In 2012, Michelle Peele built a barn next to the Sheepscot River in Wiscasset, as a drying house for lavender and to serve as part of the seasonal venue business she planned to start for weddings and other events. This spring and summer, her second year in business, Peele’s Marianmade Farm on Sherman Lane, off Federal Street, has hosted about 20 events.

That’s double the count for 2013, although Peele has no plans to try for another increase next year. She’s about at the number of events she can handle along with the property’s upkeep and the flower-growing end of the business, she said while walking the grounds on September 1 with her golden retriever Mason.

“Between the flowers ... and the events that are here, and making sure everything always looks pristine, it’s a big undertaking. I don’t think it will expand right now,” she said. “You have to constantly re-water, and make sure everything looks as good from one weekend to the next.” 

She expected that going in, but one aspect of the maintenance has turned out to be especially time-consuming: “It’s so much more weeding than I’ve ever done, and I’ve had flowers all my life,” she said.

The large, ongoing chore is due to the frequent flower cuttings she does and the large numbers of plants she grows, including nearly 1,000 lavender plants and hundreds of others.

“That’s the nice thing about perennials. The more you cut, the more you receive. They become that much more prolific.”

The lavender, planned from the outset as one of the focal points of the business, has thrived. “I have more lavender than I can say grace over,” Peele said.

In addition to the flowers’ use for weddings, she sells some to area retailers including Treats in Wiscasset, as well as two stores in her native North Carolina.

Besides the barn, Peele has added to the venue with a fire pit and, close to the water, an arch and benches for the wedding ceremonies. In two years, rain has only once forced a ceremony into the barn that serves as the reception hall. The European-style barn is also the drying house Peele designed it to double as, with lavender hanging from beams overhead.

On Sept. 14, attendees of a Wiscasset Public Library fundraiser, featuring live big band music and a silent auction, will get to see the venue firsthand. Peele is donating its use for the event that will benefit a cause she cares about.

“I’m very partial to the library,” she said. She goes there weekly.

Hosting the fundraiser also helps Peele meet her goal to donate the use of the venue twice a year to local organizations. “I think it’s part of being a community,” she said.

Peele said her business helps bring dollars to town for area inns where the wedding guests stay, and for the restaurants and other businesses they might also visit. The farm charters a trolley to shuttle guests between the wedding venue and inns in Wiscasset and Edgecomb.

Tickets to the Sept. 14 library fundraiser are $20 in advance at the library on High Street, or at Maine Coast Bookshop in Damariscotta; or $25 at the event.

Marianmade Farm is open by appointment. For more, go to www.marianmadefarm.com.