added regularly based on customer feedback and requests. We have something for everyone’s palette!
Providing excellent customer service and products with the freshest, highest quality ingredients are our number one priority. Whether you visit our booth at a local farmers market, craft fair or expo we want you to leave feeling welcomed, anxious to try our products and come back for more! We want you to feel like a member of the 603 Family!
We offer shipping within the United States.
I grow seasonal flowers alongside nature, so they are environmentally and pollinator friendly. Fresh picked blossoms available for your own arranging or our casual garden inspired bouquets.
Each new season presents new varieties of blossoms, colors, and scents. Spring begins with Hyacinth, Narcissus and over 25 different varieties of tulips which bring a spectacular display of color, a welcome delight after the grays of winter. Closely followed by Anemone, Ranunculus, Peony and Garden Roses, some of the fanciest flowers of the whole growing year. Summer brings on a boutique of annuals and perennials which are available until the end of September. During the fall, I use my own dried flowers to create everlasting bouquets and wreathes.
In 2016 I retired from my corporate job to care for my elderly parents, both with varying degrees of dementia. It is during this part of my life that I started planting flowers around my yard. I had vegetable gardens in the past, but never really dabbled in flowers. The more they bloomed, the more obsessed I became. At some point I read an article about people who were actually selling cut flowers, and thought to myself, win-win! Like all other farming, it’s hard work, thankfully I’m just a farm-girl at heart and I like to play in the dirt.
It all began in the fall of 2018, I planted 1600 tulip bulbs and made plans to grow annuals in 6, 4’x75’ raised beds. This experiment, to see if I could actually grow and sell flowers, was successful. I started to sell arrangements from a small kiosk in my yard. I learned a lot that first year. In January 2020 I signed up for Floret Flower Workshop, and that was the start of “B. Blossoms”. Although I’m not certified as organic, I use organic practices. I’ve expanded to high-intensity growing on 1/10 of an acre, and now have a small high tunnel to extend my growing season. My big plans for this year are to heat the tunnel and have tulips, ranunculus and anemone blooming from Valentine’s Day through May.
Always remember, beautiful flowers make people happy…
Valerie Brodie – Baker – Mother of 4 Boys
I’m Valerie. I love to bake. I grew up watching & helping my Dad make all sorts of different breads for our Sunday dinners. As a very young girl, I loved sitting on my Grandma’s counter and being taught how to measure out the ingredients when we baked. There is a coziness that comes with homemade baked goods. Now as a Mom, I bake for and with my boys. It brings a sense of extra love and comfort into our home and is a cherished time together.
We moved to Deerfield in the summer of 2021. Our boys wanted a treehouse and so we decided to have them earn it by “raising some dough”. Thanks to our 2 seasons with the Candia Farmers Market, we have a 200 ft zipline, 10′ deck, stairs, and pulley built. We are hoping to earn enough this summer for a huge spiral slide! We are incredibly grateful to be part of the quaint Candia Farmers Market and for our wonderful customers!
For our 3rd season we will have our most popular items: Cheesy Garlic Swirls, Rosemary Focaccia, Ginger Molasses Cookies, Lemon Crinkle Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cinnamon Rolls
My wife, four kids and two dogs moved here from northern Idaho, by way of Chicago, 3 years ago and currently reside in Derry, NH. We enjoy the area, and it feels and looks like home to us. Three of my kids will be attending Pinkerton Academy next year as a freshman, junior, and senior.
I got into kettle corn due to my love of popcorn and its varieties (i.e. Carmel corn, cheese corn and especially buttered popcorn). Because I make so much of these at home currently, I thought why not try to make some side money doing just that. I have one child trying to obtain his pilot’s license, one child in travel softball and another playing high level hockey. With all the travel, tuition fees and equipment, my family and I needed supplement income to make ends meet and allow the kids to chase their dreams. My youngest is just starting hockey and t ball and is currently in kindergarten. My wife also runs a bakery that you may see around other markets. Between the two of us being vendors, traveling with the kids and all the house duties, we’re an extremely busy family.
I have yet to have obtain a website and I haven’t figured out Facebook yet. I do have an Instagram page called @kenscornnh. My wife is the social media person so she’s working on pages for me. Stay tuned, as more information on those will be developing in the coming weeks.
As a fresh starting business in New Hampshire, we’ve been met with a lot of excitement and friendship in our short time doing farmers markets and have met many friends. We’re hoping to continue our success and meet new people as we travel around selling our products.
You might ask why my company is called Ken’s Corn when my name is Scott. Well, here’s the story:
My middle name is Scott. My first name is Kenneth. I was named after my grandfather and unfortunately disliked that name until his passing, and I appreciated the man he was. I went by Scott due to the numerous Kenneth’s on both sides of my family. When I named the business, I went with Ken’s corn. Yes, because it was “KC” as in “kettle corn” but also because I played college baseball and am a huge baseball fan. George Brett the former third baseman for the Kansas City Royals owned the single-A minor league team in Washington State and northern Idaho where I grew up. He was a local hero. I’m not a Royals fan per say but was a fan of Mr. Brett. Because it has the same initials as Ken’s Corn and Kettle Corn, we wear KC Royals hats as business apparel. Due to trademark issues, I cannot adopt that logo as an official business logo, so we wear it in honor of Ken’s Corn, my grandfather and Mr. Brett and the heritage in which we grew up.
