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Ep.31: Bokenkotter Blooms: From City Living To A Thriving Cut Flower Farm On 18 Acres
1.9k Plays4 months ago
Have you ever imagined leaving the hustle and bustle of city life behind to embrace the serenity of country living? In this episode of the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, host Jennifer Gulizia sits down with flower farmer, Lexi Bokenkotter of Bokenkotter Blooms to delve into her remarkable journey from city living to becoming a successful flower farmer in rural Indiana.
Join Jennifer and Lexi as they chat about the joys and challenges of transitioning from a postage stamp-sized garden to a sprawling flower farm. Lexi shares her passion for sustainable living and community engagement, highlighting her commitment to organic practices and locally sourced compost. Lexi shares how she draws inspiration from fellow flower farmers like Floret and Muddy Acres, and how she has cultivated a diverse crop selection including dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, and more.
In this episode, Lexi discusses her on-farm events, such as U-picks and workshops, and her plans for future expansion.
Tune in to the full episode to be inspired by Lexi's dedication to sustainable farming practices and her flourishing flower farm business. Learn how she navigates the challenges of rural life and find out how she turns her passion for flowers into a thriving business that blooms with beauty and community spirit.
In This Episode You’ll Hear About:
- 00:00:02 - Introduction to Flower Farming in Rural Setting
- 00:05:27 - Making the Leap: Transitioning to Rural Living and Flower Farming
- 00:06:17 - Exploring Property and Initial Plans for Flower Farming
- 00:10:12 - Challenges and Learnings in Starting the Flower Farm
- 00:11:26 - Diversifying Farming Activities: Events and Workshops
- 00:20:03 - Selling Flowers and Engaging with Florists: Business Expansion
- 00:23:39 - Sustainability Practices on the Flower Farm: Eco-Friendly Approaches
- 00:25:43 - On-Farm Events and Vendor Collaborations
- 00:29:08 - Addressing Insurance and Safety Concerns for On-Farm Events
- 00:30:14 - Managing Surrounding Agricultural Practices and Impact on the Flower Farm
- 00:33:02 - Balancing Wildlife and Livestock on the Flower Farm
- 00:34:58 - Challenges and Benefits of Having Animals on the Property
- 00:37:31 - Transition from Goats to Poultry on the Flower Farm
- 00:39:02 - Utilizing Acreage for Cover Cropping and Future Plans
- 00:40:02 - Primary Flower Crops and Expansion into Sunflowers
- 00:41:14 - Variety of Flowers Grown on the Farm
- 00:43:15 - Strategies for Dealing with Pest Control and Organic Practices
- 00:46:15 - Focus on Sustainability and Organic Practices in Flower Farming
Shownotes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2024/08/08/ep-31-bokenkotter-blooms-from-city-living-to-rural-cut-flower-farm/
Learn More About Bokenkotter Blooms:
- Website: https://www.bokenkotterblooms.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bokenkotterblooms
Other Links Mentioned In Episode:
- Kiss The Ground Movie: https://kisstheground.com/
- NRCS Grant: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/cig-conservation-innovation-grants
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.
New episodes every week to help keep your garden blooming!
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Transcript
Introduction to Backyard Bouquet
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet podcast, where stories bloom from local flower fields and home gardens. I'm your host, Jennifer Galitzia of the Flowering Farmhouse. I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon. Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers.
Jennifer's Gardening Journey
00:00:28
Speaker
From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer, The backyard bouquet is your fertile ground for heartwarming tales and expert cut flower growing advice. All right flower friends, grab your gardening gloves, garden snips, or your favorite vase because it's time to let your backyard bloom.
Meet Lexi: From City to Farm
00:00:55
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Today, we're thrilled to have Lexi from Boccan Cotter Blooms joining us. Alongside her husband Ryan, Lexi made the leap from city life in Cincinnati to rural Indiana in 2019. turning a dream into reality much sooner than expected when they found the perfect property. With a bustling menagerie that includes three dogs, two cats, and an ever growing flock of chickens, waterfowl, turkeys, and more, Lexi has transformed her land into a vibrant flower farm.
Lexi's Flower Farming Passion
00:01:33
Speaker
Starting her first official season in 2020, Lexi has quickly turned Boccan Cotter blooms into a hub for beautiful Indiana cut flowers, offering you picks, workshops, and sharing her daily farm life with followers. From a hoop house bursting with blooms to diverse food crops and animals, Lexi's farm is a testament to her passion for sustainable living and community engagement. Lexi, welcome. It's so wonderful to have you joining us today. Can you first tell us about that pivotal moment when you decided flowers were your farm's calling and how you've nurtured that passion into a thriving business?
00:02:14
Speaker
Yes. Hi. Welcome. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being here. Yeah. and So I don't think there is necessarily an exact pivotal moment. Of course, as you mentioned this, our move came before we planned it. We plan to you know move to the country. um It was like our 8 to 10 year plan. and um A friend of ours actually sent us some property that kind of got the spark for us to start looking a little sooner than anticipated. um And so when before we moved, I was in so in Cincinnati is where we lived before where we're at now. And I was in real estate.
00:02:50
Speaker
um And all I knew was when we moved, wherever we moved, I was stopping real estate. I hated it. So when we moved out here, um you know we bought we're just under 18 acres and we knew nothing about any anything out here, basically. um We didn't know much about land and we'd just gone from caring from a postage stamp sized garden and yard to this big space with all this potential. So um we talked about doing, you know, roadside stand or a Christmas tree farm or pumpkin patch. um And it was actually just talking to a friend of mine, a lifelong friend that we somehow thought of flowers, thought of cut flowers. um And of course, Flora, everyone has followed her, you know, she's like, I kind of call her the Oprah of cut flowers.
00:03:43
Speaker
um Yeah, one amazing yes I think she was definitely one of the first people that I started following and hearing about flowers. um And you know, everyone says that cut flowers are the biggest um dollar crop that you can actually grow on a smaller scale. um So yeah, we just, that's how I kind of decided to start growing some flowers.
Finding Inspiration and Property
00:04:05
Speaker
That's amazing. So you were in real estate in Cincinnati. How long did you do that for? Oh gosh, I did real estate.
00:04:13
Speaker
Oh, you're going to put me on the spot for five years. So I have a degree in communications. And then I took real estate classes following that. um And yeah, I'm just not a cold call person. So that's why I did what I didn't really love about it. um And there was just literally zero passion for me in real estate. So I I knew I had just had to make a change. It's amazing what having a little bit of passion and what you do yeah does for yeah the soul and for what you can produce, like if you're passionate. So you knew you needed to make a change.
00:04:55
Speaker
who What was that moment when you went from saying, okay, I'm a realtor. ah really like You're doing the job. It's kind of like everything just becomes that monotonous, yeah get up and live life. And you're like, okay, this isn't for me. like That was me and banking. I was a banker for five years before I realized This isn't my calling and sometimes we need those experiences to lead us to the next phase in life What would you realize this this is the time to make the leap? So I don't think there was I think it had been a long time coming I was very much so, you know real estate is fully commission-based and it was
00:05:38
Speaker
there was just no drive. So I always say if it wasn't for my husband's job, where would I have been? um but So my husband works off the farm and then of course now he also works full-time for me for free. um But i was when I was in real estate, it was just I would wake up and I would just feel this like this heaviness of like, oh, I have to do this today. This is what I have to do. And so it was almost like freeing when we decided to move because it was like this this fresh slate where I could start over and find something that I actually loved. So was it because of your real estate background that you found this property?
00:06:18
Speaker
um No, actually not at all. It was a friend of ours sent us a property in Indiana and said just out of the clear blue sky and just said oh this would be like fun for you all and um Then that just sort of lit a little spark if you will and my husband he's the one who found this place he started looking um and it was almost a joke at first he would send me listings and I'm like oh What are you doing? This isn't we're not moving, you know, and then um We don't have we don't have kids. So we had nothing to kind of holding us back I guess and we had kind of the mindset of um You know now's a good as time as any what if you know tomorrow is not promised So we just kind of decided to just do that leap. I love that one of my favorite things whenever I'm feeling I
00:07:08
Speaker
Like, can I do this or should I do this? It's like, why not? Why not me? Why not now? And it sounds like you kind of had that mindset of why not? Yeah, truly. So did you see this property and just say this is it or did you have to go experience the 18 acres? Yeah, so um we had never heard. So our town is called Dillsboro. Now we're right on, um you know, different areas have small little subdivisions or, you know, little towns within towns. We're on the cusp of Dillsboro and Farmer's Retreat. um And so our address is Dillsboro, but everyone around here calls it Farmer's Retreat. They say, you don't live in Dillsboro, you live in Farmer's Retreat.
00:07:51
Speaker
So we actually came out and um looked at the property, I think four or five different times. A couple of times we actually even just drove from Cincinnati out here to see, we'd never even heard of Dillsboro. I didn't even know what it was basically. And so we did the drive several times to see if it was something that was realistic for us to do. um I think we looked at the property twice um before we put an offer in, yeah, so. So what appealed to you about the property? I mean, going from big city life to a town that you had never heard of, that would be something that you kind of looked at it and saw a vision. Yeah. So I think it um checked. This is what we say. We say it checked a lot of the boxes. um It was, there was actually, we're fully surrounded by cornfields here.
00:08:39
Speaker
um And then we are kind of smack dab in the middle. ah And so there was actually wheat growing on this property when we bought it and we live here as well. So our house is here and then everything else was wheat. And I think it was just that there wasn't, um I didn't look out in the fields and picture anything. It was just the fact that there was endless possibilities, I think. um and just And just such a change from what we were used to. That's a total change from city life and city living. So you put in an offer and how quickly did you make the transition then from city life to 18 acres? Oh, well, I
Transition from City to Farm Life
00:09:18
Speaker
think it's about 30 to 45 days from when you you know get your offer accepted to the end um the n deal. but So that would be August of 2019 is when we actually moved here. um And it was it I think it was pretty quick um just
00:09:36
Speaker
We just moved. I don't know. We just were kind of people who do things. um If we know what we want, we're just like, well, let's just go and do it. you know it was so It was sort of that mentality. um Yeah, I think actually the biggest change was probably for my husband. He was still working in Cincinnati. um And so he was the one commuting. So for me, I kind of just got plopped into this. um Things are overgrown and don't look anything how they do today. but um kind of just this oasis almost that had all this possibility. So paint a picture. You put in the offer, you bought this property, you said there was wheat growing, just 18 acres is a lot of land. Describe what the property looked like when you got it. So um from what you've seen, if you follow me on Instagram, you know I show everything. so
00:10:32
Speaker
All that was here when we moved here was actually a wheat field, I think was about 12 to 13 acres that their combine broke. So it was actually overgrown. It was taller than me, like six feet tall of basically weeds. I mean, when we pulled in after we had closed, we were like, what did we do? It was pretty overwhelming. We have two ponds and then we have, well, it's two barns, but they're connected. um And then everything else was just fields and um Basically fields and weeds. So it was quite overwhelming. You know, we'd never even been on a tractor either of us. we Neither of us have any type of agriculture farming background at all. um So I will say it was quite overwhelming at the beginning. um And it's almost like I feel like the last year and a half to two years is finally where we're kind of in a groove.
00:11:26
Speaker
Well, you didn't just dip your toes into farming. You don't fall in. Which is amazing and totally commendable. and I'm sure there's so so many learning lessons along the way. yeah before we get data yeah Oh, i I can only imagine. yeah Before you get into those learning lessons, did you start out thinking that you were going to farm wheat or how did you get started then on the property? No, um as it would happen, we literally had zero plan. We did not know what we were going to do.
00:12:02
Speaker
um And so the first two years we were here, we actually had a local farmer, they they actually planted corn because that's what most people do around here. They do corn and then the next year they do soybeans and you know the monocrop culture, which is just so, that's a whole other thing, but um that's what they did. And since we did not have a plan and did not know, um we almost felt like that was, I guess we felt like that was our best option. So we did have a local farmer. the first two years they planted um corn because we were just like not we didn't know how to take care of the land. We were to like, let's figure out this flower thing first and then maybe we can figure out the rest. um So we do have our dogs and we've got a bunch of poultry that take up about two, two and a half acres. um And then we've got yard space. So I think there's about seven to eight that could that are tailable currently after my flower area.
00:13:01
Speaker
And then the last two years, we have just kept it brush hogged and we have started doing cover crop in increments because of course we just have a small tractor. It's it's a lot of work um to prepare that much acreage with our small little tractor. So our thought is just to do cover crop, at the very least it's helping the soil um and that we're not getting any sprays around us or anything on our property, of course. Unfortunately, our neighbors do spray and that's, you know, something we did not know about when we moved here. We didn't really know anything about farming and how corn was done. um Yeah.
00:13:43
Speaker
I just watched the movie. It came out in 2020. It's called Kiss the Ground. Have you seen that? I don't believe we have. It is incredible. ah Anyone that's into farming and sustainable agriculture, I highly recommend it. okay um It was with Woody Harrelson. Okay. And they now have a second movie that's showing in select theaters around the country called Common Ground. Okay. But they look at the effects of like the spring and the monocrops and leading ground barren, because you mentioned the cover crops, which is probably not as common in your area. so No, not at all.
00:14:24
Speaker
So um put that on your watch list when you, yeah maybe for the fall when you have some downtime. There we go. There we go. Or a rainy day. It's always like sometimes when it's a rainy day, it's like a a little bit of a reprieve, you know? Exactly. Okay, we can get some stuff done inside. so yeah I did it when it was 100 degrees the other day and we're like, we can't be outside any longer. itss yeah And we'd heard about the common ground and then saw this, that they had the other one that's available on like Netflix and Amazon. yeah It was a couple bucks to rent. um But it just made me think of that when you were talking about yeah um the cover cropping and the spraying. So you weren't expecting the sprays nearby. You first start out with the corn leasing.
00:15:08
Speaker
my mind's spinning with a whole bunch of questions for you, but first, how did you decide like you didn't have a plan at first, which is kind of beautiful and probably serendipitous being that COVID was right behind the curtain there. yeah How did you decide to start ah flowers growing cut flowers? It was just that conversation with my friend and seeing um seeing florets and I'm sure you know Lindsay at Muddy Acres. um I have messaged her and told her that she was like one of my like I truly think she was the very first flower farmer that I followed outside of floret and she's just about four hours um from us in Michigan and watching her
00:15:50
Speaker
um made it seem very attainable. Of course, she's changed her model now. and She does lots of different things. But at the beginning, when I first started following her, it was all videos on Instagram and showing you how to do this. And her whole thing was um like making it attainable to anybody, you know, buy the seeds and plant the seeds. And it's not that difficult, you know. And I truly think she made it seem very like any normal person, so to speak, could do this.
00:16:21
Speaker
Um, you know, she says, I'm just a mom. I, you know, I, I also have no background in this stuff and I just decided to start it. So, um, yeah, it was just kind of a, let's plant some seeds and grow some flowers and see if it bites type of thing. Truly. How much space did you start growing on? Well, the in 2019, the very first year we were here, it's actually a funny story. We started, I ordered 400 tulip bulbs from Johnny's. And I thought I was like, this is going to be the start of it, you know, um which is funny now because of course, last year, I think I plants like
00:16:56
Speaker
a little under 10,000 tulips. It's a big difference from 400. Yes. Well, so we planted them. They were in the middle of a straight open field, no plant at all. And I then put chicken compost broken down directly on top of them. And so it was just too hot and they all fried. So I did not get a single bloom. Yes, did not get a single bloom. So then in 2020, I planted all the typical zinnias and cosmos and I did order a couple hundred dahlia tubers and yeah.
00:17:36
Speaker
so So you didn't give up after killing a few plants? i No, I did not. I actually have a saying that I say it to a lot of people. I say um I kill just as much as I grow. So I think it gives people peace of mind um because people always say, well, I don't have a green thumb. And I always say, well, don't worry. There's a lot of death over here with plants still, you know, plug trays that get forgotten about and things. um Yeah, but no, definitely did not get discouraged after the death of those poor 400 bulls. I think all of us have a few dead plants here and there. I sadly have a few dead trays that I'm looking out at as we're chatting, looking out the window going, yeah I've got a couple sitting on my porch that should have gotten planted about three months ago and i know pretty crispy now. There's only so much time. We can only do so much. you know always It's always like when you're starting the seeds, you have the very best of intentions.
00:18:26
Speaker
And then you just get behind. Yes. So how much space did you... So 2019 was small, big learning lesson, expensive learning lesson, but that didn't get you down. Right. And you decided to give it another go in 2020. Do you remember how much space you started on with those cosmos and zinnias? I'm not... I am a terrible person at... um knowing space amounts. But I rolled out all of the Sunbelt fabric and everything was planted in there. Of course, I think I grew about as many weeds as flowers as well that year. um It was a very small space, bigger than a backyard garden, I would say, but still pretty small. um I did a couple farmers markets that year um later in 2020. But of course, I was COVID. So that started with
00:19:15
Speaker
I was posting on Facebook and Instagram and doing little porch deliveries. So people would order of, okay, pay for your Venmo and then I would drop it off on their porch. um So it was enough to fulfill it was enough to fulfill that and get the idea that, okay, people will purchase flowers um if I make this a bigger ah bigger operation. which is so helpful to know that you have a market because I think a lot of people will plant things, not knowing if they can even sell them. That could be a very costly mistake. So you tested the waters. Definitely. Right. And found out that you do have a market to sell too. So, so that was 2020 and then 2021 you decided to scale up. Is that what happened?
00:20:03
Speaker
Yes. And I did, started to do a bunch of farmer's markets. And then I did, um I actually did do one or two weddings in there. um
Farm Events and Diversification
00:20:14
Speaker
Very small. Don't think of a wedding with a huge floral arch. That was not me. Still is not, but um I did a couple of weddings. And then I do a lot of bulk buckets where people can purchase, you know, stems for events in bulk. um And then the last two years I think have been where I would like to be outside of markets. I do still do One Farmer's Market um here and it's actually in Lawrenceburg, which is about 25 minutes from us. But um otherwise I'm doing a lot of on-farm events now. So I host events in my greenhouse and then I do a lot of you pick um a lot of tailored events. So they're a little bit
00:21:00
Speaker
I'll say fancier or nicer than just come and cut your flowers. you know I do just have one over the weekend um and I have some other vendors come out and um you know I usually provide whiner seltzers and some small fancy bites. I always usually make a big charcuterie board um and I think I like having people here more than um kind of bopping around you know at markets and things. um yeah It's nice when you don't have to lug your flowers yeah in and out, especially because markets, I did one season where we had like, ah it was when I was first starting, it was called the community table where you couldn't commit to the whole season, but you could pop in and out of markets. okay and just and But the tough thing was you couldn't have your own setup. You shared a table, so you're lugging in buckets and you can only take up so much space. and that oh
00:21:53
Speaker
You have limited set up space. it was It was a really cool concept, probably more for like one day I shared the table with a lady that has some fig trees and she had the most amazing figs that she was selling at the market and it inspired me to plant my own fig tree that now gives us a couple hundred figs a season. Oh wow, that sounds good. So it was a nice way for someone like that. It really wasn't intended to move flowers. Yeah. who But nonetheless, it was a lot of work to get to market. It is, yeah. Yeah, it definitely is. And last year I did way too many farmer's markets. I was doing like three and four markets. um and And just me. So I have one gal who works for me um this year, but I am always the one who does the markets. And it is a big commitment, especially a weekend market.
00:22:41
Speaker
um Yeah, so this year my goal was to cut back all but my, you know, most successful one. And that's actually the one closest to where we live in Lawrenceburg. um And then everything else this year is going to be, or is, you know, I've got subscriptions and then events out here. So you have a you pick on-farm events. You set a CSA subscription. I do do subscriptions, yeah. Am I missing any part of your business model? um The markets, let's see. The markets, subscriptions, you picks. I do workshops through the winter in the greenhouse. um I do do a couple weddings um a year.
00:23:31
Speaker
Yeah. So you're pretty diversified. Can you tell us a little bit about the on-farm events that you do? Like you said, you just did one this weekend. What did you do? So it was a you pick and then I had a couple vendors come out. So I had a permanent jewelry gal come out and then someone who does a traveling hat bar. So I think like Western inspired hats and you can um put your own little decorations on them. She's got charms and ribbons and branding. Um, and so I had her out. I usually do, I did her last year in the summer and the fall and they're like my biggest event here. And then, so that was, she came last weekend and then I'll have her again in the fall, but, um, it gets a little chaotic trying to keep up with the people because some people will start doing the hats and then, you know, three people want to start on flowers.
00:24:26
Speaker
So I will set them up with the flowers, give them the little tour, and then there'll be another group. And you know so it's a little choppy. I think that's why I've sort of lost my voice a little bit. ah There's a lot of talking and repeating. um But that event is really fun. So it's a three-hour event. You can come anytime within those hours. And then what they're paying for is they're paying for their jar of cut flowers. And then they just pay each vendor if they want to purchase something. um But I think my favorite event is I call it my golden hour you pick. That's a little bit higher of a cost. um You get a nice keepsake vase, and um it's usually smaller groups of between 10 and 20 people.
00:25:09
Speaker
and i make some fancy little foods, finger foods. And I always do a big charcuterie. And of course I incorporate the edible florals on there. um And then I um let the people come out and it's always at sunset. So they come out and we do a big tour. I show them everything and then give them a small rundown on how to cut um the flowers. So I think that's one of my favorite events that we have here. That sounds really fun. Do you pre-sell the tickets or do you just see who shows up? You pre-sell. Everything pre-sold. I hate doing, I like to know what is happening. So I need to know, is there going to be six people or is there going to be 24 people? um So yeah, everything is pre-sold through my website. Okay. That must be nice too because it keeps probably the crowds down. So you don't have to guess how many people are going to show up. Yes, exactly.
00:26:08
Speaker
Do you have to have any permits to do these events or is it a permitted use in your farmland or how does that work?
Permits, Insurance, and Safety Measures
00:26:15
Speaker
um No permits that I'm aware of, um but we do carry quite a bit of insurance, business insurance, ah liability umbrella. We have all all these different insurance you know coverages, um but no permits um per se. I think it varies. I've kind of looked into it, of course, I'm not a lawyer, but um what I've seen is that it's get that gets to be more when you're traveling or when you are um Yeah, I think they might just be when you're traveling Okay. So yeah, if there is supposed to be something I know that we're of them it really varies depending on where you live like yeah where we currently are and
00:27:03
Speaker
We have never been able to have people to our farm because of our zoning. It's not a permitted use. We've been looking at farmland and here it's called EFU land exclusive farm use. And so an exclusive farm use, you have permission to have an onsite you pick. All right, you can have events with the you pick but the second like you want to do weddings, that's a permitted process. It's not allowed because we are very heavy agriculture. So I was just curious, it's always interesting how different parts of the country set things up or I've had past guests.
00:27:38
Speaker
on this show that talk about their amazing Airbnb experiences. And I thought, oh my goodness, it'd be so awesome to do that here. But our zoning does not allow Airbnb rentals. If you land which interesting is a bummer for me and for anyone that I never want to have out to a future farm Yeah, so it's it's good to know what how laws are set up around the country cuz it's so different everywhere you Yeah, it names it is and I feel like it becomes a little bit a bit burdensome trying to
00:28:12
Speaker
find ah I'm like, who am I? I'm just a little person growing flowers. How am I supposed to know all these laws, you know? Yes. I tried to make sure, like, very, very covered with insurance. um Actually, a few you pick. I had some gal get a little nick on her foot with the snips. And that's just my biggest fear is that there's an injury or um we don't really have too many kids because we do have two ponds. And, you know, they're not where the flower area is, per se. but You know, I would just, I can't even comprehend an accident happening. Um, or a kid running with snips, you know, if the, if every now and then we'll have parents bring kids up, I always am just very, please keep with you at all times. And you know, no kids are using the cutters. Um, yeah. So it's a little, we turn off our electric fence over with the animals. So when people come over, um, yeah.
00:29:08
Speaker
So just things you have to think about. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I'm glad that you mentioned the insurance because that's an important part of the events. um As we've been looking for property, I've been speaking with our insurance agent a lot lately. And that's one thing he mentioned is he's like, now, you know, Jen, as soon as you start adding events to a property, your insurance totally changes. And he said that in our area, he finds most people are underinsured. Um, and not farmers in particular are not properly covered for events. So anyone that's listening, that's thinking about doing an event to make sure you are covered because you never know when someone's going to cut themselves with those little snips in the field. I know. I know. I even joked with the gal like, you're not going to sue me. Are you? It was funny, but she lives in town and no, she was, it was the tiniest little cut, but yeah, that's my biggest fear is some big accident out here. You know,
00:30:01
Speaker
And we're kind of remote. We're not close to hospitals. God forbid something bad happened. But um yeah. Yeah. Well, it sounds like you're in the middle of a whole bunch of really big fields. Is that correct? Yes, very correct. We are surrounded. There's 40 acres, um whichever orientation you're looking on the one side. And I believe it's 40 acres on the opposite side. And then there's 60 some acres, only part of it's farmable across from us. And right now it's every single thing is corn. There's 10 acres of woods behind us and that's our only sort of reprieve from the corn.
Challenges: Surroundings and Pests
00:30:40
Speaker
Okay, that's a lot. You mentioned earlier about the spray. How do you mitigate or protect your plants from the spray? So um it's very interesting that I think in 2021 I had sprayed or I'm sorry, I had um planted out and they had sprayed after I had planted.
00:31:00
Speaker
And now they typically have spoke to the one farmer. They typically have explained how, you know, they, they do spray nitrogen, but then they spray a weed. I, I'm not sure what it is. Once a season, um, when their X amount tall is when they plant and don't worry, the wind is not going to carry the spray because they have this molecule that drops it directly to the soil. Well, that's a lovely thought, but. I had all this all these plants that were curling, really like mangly curling and I didn't know what it was. i've thought I thought there was disease with the plants. Well, there's this gal I follow who's a soil agronomist and I asked her and she said, that's herbicide damage. That's exactly what that is.
00:31:43
Speaker
So it was their overspray um had trickled off over into my field, um which I didn't do anything about it. I don't want to, you know, we are like the new neighbors in town trying to start this. I'm not going to start a battle with the neighbors. um And so since then, I have not had have had issues with corn borer beetles, um but that's ah that is a whole other thing. But with the spray, they typically try to do it at night is when we have no wind um or on a very ah day that is not windy at all. um So I have not had any issues knock on wood since then. um So it could have just been a fluke, but you know I don't love that they're getting sprayed. or
00:32:29
Speaker
fully around us, um things that we didn't know about and that, you know, looking back, we would have had we known, probably not bought a property in the center of a cornfield. But um yeah, hindsight's always 20-20, right? Right. Well, I'm sure it's probably hard to find land that's not surrounded by corn or wheat fields in your area. Yeah, well, we could have bought in a different town, you know, I guess that's yeah, or a different area. There's a lot of cattle out here. I would rather be surrounded by cows, honestly. Yeah. Yeah, we are surrounded by a lot of orchards here. So that's the thing that we have to take into consideration. Well, but it has the spray also, it's the overhead spray. And so trying to find a spot where and we have
00:33:16
Speaker
crazy wind before we start recording. I was telling you it's blowing 45 here today. um So we have to take into consideration, okay, what way what direction does the wind blow yeah if we're going to be by an orchard? So do they spray? Do they do the overhead? Is that what you said? A lot of them do the bigger ones. So ours is still, I'm not sure what you call it. They drive through and spray. It's not the planes or the overhead. um But I have seen those and that's Yeah. It's like there's no really controlling where that goes. Right. Most of ours is the ground tractors where you see where they're in like the big hazmat suits and they're spraying. And yeah so and so it's like, well, how do you do it on a non-windy day? I did have a good conversation with a orchardist the other day who's a friend. And she pointed out, she's like, well, if they're smart, they'll wait till a non-windy day because it's expensive, the sprays also. So they're they're wasting their spray.
00:34:14
Speaker
if it's drifting. yeah So I hope you don't have that problem yeah again. and I feel like I'm seeing a lot of herbicide damage on photos. um I'm not personally, thankfully, but I'm seeing pictures on like the Dahlia Growers Facebook groups where people are saying it looks like I've got herbicide damage this year, whether it's coming from the compost or sprays, because I mean Roundup and all of those things. If you're spraying that in your garden, if it drift even in your own personal garden, it can drift. and affect your plants. Definitely. Not to bring the conversation down. Let's talk about something a little more cheerful with this. You have animals on your property and two ponds. Tell us more about the rest of your property also. We do. So we have a pond actually directly in front of our house. And when you're pulling in, the driveway kind of veers around the front pond. um And then we have a pond in the back, which is quite a bit bigger. um
00:35:12
Speaker
And the front one we keep pretty well maintained because everyone sees it, right? ah back one um The back one is less desirable. It's really pretty for photos. Very pretty. Good fishing. um But but yeah we have fish in the pond. Oh yeah. And lots of snapping turtles. So that's a little tricky with the ducks and geese. but um But yeah, it's the back one is a little untamed right now. um But we have you mentioned we have three dogs. We actually have a fourth dog now. um So we have two Dachshunds and two great Pyrenees who are the outside. And they sort of watch all of our poultry. um We actually had goats when we first got the dogs. And we quickly found out we were not goat people.
00:35:56
Speaker
So the dogs now watch the poultry. um So we've got chickens and ducks and geese and a couple barn cats. So out of curiosity, why are you not a goat person? So I think because goats are just goats, you know, they're jumping and they're constant screaming and they're nibbling on stuff. But the biggest thing was the escaping. They, I mean, we ride ah so many things. I think we also got the wrong breed. We started with Nigerian dwarfs and they were so small they could fit through just about anything. oh no um
00:36:31
Speaker
And so we started them on hot wire and because that's how just the property was, you know, set up the little pasture area. They got out and they ate plants and they ate our berry patch. And they, I mean, they just chewed on wood. They were just destructive little critters. um So yeah, we found them a new home. um Yeah. And so now we just have all the poultry. I've always thought that goats would be helpful for things like blackberries that grow all over around here, but that was my biggest fear is them eating the plants. Well, and that's the thing I did not know when we got goats. They say goats are um browsers and ah that sheep are grazers. And so we, I think thought it the opposite way. So we just have fields. We don't have anything for them to, there's no brambles, there's no, trees to climb up onto and pull branches down. ah They were probably truly bored. We probably should have got sheep. But now you have lots of birds. Yes, now we have all the birds. um we have We actually just sized down. We had about 65 chickens and we got rid of about 30. It was just getting to be too much.
00:37:45
Speaker
And so we moved their area. So they're now in a pasture with the dogs um and out fully out of my flower area. That was a big thing. They would just Destroy they just that's just chickens they scratch and they destroy and they dig up new seedlings um So for the past two years, I have used ah the portable poultry netting I have used that it wasn't plugged in to be hot But I just use that around all of my fields and actually just about three weeks ago We got my whole flower areas has a permanent fence now. So the chickens are away and then the ducks and geese um they are
00:38:25
Speaker
on the opposite side of the fence where they're not doing damage. They don't damage as much as the chickens. And we actually first got ducks to help with some control of pests. um But the same thing, they they like to you know do things. they're not They're birds, they don't know what they are and aren't supposed to do. Yeah, they're just enjoying everything that comes across their path. Yeah, yeah, pretty much. So you have them and part of your property. You have your flower farm. Are you still leasing out some of your acreage? No, nothing is leased. I think it's um about seven to eight acres is just, it looks like a field right now I'm looking at it. um But we're just keeping it bush hog this year. And then the fall we're planning to cover crop all of it. um So we kind of make our own cover crop mix with
00:39:22
Speaker
You know, there's clovers in there and fescue and some grasses. I actually do think it would be kind of cool to have a little section of wheat that you could wait until it dried and then harvest to use for dried things. um Yeah, so right now, no, it's just just a field. I saw a beautiful wheat floral installment. It was all made of wheat. There were no flowers. They use the dried wheat as flowers. And they were these giant wreaths. It was really incredible. it's pretty You could do something like that with the wheat. Yeah, there we go. So you'll cover crop that. And then are you going to use that in the future? Do you have plans for that space? No plans for that space yet. um ah We did talk about doing a giant sunflower.
00:40:09
Speaker
um, field, making a huge sunflower patch. The thing that's tricky about that is then the wild birds and our birds, um, keeping them out of it until they start growing. Um, but yeah, no set plans for all of that space just yet. I didn't even think about that, bringing so many birds to your yard. If you do the sunflowers, cause I think yeah you think of like sunflower Steve's giant field of flowers and how amazing his sunflower fields are. yeah Yeah, his stuff is great. I actually have some seeds of his I wanted to get in before fall. I need to get on that. Me too. I have some I need to plant this week of his. I was going to plant them on the edge of my property line so that people can walk by and enjoy his blooms. Oh yeah, so pretty.
00:40:54
Speaker
Yeah, they're so amazing. Especially the fall colors. I love his fall colors. Yeah. i've And I've not grown any yet. I've got ah about two little prized packets I was going to put in our garden area. so Oh, awesome. yeah You're going to love them. yeah So do you have a primary crop that you're growing on your farm? Um, for flowers. Yes. I'm sorry. No. So primary, I kind of grow a little bit of everything to be honest. Um, but this year, um, the most is dahlias. I have about 2000 dahlias in, and it's the most that I've ever had. Um, so I would say that's probably the biggest, highest volume, um, crop right now. And what other flowers are you growing?
00:41:38
Speaker
Oh, we've got, yeah, we've got all the standards. We've got cosmos and zinnias. This year I tried, I might be saying it wrong, adgeratum. That was a, it's that purple. Yes. are So my friend it was really talking me onto that one. um And then all my zinnias this year, for the most part, I only did the queen lime series. Okay. So I've got those. And then this year I added some trailing amaranth. I've not tried that before. Um, so I've got that going on. And then of course, all the dahlias and then lissianthus. Um, yeah, those are some of the favorites straw flower. My straw flower is doing so horrible this year. I think it's the heat. I don't know. Last year it was like the waist high in this year. It's like not even to my knee yet. And I'm like, it's already the end of june July. So I don't know what's going to happen with those, but
00:42:36
Speaker
It's just sort of a bummer about that. but I found straw flower is so hit or miss for me. I'm just the opposite of you. This year mine is like up to my chest oh and I've never gotten it above my knee before. Like I was ready to throw in the towel. And so I said, okay, this year I'm doing one tray and I planted it several months earlier than I normally do. I think I planted it in March. Yeah. And and it's doing great. Yeah. It took forever to take off this year, but we were so cold and wet and now it is bigger than I've ever had the straw flower. So I don't know if it's just the temperatures that are causing both of us to have these different extremes with it. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. It's been, and they say it's a cool crop, right? Which I started, I planted mine when it was still quite cool. So I'm not sure. Yeah. Why they're doing so horrible this year, but
00:43:28
Speaker
At least the dahlias look good, I keep telling myself. Are your dahlias blooming already? They are. There is like thousands and thousands of buds out there, and I've been cutting off them for probably three weeks already. Oh, wow. um Yeah, and they're just, they haven't hit their full explosion yet, but um they're looking so good. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. And are you selling those to florists also? Or do you just do the you cut? So I do have a couple small florists here or there. But I don't have, actually, I'm just listening to your episode with Heather Kane. um I'm actually one of her subscribers. But she I would love to have more florists like she has. um I just feel almost like I don't know how to quite break into that.
00:44:16
Speaker
um little market just yet. um But I have thought about it. So for now, it's just, they're all going to my market bouquets um and you pick customers. It's really nice when you can sell the florists, when you can just unload or offload a ton of flowers at once. Yeah, I think I know. There's like, there is a little florist in town as well. I'm like, I think I need to, that's so many plants, you know, that's so many blooms. I think I do need to
00:44:46
Speaker
make some, get back to cold calling, I suppose. Yes. Bring a little bucket. Yeah. That's how I got my start with the florist is I just, I cut a bucket and I took like one stem of everything I grow and just dropped it off and said, I just want you to see what's locally growing here. Okay. Okay. That's a good idea. Some, some florists take a little bit longer of visiting. You have to visit them multiple times, but I found that most florists, once they see how fresh your flowers are. Yeah. It's a pretty easy cold call. It's a little bit easier than the cold calling of real estate. Of real estate, OK. OK, well, thank you for that. Yes. And you're selling something beautiful, so. Yes, that is true. pe that That is the one thing about real estate. Sometimes you were giving people bad news. You were giving them a low offer. You were giving them, this is the cost you have to bring to closing, um where with flowers, there's really no bad. You know, everyone is happy to get flowers. Everyone is happy to buy flowers. um
00:45:44
Speaker
So that is the one good thing. It's not a lot of negativity or, you know, bad news. I'm bringing you a bad offer. So yeah, people always love flowers. No matter the situation, they, they meet us at every stage of life, which is so special. Definitely. Let's talk about some of the sustainability on your farm. 18 acres is a lot. It is. How are you? How are you keeping that sustainable? Um, so, I have tried from the get go. That was my whole plan was that I did not want to spray. I was going to do everything I could um to not spray with chemicals you know for bugs. And there is some bugs I deal with every single year. And I still have them because I haven't done anything um to get rid of them. That was dramatic. you know um So one of the major things we deal with is corn borer beetles or stock boars.
00:46:44
Speaker
And
Sustainable Practices and Pest Management
00:46:45
Speaker
I think they come from the cornfields that were surrounded by so they if you don't know they drill into your stem and they it's like a little larva and they You know kind of tunnel up through your stems and they just destroy your plants So they get my snapdragons a lot in the spring. No. Mm-hmm And then I have seen a couple on the dahlias So those are a big issue but So all of our compost here, I was concerned about having compost brought in that is, like you said, could be treated and you don't know really truly where it's coming from. So all of the dirt and compost I use is actually from a horse farm that's up the road. So we bring all that and it's literally just, they have a mountain of manure that's been so far broken down that it's dirt. Now it does come with its share of weeds, but it's sort of a trade off.
00:47:43
Speaker
And then if I do have to use sprays, I try and do something from the OMRI. I'm not sure, is it OMRI or Omri? I've heard it both ways. I've always heard it as Omri, but I don't know. Okay, well the list for organic gardening, of course you do the bags on the dahlias. I've even done bags on my white light sunflowers um to keep the beetles off. And then that was part of the reason we got the ducks was to eat slugs and, well, we don't really deal with snails, but slugs and beetles um and little critters like that. um And then we try to incorporate cover crops where we can. Last year I cover cropped a good portion of my raised beds even um to try and help build the soil. And then I think actually before the call, we I mentioned the new high tunnel that I'm getting. oh yeah So that gets installed Wednesday.
00:48:40
Speaker
um I did the NRCS grant with that. And with that, um a portion of the funds goes towards a large section that's going to be cover cropped. um And then they also with that is also a pollinator field that we're putting in um just to bring more pollinators. Yeah. so How about the pollinator field? The pollinator field, it's going to be by actually by our back pond. um And the mix is not picked out yet, but we're going to do some native flowers, native grasses, um and ah basically something that's going to bloom that is going to attract, but albeit birds or bugs, butterflies, bees, of course. And so that's just going to be a big section that isn't touched. We're not going to you know mow it.
00:49:32
Speaker
um So just trying to do a little bit for for all the the bugs and things. you know people they A lot of people say, I can't believe you don't have bees. It seems like you would have bees out here. But a lot of the flowers were harvesting them long before. As you know, you're harvesting them long before they get pollen. So it's really not, you know, a flower farm doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with bees. um So, I think it'll be nice for them to have their little pollinator patch. Absolutely. and I never really thought about it, but if you're surrounded by corn fields and wheat fields, there wouldn't be a lot of bees, I would imagine, in your area, especially if those other farms are spraying.
00:50:17
Speaker
who So it'd be harder for the bees to get to you. Whereas like for me, they bring in bees to the apple and cherry orchards around us. And we have a plethora of bees. I mean, they're everywhere you look here. Yeah. We, I think we do. Well, I get quite a few bee and bumble bee stings. So I guess they have a decent amount. I'm like, my husband's always like, Oh, you got stung again. I'm like, I know. It's like ridiculous. But um no, we do have quite a few. um You know, we have a big vegetable. Well, okay, it's actually smaller this year. We have our own vegetable little patch. And I've never had an issue with
00:50:55
Speaker
anything being pollinated. So I guess we have at least enough for that. Well, and there's so many different kinds of pollinators. I have this video that I keep meaning to put together. We went to Costa Rica in November and we visited a cocoa plantation. And there were mosquitoes everywhere and I kept getting bit and I'm like smacking them. My husband escaped with no bites and my daughter and I walked away just like bit into pieces. But the guy was like, oh stop smacking them. We need the mosquitoes because they pollen. They're the only thing that pollinates them down there. And so you realize that there are pollinators other than just the bees. They're doing the job.
00:51:37
Speaker
And then there's the night pollinators and all different kinds of pollinators. So I'm sure you're going to see such a diverse variety of pollinators coming to your garden and beneficials once you put in that um section of what do we call it? You're calling it your pollinator garden. We just called it a pollinator patch. Pollinator patch. Okay. Yep. That's just what we were calling it. Yep. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. And now one thing I did not mention was the thrips this year. Oh, I have never had set. Well, I think we had such a mild winter that the pest this year has just been horrible. Um, I did have to spray for thrips because it was that, or just burn my hole who passed to the ground. I mean, it was infested. I barely used a quarter of what I could have snapped dragon wise because you know, how the little snaps they pop open and they would, they were just multiplying and thriving inside. and even the sprite wasn't getting to them. um So yeah, the thrips has been a big, a big um issue this year. And just, it seems like um a lot of things in the, over winter, I overwinter my ranunculus in the hoop house and I lost like about a third of my, maybe even a half of the ranunculus to aphids. So this, yeah, this season has been very buggy, so.
00:53:02
Speaker
We were exceptionally cold this year and we still are having the worst number of thrips I've ever experienced. I'm in my sixth year of flower farming and I've never seen thrips like this. Do you do the high bricks molasses? No, but um the micro flower farmer, she talks about that all the time. And I have not, that is maybe a winter project. I have not done any research on that, but she talks about that greatly. So Galena and I first heard about it from Jenny Love of Love and Fresh Flowers. yeah And I will say that I swear by it. okay i know out of My goal is if anyone's listening and knows Jenny Love, I would be so honored to interview her on this podcast and have her tell her story. She's such a wealth of knowledge yeah when it comes to sustainable
00:53:51
Speaker
practices in the flower farming industry. And when she talked about the Hybrix molasses, I instantly tried it and I have not sprayed pesticide, any organic, ps I don't do ever regular pesticides, but no organic pesticides in three years now. And I didn't have the capacity to do sprays this spring. So I've just recently started back at my spring and my number of thrips is already drastically dropping. So Hybrix. Is that do you, is that, um, you do it as you see them or beforehand, do you get it beforehand? I do it as both as a preventative and as a treatment. So I, when life is not, well, when is life not crazy, but, um, this year feels exceptionally crazy. My goal is to do a biweekly. So, or every other week, full feeding of my dahlias. And so in my full year feeding, I have a 10 gallon, uh, brewing system.
00:54:50
Speaker
rye brew compost tea. I learned about that from Fleurette when I did her workshop. And then I use a catalyst. There's a catalyst that is like basically some broken down shellfish. And I mix that with compost and my 10 gallon brewing. And then I put um I'm trying to think the exact amount. I don't have my exact recipe in front of me, but it's a but it's based on the Hybrix molasses. It says per gallon, I think it's one table one to two tablespoons of Hybrix molasses per gallon. So with a 10 gallon brewer, I put 10 tablespoons of Hybrix molasses in my solution. And then I also add calcium to my foliar feeding because we have so much wind that I need strong sturdy stems and the calcium strengthen the stems.
00:55:35
Speaker
And it's something that I see for dahlias. I see a very, very quick results with low calcium. And that's a liquid. It's a liquid. I get an organic liquid calcium. I buy the high bricks. It's HI-BRIX off of Amazon. And it's basically, it smells like molasses. It's ah it's a form of molasses for plants. and the plants absorb it really quickly. And what does it do exactly? I'm not a scientist, so I'm giving you this in my very layman's terms of how I understand it as a flower farmer using it for my farm. It raises sugar content. And so the beer and wine industry have used this for years. I was actually talking to a farmer up in the Upper Valley of Hood River, and she was saying they have very low pest pressure.
00:56:22
Speaker
And I asked her about their bricks levels and she goes, oh, well, our wine has very high bricks levels. And I was like, that is why she doesn't have to spray. She's not an organic farm, but she doesn't really have to spray because her bricks levels are so high. And so the when your bricks levels rise, which is the sugar content in the plant, And um for anyone that has a scientific background, I apologize because I don't. um But basically, it raises the sugar levels. And as the sugar levels rise, your plant's taste becomes less desirable to certain pests. So like oh starting with the thrips and the spider mites, they're going to still bite your plant, but they're going to bite it and go, ew, this is too sweet for me.
00:57:06
Speaker
and move on. move on so If you go back and listen to Galina's and my episode, a few episodes back, um we talked about this and how you're still going to see the bugs in your garden. They're not going to just magically disappear, but there you might see a grasshopper. If you get your bricks levels high enough, you might see a grasshopper just hanging out there, but it's not chowing down your Delia because it doesn't taste good. Doesn't taste good. Oh wow. I'll have to really look into that. I mean, it's middle of July right now. You could see results by August if you started doing it now. Wow. Well, I wish I knew this before I pulled half my snaps. Oh no. I didn't, I didn't know what to do. So I pulled them and just, I threw them in the trash. I didn't even compost them or nothing. Um, yeah, well next year I still have half in there. So maybe I will, I mean, it can't hurt to get, to get and in front of it. So.
00:58:00
Speaker
No, and it's good for the soil too. I mean, okay. That's very good to know. So, but I spray it right on the leaves. I either do it super early in the morning, talking about like five o'clock in the morning before the sun is up above the horizon or as the sun has gone down past the horizon level in the evening. My favorite time is like seven o'clock at night when you hear the frogs coming out and everything I use is totally beneficially friendly. So I don't have to worry about hurting the bees that are sleeping in the blooms. I'm careful i'll not to spray my blooms because if you get a white bloom, you're going to all of a sudden discolor it. yeah So I'm spraying on the lower leaves, but I'm covering the leaves, heavily coating it. And instead of your garden smelling terrible, people walk by and they're like, it smells like a gingerbread cookie.
00:58:43
Speaker
Oh, because of the molasses, it smells like molasses. We're used to smelling like fish from the fish emulsion here. Yes. Sometimes it's a little stinky. um I need to get a new sprayer because mine cracked. And so as I was spraying last weekend, I'm walking around and I noticed there's this like trail of fish oh no oil and molasses dripping down my pants and I wear long pants as I'm doing it. and it probably looked like I had an accident or something at an owner in a public area where people can see me. And I've got this like long stream of wetness dripping down my back. And I'm sure I smelled, well, I know I smelled terrible cause I came inside and my husband and daughter both said, please go take a shower. Oh no. But the plants love it. And I mean, it's amazing how how robust they are. And I mean, our audience can't see, but I've got a dahlia sitting in front of me and I literally can just shake the thing like crazy.
00:59:38
Speaker
Um, and the stems are so strong and sturdy. so and worthy right Well, that's the calcium, but the hybrids molasses helps with the pests. Wow. Well, I have to get onto to that, um, calcium because we, I call it windy Anna out here because it's so windy as well. Now, of course we're getting a little bit of a windbreak with the corn this year, but typically. ah I have a lot of things get toppled last year, like my whole section of cosmos and one little storm. And it wasn't even that bad of a storm and yeah, everything toppled. So yeah, I'll have to wait into that. Well, you're going to have to try it out and then we can have you back on here and you can report how it worked out for you. Yeah. Yeah. I would love to know if you're successful with it because I mean, it's, it's such affordable option for, um,
01:00:27
Speaker
friendly, organic friendly, beneficial friendly gardening. Yeah. So we have talked about a lot. Do you have any parting advice that you would like to leave our listeners with today? Advice.
Advice for New Farmers
01:00:40
Speaker
Um, I think it's not really advice because you can't plan for, um, what you don't know, but always being prepared for the unexpected. and Planning ahead or having a backup plan um Especially if you're growing flowers or flower farming, you know, we are dealing with Mother Nature who is not always kind um So I think having a backup plan always is a good piece of advice because you know You can have one storm or one failed crop and if you don't have a backup you might be ah so well um
01:01:18
Speaker
So I think that's a good piece of advice. And then also not trying to do everything at once. I have um on Instagram, I have the subscriber channel where I have people in there. And so often I see people trying to do, and i don't I don't try and act like I'm this big seasoned expert, but trying to do everything at once or trying to do way too much. um And I think trying to do too much um can kind of bite you sometimes or put a bad taste in your mouth for what could have been um because you just went about it the wrong way. So I think starting maybe a little smaller or with a few less varieties is always um is always a plus as a good starting point. That is great advice. I know I am guilty of trying to bite off too much. Oh, me too. Me too. Still. ah Yeah. Yes.
01:02:16
Speaker
I mean, I just now remember that we have meat bird chicks coming this week and I didn't write it down. It's yeah. And then it's like, okay, I have like three you picks this week. And then, cause I do privates, you picks too. Then I've got these meat birds and I've got this and yeah, I still buy it off a few more projects than I should. But, um, yes. It's a learning process, but that's great advice. I love it. For those of our listeners that are not already following you, Lexi, where can they find you? Yeah, so I'm on Facebook. It's just Bocconcotterblooms and then Instagram as well as Bocconcotterblooms. And if you're local, I have my website, which is where I post, of course I post on all the socials too, but um my website is where I post all events where you can purchase tickets to or learn about um on there.
01:03:08
Speaker
Awesome. Well, it's been so fun learning about you and your flower farming journey. Thank you for taking the time to share with us. I know this is such a busy time of year for a farmer to even take an hour out of their day. So yeah, thank you. This was really fun. Thank you so much to have you back again. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Well, good luck with your, you pick events this week and your new birds come into the farm. Oh yeah. Well, thank you so much. Talk to you soon. Bye. Thank you Flower Friends for joining us on another episode of the Backyard Bouquet. I hope you've enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable gardening insights we've shared today, whether you're cultivating your own backyard blooms or supporting your local flower farmer.
01:03:56
Speaker
you're contributing to the local flower movement, and we're so happy to have you growing with us. If you'd like to stay connected and continue this blossoming journey with local flowers, don't forget to subscribe to the Backyard Bouquet podcast. I'd be so grateful if you would take a moment to leave us a review of this episode. And finally, please share this episode with your garden friends. Until next time, keep growing, keep blooming, and remember that every bouquet starts right here in the backyard.