in l l u f m o blo
rown from business g s a h m r g a Fireside F hobby to a bustlin s u an ambitio ast decade ep in a y to u n during th h M a rt a rt h a Z By M
P h o to g
ra p h y
b y S a ra
isa Joyner has gardening in her blood. She was born to
avid gardeners, dedicated to homesteading in a novel way for the time: they grew much of their own food and cultivated flowers – sunflowers, zinnias and other annuals. Lisa’s childhood home in Durham was filled with them, and it was her mother’s practice to take jars full to friends. Her paternal grandmother, too, had an affinity for flowers and floral design. The UNC grad moved with her husband, Randall Williams, to land that borders the Cane Creek Reservoir in 2007 and started laying the groundwork for a bustling business. The property, now known as Fireside Farm, was already very lush and green, but a bit unkempt and overgrown. “It’s taken us about 17 years to wrangle it into shape,” Lisa says. At the time, Lisa and Randall still taught English at Carolina Friends School; the farm was just an “ambitious hobby.” They loved teaching but found themselves looking longingly out the window on 94
chapelhillmagazine.com
July/August 2024