A Winter Flower CSA Is Brightening Hudson Valley Winters—One Tulip at a Time

Nor’easters, Arctic air, polar vortexes, snowstorms, slush, ice, slick roads, power outages, hail, sleet, darkness. Upstate winters can be unrelenting. 

I returned home to the Hudson Valley in late 2021. That first winter was beautiful, tranquil, and cozy: occasional blankets of bright white snow juxtaposed winter’s grays and browns. By the arrival of my second winter, the magical effect of the cold season had waned. But rather than escaping to the Caribbean or hiding under the covers hoping that Punxsutawney Phil would predict an early spring, I found a local remedy that brought joy, color, and its own kind of warmth.

Well acquainted with food CSAs, I was excited to trade my Union Square Farmers’ Market routine for a weekly veggie pick up at Taliaferro Farms in New Paltz come spring. However, until I learned of Alchemy Farmhouse (thank you Instagram), I’d never heard of a flower CSA.

At Alchemy Farmhouse in Gardiner, Lauren Tamraz grows 25,000 tulips at her micro flower farm for her winter tulip CSA.

Farming in the Blood

Tamraz always knew she wanted to be a farmer. Originally from Yonkers, she came to the Hudson Valley in 2000 to attend SUNY New Paltz as a conditional art major. But foundational and representational art didn’t resonate. Instead, she painted feelings and was drawn to what she describes as “creating a vibe.”

Though Tamraz left the art program behind, her time in New Paltz was made positive by her surroundings: the outdoors, the mountains, farms, the sense of space. She gardened in a plot at New Paltz Gardens For Nutrition, a community garden. Southern Ulster County would also ultimately become both her home and the place where she would build her business.

After stints in Los Angeles and Vermont and earning her MA at Stony Brook University, Tamraz returned to the Hudson Valley, teaching English at New Paltz High School and SUNY Orange. In the mid-aughts, she and her husband bought a home in Gardiner. The deciding factor wasn’t just the glimpse of the ridge but, more importantly, the expansive garden space.

Tamraz immediately began growing vegetables, though a terrible 2009 growing season cut her time as a market farmer short. From 2011 to 2017, Tamraz was a partner at Crossroads Hydroponics and Organics in Newburgh. She loved the marketing side of the business, weaving together her writing and artistic skills to create an inviting retail environment.

Next came teaching Culinary Arts Writing at the Culinary Institute of America, where she found a sense of creative freedom and helped food professionals craft the narratives that support and promote their restaurants and businesses.

Inside the Barn

Tulips, however, would become her winter medium and main crop. Tamraz begins growing tulips for her January and February CSA indoors. January 2023 marked her first winter tulip CSA, promoted with flyers posted at Lagusta’s Luscious Cafe and Health & Nutrition in New Paltz.

In late November of last year, I arrived at the vertically sided black barn next to Tamraz’s home. Since our dear editor loves an embed story—and because I harbor aspirations of learning to farm—I asked to join Tamraz as she began the tulip-growing process.

The black barn shares the driveway with Tamraz’s home and outdoor growing space and is sometimes transformed to a workshop for wreathmaking, and other classes that are offered on occasion. Inside were rows and rows of shallow, rectangular, black trays that held more bulbs than I could consider counting. They were nestled snugly, beneath growlights and in anticipation of their full height, with about three feet above each row. 

Bulbs have fun and charming names: Kung-Fu, Dee Jay Parrot, Avignon, Amazing Grace, Orca. There are notes, akin to tasting notes or liner notes, detailing optimum cooling times and describing the blooms to come. Single-petaled varieties: Triumphs, Darwins, and French tulips. Doubles would grow to resemble peonies. There were Parrots and double Parrots, their fringed petals vertically streaked with flame-like brushstrokes. 

Much like inspecting beans before cooking, we examined each bulb to ensure it would thrive. Any that were dry, bruised, or damaged were composted to nourish future flowers. The bulbs themselves looked edible, like garlic, shallots, or roasted chestnuts still in their skins. I felt tempted to take a bite, but instead we pressed them into the hydro trays’ small spikes, breaking their skins so water could reach them during rooting and bloom stages.

How It Works

For six weeks and $199, CSA members pick up weekly bunches of tulips at one of three locations: Alchemy Farmhouse in Gardiner, Lagusta’s Luscious Café in New Paltz, or Sweet Maresa’s in Kingston. As of this writing, there are still shares available for the February CSA.

Tulips are planted in succession to bloom from December through May. In addition to the January and February CSAs, for those of us who like to have our flowers local and in-season, there are red and pink tulips timed for Valentine’s Day, holiday tulips, and later, spring tulips grown outdoors in soil.

Tamraz grows 30 varieties in total. Each weekly CSA bouquet features a different variety, offering a changing palette of colors and forms.

CSA members often note how the tulips lift their moods during a season defined by limited daylight and low energy. Some neighbors and friends share memberships, and increasingly, CSA shares are given as gifts.

Satisfied Members

Members tend to be deeply rooted in the local community, supporting businesses that are local, sustainable, women-owned, and—most importantly—sources of genuine joy.

Jana Blankenship, author of The Seasonal Family Almanac, says: “In the bleakest of winter, these tulips bring beauty, color and the promise of spring into my home. I love that every week a new color and variety of tulip awaits and that they are lovingly grown right down the road.”

Amy Litt, a global marketing strategist and the force behind the Hudson Valley’s Makers and Lovers, which promotes and produces local spirits-focused events, has been a CSA member for several years and featured Alchemy Farmhouse flowers at her wedding celebration at Darlings in Tillson.

And, Jay Aspinall, the manager of Inquiring Minds in New Paltz says, “I love this CSA. She [Lauren] had me at the get go when she first came into the bookstore looking to hang a flyer to launch her beautiful business.”

Since that first tulip CSA in January 2023, the local community has enthusiastically embraced Alchemy Farmhouse. Offerings have expanded to include four additional flower CSAs: spring, late spring, early summer, and autumn which include hyacinths and ranunculus; peonies, roses, and rose lilies; and, later, dahlias.

Softening Winter’s Edges

From November through March, flowers are grown indoors. For the rest of the year, perennials bloom outside. In five years of production, Tamraz has only had to cancel one CSA… Deer! 

Tamraz also offers amaryllis at Christmas time, Mother’s Day bouquets, and supports her local PTA with a daffodil bulb fundraiser. There are occasional classes including wreathmaking and pop-ups at Water Street Market’s Fourth Fridays. Because she enjoys creating spaces for people to gather and celebrate, Tamraz also takes on the occasional wedding.

What’s next for Alchemy Farmhouse? Tamraz imagines CSA pickup locations in both Newburgh and Poughkeepsie. Through intentional perennial planting, she’s also close to realizing a long-held vision: being able to create a bouquet 365 days a year from her own alchemy. 

For now, picture this: a Hudson Valley winter softened by colorful, vibrant, and unexpected tulips, grown by a neighbor devoted to creating a vibe. Lauren Tamraz loves her work because it makes people happy—and her business has grown organically by sharing that joy.

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