Riparia Gardens was founded last year by myself and Jaime Fennelly. Riparia Gardens is a diverse woodland farm raising mushrooms, low-water perennials, and specialty cut flowers in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Our mission is to incorporate resilient plants into the landscapes that can both enhance the landscape ecologically and provide income for our small farm. We specialize in unusual cut flowers and endangered plants and we are driven by a conservation ethos. Our 11.11-acre woodland farm is located just north of Hillsborough on the Little River in Hurdle Mills, NC. The farm’s proximity to the river and a headwater stream has informed many of the decisions we’ve made about the type of farm Riparia Gardens would become. The Little River is rich in biodiversity and is at risk due to a growing, developing county. Our farm is an opportunity to both conserve this invaluable ecological resource and create a sustainable business model that supports the farmers living on the land.