Ep. 61: Jennifer Joray of Eastern River Farm on Flower Farming, Lyme Disease, and Finding Healing Through Nature

What happens when a simple question—“What about farming?”—leads to a total life transformation?In this powerful episode of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast, Jennifer Joray of Eastern River Farm shares her family’s courageous journey from city living to flower farming on a 20-acre homestead in Maine. But their story goes far beyond soil and seeds.Jennifer Joray opens up about the challenges of navigating Lyme disease, the unexpected health impacts of ticks on the farm, and how her family found healing through nature, herbal remedies, and a more intentional way of living.You’ll learn: 🌼 Why they had left behind urban life for a flower farm 🦠 How they manage Lyme disease with herbs instead of chemicals 🐦 The beauty of rebuilding an ecosystem and welcoming back wildlife 🌱 What it means to farm in harmony with the land 🌸 How healing the land helped heal their family Whether you’re a flower farmer, backyard gardener, or someone looking to live a more natural, grounded life—this episode is full of wisdom, resilience, and inspiration.Resources Mentioned in This Episode: 📖 Healing Lyme by Stephen Buhner 🌿 Pacific Botanicals – Trusted source for clean, dried herbs 🌿 Strictly Medicinal Seeds – Medicinal seeds from herbalist Rico Cech 🌿 Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine – Online courses by Juliet Blankespoor 🌿 Zack Woods Herb Farm – Vermont-based medicinal herb farm 🌿 The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer by Jeff & Melanie CarpenterConnect with Jennifer Joray: 📸 Instagram: @easternriverfarm 🌐 Website: easternriverfarm.comShow Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2025/06/12/ep-61-jennifer-joray-farming-with-lyme-disease/Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter*** Rate, Review, & Follow The Backyard Bouquet ***If you enjoyed this episode, will you please consider leaving the podcast a review? Your review helps make the podcast more discoverable to others and allows me to continue creating more episodes. I'd love to know what you enjoyed most about the episode.New episodes every week to help keep your garden blooming!