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Ep.29: Meg McGuire of Red Daisy Farm: From Flower Farming to On-Farm Stays
1.6k Plays5 months ago
Have you ever wondered what it takes to run a successful flower farm and create a unique on-farm experience for visitors? Today we are joined by Meg McGuire from Red Daisy Farm in Brighton, Colorado. Meg is here to share the inspiring story of how her family turned their property into a vibrant community hub, offering everything from wholesale flowers to overnight farm stays.
Meg's journey began with a wedding request from her cousin, sparking her love for flower farming. Over the past 11 years, she has navigated the challenges of crop failures, physical demands, and balancing work and personal life. Meg's dedication to her farm and her family's involvement in the business exemplifies the importance of succession planning and passing down the farm's legacy.
At Red Daisy Farm, guests can enjoy DIY flower buckets, floral workshops, and unique accommodations like converted silos with stunning mountain views. Meg's commitment to building relationships with florists and providing a memorable experience for visitors showcases the hard work and passion that goes into running a flower farm. Her story serves as an inspiration for those looking to create a thriving agricultural business while maintaining a balance between work and personal life.
In This Episode You’ll Hear About:
- 00:00:55 - Introduction to Red Daisy Farm
- 00:05:31 - Expanding into Farm Stays
- 00:07:18 - Family Involvement in the Farm
- 00:19:09 - Irrigation and Water Sources
- 00:22:00 - Creation of the Natural Swimming Pond
- 00:15:25 - Challenges with Hail and Crop Loss
- 00:31:01 - Succession Planning for the Farm
- 00:35:25 - Flower Sales to Florists
- 00:36:50 - DIY Flower Buckets and CSA
- 00:43:21 - Flower Workshops and Events
- 00:44:26 - Importance of Taking Time Off
Shownotes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2024/07/23/ep-29-red-daisy-flower-farm/
Learn More About Red Daisy Farm:
- Red Daisy Farm: https://www.reddaisyfarm.com/
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/reddaisyfarm/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/reddaisyfarm1
Links To Mentions From Interview:
- Follow The Blooms: https://www.youtube.com/@flowers.for.people/
- Zeta Water Management Systems: https://zetarod.com/
- Icy Breeze Car Cooler: https://www.icybreeze.com/
Sign up for our newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/nlw4wua8s3
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Transcript
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. 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.
00:00:54
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Today, we're delighted to have Meg McGuire from Red Daisy Farm joining us. Nestled just 20 miles north of Denver and Brighton, Colorado, Red Daisy Farm is more than just a flower farm. It's a vibrant hub for the community and visitors alike. Meg and her family of five have transformed their property into a multifaceted retreat, offering everything from wholesale flowers to unique farm stays. At Red Daisy Farm, you can find a rich selection of DIY by-the-bucket flowers, special order arrangements, and community-supported agriculture flower shares. Beyond Blooms, they offer a cozy bed and breakfast and a charming cottage house and a truly unique getaway experience.
00:01:44
Speaker
and two beautifully converted silos that provide breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains, a spot that's been voted one of the top five unique places to stay in Colorado. Red Daisy Farm isn't just a place to get your cup flowers. It's a place to experience them in every way imaginable, from farmstays to floral workshops. So without further ado, Meg, it's such a pleasure to have you with us today. With such a unique and diverse offering at Red Daisy Farm, I'm curious what inspired you and your family to start Red Daisy Farm? Wow, you're going to make me cry already.
00:02:24
Speaker
oh it's um So my dad grew up on a farm in Iowa and we'd go back to Iowa several times a year and and we'd love our trips there. And um so he happened to pass away about 10 or 11 years ago and um he helped us buy this farm and he thought he loved this farm. He found out it you know reminded him of Iowa and and being at home. So we started the farm and um always wanted to grow gardens and and I've always been a vegetable gardener so I did that. But we we um started growing gardens when we first moved here and we found out all the plants were dying and we didn't know why.
00:03:05
Speaker
um And we had our water tested and the water was non, ah it was not conducive with growing. It was loaded with um sodium. So we had to research and we found finally a system called Zetacore. So if anybody has too much sodium in their water, a Zetacore system is your answer and I can get you the information on that. but um So we finally got the water fixed, started growing beautiful gardens. ah My dad passed a few years after that and my cousin was just engaged and and I was kind of in a big depression with my dad dying and she asked me if she could have her wedding here at the farm and I thought oh my gosh my farms really not wedding ready but you know I'll see what I can do.
00:03:50
Speaker
And it really pulled me out of the funk of depression with my dad passing. And so I started researching and Googling, what's the easiest flower to grow? Because I said, well, I'll grow your flowers also for the wedding. So she was so excited about that. And then I thought, OK, I'm just going to Google everything and see what I can figure out as far as growing some you know rows of flowers so she can have flowers at her wedding. Well, we got that right to work and we started laying water lines and clearing fields and we even built a hoop house. ah Within, I had six months to do all this. She asked me February. Yeah, February she asked me and then her wedding was in August. So by the time the weather was nice, I had about six months to figure out how to become a flower farmer real quick.
00:04:36
Speaker
But um yeah, so i i that first year grew gorgeous dahlias and zinnias and whatever was the easiest thing I could find to grow. And then I was bit by the the flower love of you know farming. And so it just kind of unfolded after that. Every year, florists caught on the next year, and it just snowballed. Everybody wanted fresh local flowers. And um so now we're 11 years in. And um we're still, you know, ah fighting to meet the local demand for flowers. And there's thankfully tons of new flower farmers that have come up and about in the last four or five years. So it helps take a load off of us because I hate telling people no, I'm sorry, I can't fill an order.
00:05:25
Speaker
because I just am out of product. So that's kind of how we got to flower farming. And then the other things came along with it. We had a guest house on the property, and my sister had lived there originally. She moved out, and I thought, well, I'm going to just try an Airbnb. it And so we um put that on Airbnb, and it went really well because we're really centrally located, 20 minutes to downtown Denver, 20 minutes to the airport, 30 minutes to Boulder. So you can get to places really easily from our farm. And then a few years later, I always have to have something to do or project to work on. um We had two old grain silos on the farm and um I thought I'm going to build those out and I'm going to make another little Airbnb.
00:06:06
Speaker
And then we made that built the Airbnb there and we've had those going for the last five years. And so it's just been you know kind of one project after the next. And um then we also do hip camp, which people will bring their um RVs and hook up and hit hip camp and stay here for a few nights. And so yeah, it is really kind of an experience when you come here. Wow, that is amazing. And this all started 11 years ago. Yes, this is our 11th year of farming. Did you ever imagine it? No. I actually was like you know and thinking, oh, I'll be retired by the time I'm 50. Well, now I'm almost 54 and I'm still farming. and I still love it, but it's getting harder physically. you know You get older and you get bad knees and bad hips and bad backs. but Thankfully, I have two young
00:06:56
Speaker
Tall strong strapping sons who are 23 and 27 and they are now full-time employees of the farm as of you know The last two three years once they got done with college they came back to the farm and they're my right and left-hand men and That's awesome. I love that your children were able to come back and work side by side with you. Yes. I feel very, very blessed that I get to work with my children and they actually want to work with us, you know, because some kids are like, I'm out of here. I'm going to go do what I want to do. But even my daughter, she's 17 now and she works with us in the summers part time and works at another farm called Lulu's down the road part time with her friends. and
00:07:39
Speaker
So its it's a family affair and it's ah just something very special, sacred. I love that. Have your children always been active on the farm or is this something that blossomed into a love for them? Well, they actually used to hate ah ah doing chores, farm chores. They would say, mom, you know, when they were 12 or 13, why do we have to do this kind of work? Our friends don't have to do this. And I said, well, that's just the way it is. We live on a farm and this farm sustains us, right? It puts food on our table. So um at first they hated it. Just, you know, I think a lot of it was age related, but I think they've really grown to um respect it and um love it.
00:08:26
Speaker
It's so nice to hear. I have a nine-year-old and I talk about her occasionally when I talk to other moms who are also farmers and we try and do little things. This morning she was given a bowl and she went out and harvested the berries for her smoothie, um but there's something she just doesn't like and it's it's encouraging to hear that your children have fallen in love with the farm and are still actively involved in it. Yeah, I feel like I said, I feel so blessed that, you know, that they do want to be here. And I've always told them, you know, go find your passion in life and go do what you want to do in life. And you're not, you know, obligated to the farm. And, um, you know, they, they've had off farm jobs in the past few years, but they always come back to the farm and this last year, maybe two years, it seems like they're pretty solid on board and, um, you know, just wanting to make this their, their living in their livelihood too.
00:09:20
Speaker
That's amazing. So let's go back and I'm going to have you help us paint a picture for our listeners of your farm. Since therere it's a family affair, there it must be fairly large to be able to employ both of your sons who have graduated college. You have the flower farm, you have the cottage that's a bed and breakfast, you have the silos and you have a hip camp. Describe your farm for us, paint a picture so we can visualize it as we're listening to this conversation. Well, there's good good and bad sides to you know the whole picture. um It's definitely a beautiful, aesthetically, it's a beautiful place. I mean, we work really hard. I literally pay two gals each part time, so one full-time
00:10:11
Speaker
salary to just weed the property, literally. It's like a full-time job. And we only have four acres here on this farm. So it's not a large space, but there's nobody to the east, south, or west of us. So we have like 80 acres around us that's just open farmland. um And that was originally part of our farm. But unfortunately, the last family who was here for 67 years were only the third family to be here. um They sold it off to the developers. So we're praying that somebody doesn't come up and about. So it is a beautiful space. You have amazing views of the Rocky Mountains. Like it's just breathtaking to me. um I've lived here my whole life and there's just some sunsets and stuff that you just
00:10:52
Speaker
are in awe of. So it's a beautiful place to be. You can walk through the flower fields with your coffee or your cocktail. You can we have an all-natural swimming pond, which is fairly large. It's 50 foot by 75 foot, 10 feet deep. It has koi fish. You can swim. You can get on a floatie. You can do laps. So it is definitely a relaxing place. We have a big um deck where it's shaded with a pergola. And you can, again, hang out, read a book or have a cocktail or coffee or whatever. um So there's a lot of um beauty to the place and there's um always we're always as a family meeting new people, strangers coming to the property and entertaining and hosting. um Like today we're getting ready for an engagement party that's happening here tomorrow evening.
00:11:43
Speaker
and the guests come today at three so we'll check them in and then we'll you know set up tables and I just got done doing the four flower arrangements. um So just you know inviting the community in and and we're so grateful that you know they helped sustain us because without them we couldn't do it. um And then there's you know the side of we work, work, work from May to October nonstop and it's very grueling and especially when like right now the last few weeks the temps have been in that mid to high 90s and so you either have to get out and work really early and and then go out late at night when it's cooler. um I was out there yesterday though I got stuck out there doing some stuff at five at night and it was just grueling it was so hot and sweaty and
00:12:30
Speaker
ah dirty work. um So I don't think people really realize the amount of work and hard physical labor that goes into maintaining a farm and then again you have to you know I used to always go over and clean the cottages and the and I still clean the silos but so to manage manage manage all of the flower farm work and then cleaning cottages and getting them turned over so they're perfect for the next guests and We're just go, go, go from sunup to sundown from May to October. That's a long season. It is. It is. And I'm grateful for it because, you know, it's it's seasonal, but then we get our nice two or three months of do nothing during the winter. We try and be done putting the farm to bed by November, and then we get to take November, December, January off, and then we start seeding, usually end of January.
00:13:23
Speaker
Okay, so you've got a few months to recharge the batteries. We do, and it's so needed. Someone gave me a great analogy recently about flowers don't bloom all year long. So why should we expect ourselves to bloom all the time? Absolutely. I love that, right? We need our downtime, we need our rest, we need to recharge. And I've always been the type of person, it's hard for me to sit still. But the older I get, I'm like, okay, resting is not something I should feel guilty about. my body needs that, my mind, my, you know. So um I'm really learning to love to slow slow down a little bit and and rest because it's it's needed.
00:14:06
Speaker
It's a hard thing to learn as a farmer because we're so used to being on the go nonstop, especially from those, from that, what is it? May through October, like you just mentioned, I mean, that's, and for people that do tulips or other spring flowers that season start even earlier. I did my season, I think my tulips started blooming end of March this year. Oh, And so I was already tired coming into the season yes this year. Yes, absolutely. i attempted I've attempted tulips many times and for some reason they just elude me. I can't get them down and I don't have a proper indoor growth space. So I've kind of just given up on them, but I love them.
00:14:47
Speaker
They're beautiful, but I can see how that could be really hard in Colorado where you are if you're not forcing them indoors. Yeah, it's crazy. Our temps are all over the place. So being a flower farmer is very hard. Then you add our climate into it in Colorado and it's almost the definition of insanity because I'm not joking, I think we've been hailed on out of 11 years we've been hailed on I think seven of the years to where it absolutely demolishes the crops and we have to cut the crops down, fertilize and just wait three or four weeks for them to come back. And so at first it was so funny because I used to like go out into the fields, this is when I first started, I was so sensitive and I would cry when my crops were just demolished and I mean how do you not you've already spent three months you know starting them from seed and babying every day
00:15:33
Speaker
then you get them out there and they're doing great and then 20 minutes of hail just wipes them out. And so I've seen so many farmers be you know being hailed on like lately and it's just like heartbreaking because I've been there, I know how it feels, but I used to lay down and cry in my field and just be like, why is this happening? And now I just am like, you know what, it is what it is. And I have faith that everything's gonna work out and we're gonna be okay. And I think he used to devastate me so much because this is our livelihood. If we lose $30,000 worth of crop, that's a huge chunk that, you know, how do we make make it up? But my faith's become stronger and I just know that we're gonna be okay. We get through every month, somehow, some way by the grace of God and we're gonna be fine, you know?
00:16:21
Speaker
That's a great mentality to have because it is easy to fall in that rut of but when something happens like, oh my gosh, what just happened? And how am I going to rebound? Especially if you only have one crop, it can be really stressful. It's very, very hard. And so not only is it physically hard, but it's a ah mental ah mental game. You really have to get tough mentally and you know have that faith or whatever you want to call it that you know it's all going to work out. And um you learn real quick that You can't control these things. They're totally out of your control and you just have to roll with the punches. Totally. Now you have four acres on your farm. How much of that is dedicated to growing flowers? I'd say we grow an acre, a full acre of flowers. They're all different areas of the farm. So our house is kind of in the middle of the property. And then we have, um,
00:17:15
Speaker
We have a big field of peonies, about 3,000 peonies, just to the east of the house. And then we have a big old historic barn. It's not big, but it's a nice size barn. And then behind the barn and the side of the barn, we've got more growing fields. And then we have another two growing fields next to the pond. And then you go over by the cottage house, and then there's a field north of the cottage house that's full of flowers. So it's just like a whole circle, 360, you know, throughout the property of different fields, growing fields. That sounds beautiful. So as you walk throughout your property, there's always something everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. And we've tried to incorporate a lot more perennials slightly just because it's a lot less work than annuals. And so we've incorporated them into the landscape as much as possible so that, you know, not only beautifies, but we can cut from them too. What are some of the perennials that you have added to your farm?
00:18:13
Speaker
oh i've tried so many and some stick and some don't and um My favorite one's the nine bark. They have the different colors, the lime, the um the wines. um So the nine barks, but here in Colorado, you have to have an on drip line or it's just not gonna survive. Where our climate is so dry, I don't think we've even even had an inch of rain in the last six weeks. So um I've learned a lot. It's just been an ongoing learning process, but mostly the nine barks I love, um like the bridal spirea,
00:18:47
Speaker
um Let's see what else. A lot of vines I put in. um What else is woodies that I put in? Oh, a lot of lilacs, different varieties. There were some old lilacs on the farm when we moved here, but there just wasn't much because unless it's on drip, it's just not surviving. Right. So you have drip lines throughout your property then? Oh, yeah, everywhere. And that's a whole job in itself. You know, a line gets cut, you know, a line gets clogged, you got to go and bang them out with your knife. And um so we've had our lines in most of our nettafin lines in for
00:19:26
Speaker
um nine or ten years and they're just at the point where I need to replace them but then again that's a big expense. So um you know people don't see the little things that you have to deal with day in day out um and always putting out fires or troubleshooting when you're on a on a farm or running a farm. Absolutely. Let's talk about the irrigation if we can. So you have drip lines. What's your source of water? Because I know it can be very dry in Colorado in the summer months. Yeah, so thankfully we have a 350 foot deep well and our farm literally runs off of that main well and then we have a side shallow well that's 40 foot deep.
00:20:05
Speaker
And that does help irrigate some of the yard. That's a fairly large yard. We do some small weddings and stuff. So it's nice to have that green grass. But um so those two wells feed the farm. And umm I'm not joking when I tell you our water is running 24 seven during season because it's watering all these different fields. And then it also services off. So we have our house. We have the guest house. We have the silos. And then we have a studio where my oldest son lives. um And then what else do we feed? Just the yard and lawn. and So it's running 24-7 pretty much during season. That's a lot to irrigate. It is. And so we couldn't do it if we were on city water. I mean, who can afford the water bill?
00:20:49
Speaker
Yes. ah Yeah. Unfortunately, we have what's called farmer's irrigation here, oh good but it only runs from April to October 1st. Because it's run off from Mount Hood, where we are from the mountain, um there's so much sediment this time of year that I irrigation lines are the bane of my existence some days because they clog like you said, I'm constantly cleaning the filters, I'm opening up the end lines and letting them come out. Yesterday, I was trying to water my seedlings in the greenhouse. And I was like, this water looks like chocolate milk right now. And coming out of the hose, it was so dirty. been there done that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we get the same thing. So there's just so many things issues you have to literally deal with and
00:21:36
Speaker
and on a daily basis go out and and fix. Yes. I had planned to be planting in the ground. I wasn't planning to work on irrigation all day and straightening out the lines. I don't know about you, but my lines in the heat will bend up and come out of place no matter how many irrigation or landscape staples I put down. They're constantly moving and readjusting them and then you pull them too far and you pull it out. but open Yeah, exactly. I know. I hear you on that. It's very frustrating frustrating and um I used to pay somebody when I first started to come out and fix every little time I had you know a line break and it's just like, you know what? This is ridiculous. I'm just going to teach myself how to do this so that I can just get it done and be on to the next thing. And so I've taught myself and then I had to teach both my sons and now they go and fix the irrigation and I don't have to deal with it. so
00:22:25
Speaker
I'm grateful for that. yeah yeah Now is your pond also on the the well water? No so we filled it initially with well water and um we have to do like when it's hot like this and it evaporates we have to top it off with the well the hose with coming from the well water once a week maybe twice a week depending on the heat um but it usually evaporates good you know three or four inches and so we top that off and keep it full. And that's something that you created on your property, is that correct? We did. um I actually am a water person and I grew up a swimmer and I always just love water. So that was the one thing our farm was missing. And it actually used to be ah old cattle kind of, um you know, it was kind of maybe three feet deep um to where the cattle could go and get water or get cooled off. um So we kind of, I was just like researching and I researched it for two or three years on on the internet and It's basically a European concept. And so it doesn't have any chemicals. It's just like you're creating a natural ecosystem and the water kind of takes care of itself. I mean, there are some things we have to do throughout the year, but we have koi fish, frogs, the natural wildlife helps keep the algae down. You know, they eat a lot of the stuff that's in it. Um, and, um, so we built that by hand in 2015.
00:23:48
Speaker
me my husband and my two boys and all of their friends and it was the biggest project that I will never do again but we had quotes professionally to build it for about $200,000 and we found a guy on the internet who was retiring and he sold us a little kit for $20,000 talked us through how to build it and um we built it for 20 grand instead of 200,000 and it's been such a nice amenity to have for our guests and after a hot day of farming we jump in and some days on the weekends when it's just me and the kids and my family will get in and do you know floaties and barbecue and so it's a great great little perk to have on the farm.
00:24:35
Speaker
That sounds amazing. We love it. How deep is it? It's 10 feet deep, 10 feet. So the with the fish that are in there, they go down and and live there in the winter and survive the winters just fine. um But yeah, there's probably hundreds of koi fish in there. Amazing. Does it ever freeze over in the wintertime? It does, yeah. So it's it probably freezes when it gets real cold, four to five inches thick. um And I think the boys have probably dared each other to walk out on it in the winter. And thankfully, nobody's fallen in. So yeah, it does get pretty solid. No ice skating on it, though. No ice skating. no Maybe if we were in Minnesota, but not here.
00:25:17
Speaker
Your property sounds amazing. I have family in Longmont, Colorado. oh well he needed a kind baby come i yeah no enough You Your silos I was reading before it our conversation today that was voted one of the top five unique places to stay in all of Colorado. Well, yeah, we had Fox 31 come out a few years ago. I don't know if it's been two or three years now and they, um, you know, came and visited and took pictures. And then they they had us on the news with a few other Airbnb's. Um, and we were voted one of the top five unique places to stay in Colorado because first of all, who can say they've stayed in a grain silo. Um, and then second of all, you have an amazing view of the the Rocky mountains.
00:26:01
Speaker
um And then just all the other amenities, I think, you know, the pool, the hot tub, the flower fields. It's just unique. That is so neat. So when guests come and stay in the silos or the cottage house, are they allowed to go out in your flower fields and pick flowers or how do you manage that aspect? So we don't allow them, unfortunately, to pick flowers just because we're such You know a rigorous operation as far as crops and that that really is a large part of our income is the flower crops and the flower cells to the florist every week. um But they can at least always put out fresh flowers um in the silos so that they can enjoy the flowers that we grow here. We do the same for the cottage house. We put one in each bedroom and one on the family room table. So we want them to enjoy the flowers and then we of course encourage them to go out and with their cup of coffee in the morning and walk through the flower fields or whatever time of day um and see what we do here and what we grow here.
00:27:02
Speaker
I bet that is so magical for people especially waking up on the Front ra Range and seeing the Rocky Mountains and a field full of flowers because I know when I drive through the Front Range everything is so dry and barren so I can only imagine how magical it must be to have this One acre. Yeah. Well, I guess it's throughout four acres your whole four acres of just color it is pretty spectacular I've had a few people Be like well, I thought there would be more flowers being on a flower farm and it depends on of course what time of the year they're here um First of all and second of all we're harvesting so hard that a lot of the times You know, there's not like a full row of dahlias blooming there never is because we're harvesting right when they're ready and and we make deliveries twice a week, so um we're always striving to fill the flower buckets and fill the flower van and you know have product for our florists. If you came in June, the first part of June, people are in awe of the front peony filled with 3,000 peonies in it.
00:28:04
Speaker
um because we don't obviously harvest the whole bush of peony. We can't because it needs to regenerate itself. So we harvest about two-thirds of our peony bushes and leave the other third and that's when it's spectacular. I bet that's incredible to see. I love that you shared that, that you are cutting most things because I think most people think, when they think of a flower farm, they think of fields full of flowers, but unless you're growing for seed, yes you want to be cutting those or you're losing money. People don't understand that, but once I explain it to them, they're like, oh yeah, that's why. the you know There's not a row full of blooming dahlias or zinnias because we cut them in the minute we can and get them ready for sale.
00:28:47
Speaker
last year, I decided to let most of mine go to seed on my dahlias. I had about 2000 dahlias. And i for the end of the season, I was trying to grow for seed. So I let everything go to flower. Beautiful. And it was so magical. And I'd never seen our field like that because I was always cutting everything. and Yes, and i someday when I get old enough or I'm ready to retire, I'm just gonna say, okay, boys, were um I pray that I can get to this point. We're taking this year off from harvesting and we are gonna let every field just bloom its heart out and we're gonna invite people to come take photos and um you know just enjoy the flowers because I've never never seen them in full bloom either and it's been 11 years of farming. So I'm waiting for that day too.
00:29:33
Speaker
It's magical. I hope you can experience that someday. So you started with your, it was your niece. That's correct. married Is that right? So we've kind of pulled back on weddings. Um, I'm, I'm getting older and weddings are a lot, a lot of work. And even if they're the micro-wedding, there's still a lot of work. So we used to do big weddings, 150 to 200 people, pulled that back to micro-weddings the last few years. And um this is the first summer I have not had a wedding on the books. And I don't know if that's because I projected that I didn't want want any out into the universe, but um I think it is. I just felt like I needed a little more of a break this year.
00:30:15
Speaker
So I'm not saying no to weddings. I just if if it happens to come together and it's the right people um Then yes, and definitely will always do them for friends or family if that's what they want um But yeah, we're kind of just me and my husband are getting to the point where he's he's 65 So he's retired pretty much but living on the farm. He's not retired. He works every day out here and um And I'm almost 54 and so we're ready to kind of slow down and the boys are um At the point where they're gonna take over in the next year or two after my daughter graduates high school um And so things are kind of just shifting here Can you explain I love that you ah have this kind of succession planning where your children are taking over? How do you?
00:31:03
Speaker
How do you prepare for that? I mean, because I'm sure there's other listeners who maybe they don't have their own children, but they want a succession plan for the future. How have you made sure that your farm is set up so that your boys can come here? I don't have all the answers, but we we live and we learn um from our mistakes and we learn as we go, hopefully, and and we try and work ah smarter, not harder. um But I'm just trying to always shoot for shape. Like, you know, if the boys are taking over, they need to know every aspect of this business. So I've slowly, like the last two years, two years ago, used to be me and my husband doing all the flower deliveries. So I put them out there and was I nervous? Yes, absolutely. You know, would the florists take well to them and they all love the boys. So it actually was so relieving when I knew that they were going to be fine doing all the deliveries.
00:31:55
Speaker
um you know and We've built such good relationships with our florists. That's another very important thing. and build If that's your avenue of cells, build great relationships and strong foundations with your florists. And then you know you've got that loyal loyalty. Eleven years down the road, you know we still have the same florists. um But yeah, I just try and set set them up and, um you know, I've had a hard time because i I'm kind of control freak and I want to do everything my way and the right way. and And so I've had to let go and I've had to learn that in order for them to learn, I have to just throw this at them, tell them show them the best that I can, and they need to go in and make their own mistakes.
00:32:38
Speaker
and learn from that and um you know working a family business is not easy it's like you know that you have different personalities different dynamics only do we work together but we live together we're all on the same property in our own spaces of course but um So it's been very challenging, but we've learned so much. And as the kids get older and mature a little more, it's easier too. You know you don't have these immature, you know entitled attitudes with the young generation that think, you know well, I'm going to do this, but I need $100 an hour for it. Well, that's not happening.
00:33:15
Speaker
So there's a lot of moving parts, but I'm just trying to um you know ease them into it. I started two years ago saying, okay, if you're going to take over, this is where we start. And now we're watching things unfold and be successful. And now I have to, in the next year or two, get them to the administrative side of it all because sending invoices is still my job and, you know, following up if somebody hasn't paid an invoice, um you know, answering emails, taking orders, I do all of that on top of it. So eventually, ah shortly here here it'll come where I'll have to teach them that side of the business of it too. Paying the taxes, you know, filing all of the paperwork, doing all the things.
00:34:01
Speaker
So do you see yourself staying involved in the farm in two years from now, or are you planning to totally relinquish all control to the boys? So I can't imagine and not always being a part of this place. So um when we built the studio, I built it out to where it would be a place for me and my husband to retire so that the kids could come take over the big house and have their family and get married and have their kids. So I've always had this long vision of what things looked like. And um I'll be here as long as they'll have me, you know,
00:34:36
Speaker
I love that. I love that you've put so much thought and time into building a place that your family can stay on and that you can retire and watch your children take over. That's really beautiful. Thank you. So, yeah, we hope that it keeps going smoothly, but it's just life. You're going to always have issues and problems. things to deal with, but you just have to, it's all about how we react and all about our how our attitude is with our responses to these, you know, issues. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, we we can't choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond.
00:35:15
Speaker
That's a beautiful reminder. I needed that today. Let's talk about your flowers a little bit more. With one acre of flowers, what do you do with all of your flowers? We sell them. We sell them. So we work with a good eight to 10 florists every week. Tuesday we go and deliver to two or three florist shops. We mostly work with retail. We've shifted that too. When we first started, it was basically with wedding florists. um And that shifted. We've had a Colorado flower collective that's opened up in Colorado and they can service those florists so much better than I could. um So it's a lot less stressful for me now, but I work mainly with retail florists who have storefronts. um And so we go to Boulder and we deliver to two or three florists there. Then we head to Longmont and deliver to three or four florists there. And basically we load up our big van. We also take pre-orders, obviously, when they have weddings and stuff, they'll send their needs.
00:36:13
Speaker
um But we fill our big van up and it's a walk-up van so you can walk in and fill it with flowers on both sides and on the floor, wherever we can cram them in. And it's like um an ice cream truck. They come in, they pull what they want, we write down what they got and they're you know they're on their way. We're on our way. They love it. So um we do that every Tuesday and then every Thursday we go to Denver and surrounding areas and go to three or four different floors there. And then I have florists who will come just randomly who are picking up smaller orders or a wedding order or whatnot. We also do a lot of the do-it-yourself buckets which has been great this year. I love it because it's a really easy way, a really easy stream of income to fill a bucket with you know whatever colors they ask for and then they come pick it up and they
00:36:59
Speaker
um are off to do their own wedding flowers. And people love it. It's an experience for them and their bridesmaids or their family to design the flowers for the wedding. So that's been a really good um gig for us the last few years. OK, let's go back to the florist because I'm very intrigued. So do you send out a weekly availability list or the florist just know that you're going to show up with your delivery truck and they get to show up whatever they want? Oh, both. So I sent out right at the beginning of the season, I sent out all the crops that I planted, the dates that they're available, so like mid June through mid July. So they have an idea of when it's available. I put the pricing on there, which is pretty set. I mean, sometimes it'll change depending on supply and demand.
00:37:42
Speaker
um And then they'll get that yearly availability of what we're growing growing. Of course, there's always going to be a crop failure or two, or the grasshoppers are going to come decimate something. um And then they'll just email me and say, I have a wedding next week. i need They send me a wish list. And I need this, this, and this. And then I just email them back, this is what I can fill for you. Load it on the van. They take their pre-order and then they shop the van and usually find a lot more stuff that they didn't know they needed. So that's good. Yeah. That's amazing. So tell us about your van. What does it look like? It's just a big white transit van, no windows on it. um And it, um like I said, it is tall enough. It has the high ceiling so that you could walk up into it.
00:38:32
Speaker
We have my brother-in-law build in some wooden shelves so that we could have different shelves ah for the flower buckets to sit on. And then we have crates umt lined on the floor that we also fill with buckets full of flowers and foilages. So it's basically like like I said, an ice cream truck for florists. You come in and you pull out your bunches of flowers and there you have it. So do you have a fan or? So we have an AC just the regular AC unit, but I found this system on the Internet. It's called cool breeze. I think it's basically a cooler that you put a few bags of ice in and some water and then you turn that on and it and it shoots out towards the back of the van and it keeps the whole van cool and the flowers cool.
00:39:23
Speaker
I think it's called, you I mean don't quote me on it, but you could follow up with me. I think it's called cool breeze. And um it's just like I said, like a plastic um cooler that you would use for camping, but it's set up with an apparatus on top to where it blows the cold air from the ice and the water.
00:39:46
Speaker
We'll make sure we have them in the show notes today so our listeners can check out the actual product. ah That sounds amazing. So what temperature do you keep the van at then for the deliveries? Because it can be 100 degrees in Colorado. Thankfully, we've never had a problem with flowers even wilting while they're on the van. um A lot of times, like with peonies and stuff or roses, the flowers that are more delicate, I'll add a cup of ice to the actual bucket of water. So that helps keep them nice and cool. um But we've never had a problem with flowers getting too warm. um I think first of all, because everybody's got the routine down, it's just in and out. You know, we might be at a florist for 10 or 15 minutes and then on to the next. So it's a really quick, we are always um have our schedule down about who we're going to first, because we have to switch it up to keep it fair to the florist. So for like example, between Boulder and Longmont,
00:40:37
Speaker
we'll switch off who gets first pick every week so that everybody at one point gets first pick of the best stuff. But no, I've never had a problem with the the van getting too hot. I love that. That sounds so amazing. Do you have any photos to show the setup? Yeah, I can send some photos. We will include those in the show notes also because I'm sure there's other people like myself going, oh, that sounds like such a great idea because some of my florists are further away from me. And so for them, that would open up more opportunities to move more flowers with them each week. Oh, absolutely. It's a great process. And knock on wood, most weeks we're blessed enough where we sell out and then we don't have anything to carry over and we just get up and harvest and start building it up for the next week. That's amazing.
00:41:25
Speaker
standing florists. You have your DIY buckets. Do you still do your CSAs? I do. I do the P&E CSAs. We just got into shipping, which I never wanted to ship flowers before, but peonies are pretty hardy and easy to ship. So this is my second year of shipping P&Es. So I've done a four week, which I think I'm going to bump down to a three week. Um, just because, you know, I do dry harvest and I do dry store them in the cooler, but after three or four weeks, I feel like the, um, integrity of the flower just lessens and you're not going to get as much base life as you would have if it was, you know, cut and shipped within a week or two and three, the third week is fine. But after that, I feel like it's a little precarious and, and I.
00:42:08
Speaker
rather not disappoint my customers. So um I, you know, just by trial and error, I'm like, okay, I'm going to cut it down to three three weeks next week for that CSA. um Then I do one in the fall, which is more of a dahlia lisianthus CSA. That is a four week and it's just local pickup because I just don't want to get into trying to ship, um you know, other flowers that aren't as hardy as a peony. So your CSA, they come to the farm and pick up. Yeah, they come to the farm and most people love that. um A lot of them are you know within 10 or 15 minutes of the farm, but we do have some people that come out of um Denver or Longmont or somewhere.
00:42:47
Speaker
I'm sure it's a fun little day trip for them to come and see yeah the beautiful flowers. Yes. Are they allowed to walk around and look at the flowers when they come pick up? Oh, absolutely. My husband's always out there on his little golf cart and he'll pick up the people who drive up and just want to know about the farm and he'll give him a little tour on the cart and and we'll give him a card and um you know then hopefully see them again for lodging or flowers or whatever events. That sounds so fun. ah Do you move your flowers? any other way. i You do workshops, is that correct? um We do. We used to do like a yoga and flowers and we'd do that three or four times a summer. People would come out and do an hour of yoga and then we'd do an hour of flower arranging, which was real fun. And then this year we had a peonies and prosecco event, which was a hit. We had um about 25 guests and we took them on a farm tour, talked all about the farm and the peonies.
00:43:43
Speaker
um And then they got to sit down with one of my good florists who came and led the design part of making a nice table bouquet for them to take home and enjoy. So we do do a few events every year. Again, I don't like to do too many because then I feel like I never have a day off or a weekend off. So um yeah, so every year it's a little bit different. I think I might do a fall Dahlia arranging class and farm tour because everybody really loved that was the first time I've ever done the farm tour, but everybody loved it. That sounds so fun.
00:44:19
Speaker
Now you just mentioned if you do too many, you don't give yourself a day off. Do you build in a day off for yourself each week? Um, so the last six or eight weeks we were, I logged my hours and I was working 50 to 60 hours a week and I was just exhausted. I'll tell the boys, okay, you're gonna have to up your hours, because I need to to bump mine down to 40 or less. um And like I said, I'm a worker, I like to work, but um ah me and my husband are actually going this Wednesday and taking four days off to see parts of Colorado that I've never seen, um like Telluride and Pagosa Springs and all these beautiful places that I just have not taken the time to go and do. And so yeah, I'm forcing myself to take this four-day vacation.
00:45:05
Speaker
Um, but it's much needed and I'm looking forward to it. And, um, also forcing myself to cut down my hours every week. Cause I'm, you know, it's not even, it's almost July, but I'm feeling exhausted already. yes Well, when this episode airs, it will be in July already and I'm in the same boat as you. I'm going into my sixth season so I don't have quite as quite as many years under my belt. But last year, I didn't give myself a day off from April through all of October. I worked every day of the week and I was yeah absolutely beat. And then we had to move our farm unexpectedly this winter. And my body was so run down that I've just been lacking in it.
00:45:44
Speaker
any and it I can't even say the word right now, any energy. and energy I just put the last five days off before our conversation here. My daughter and I flew down to California, visited my parents in Southern California and we swam every day and my parents were like, don't you want to go out and do stuff? And I said, no, I just want to sit around and do nothing. And do nothing. Oh, I totally get it. And that's why I'm saying it is so important to force yourself to take that even one day off a week or you know, a few afternoons off during the week. um Because if we don't have our physical and mental health, our energy to do what we need to do, I mean, we're going to make ourselves sick. So we don't want that and we need to definitely prioritize
00:46:27
Speaker
you know, putting ourselves first and doing what we need to do to keep us healthy. Absolutely. I think what's so hard about being a flower farmer for most people is our farms are connected to our house. It's not like we go somewhere else. So you're constantly seeing it. I mean, I can look at my kitchen window and be like, Oh, something fell over or there's a leaking irrigation line and you can run out at eight o'clock at night and take care of something where if you have an office, you don't see that until the next day when you're back at work. Absolutely. I agree a thousand percent we cannot cut ourselves off like I can't just say okay I'm going home I'm leaving my works until tomorrow I'm not joking I don't know how many times I say ah in the evenings at about seven o'clock I'm gonna go check the farm just to make sure there's no irrigation breaks because I do find them a lot so
00:47:14
Speaker
you know they'll pop off and so I go check the farm at seven and I end up out there until nine o'clock until it's like completely cannot see anymore because I found weeds that need to be pulled or something that needs to be harvested or so yeah you can't separate yourself it's very hard those five minutes that you're gonna head out there be quickly become two hours or all day Yeah, and I totally get it. Yeah. So it's hard. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that honesty because I think it's it's hard to these days because I think the comparison is so much higher than probably when you got started. I mean, you can see so many amazing farms on Instagram and you look at that and you go,
00:47:54
Speaker
I don't have that or for me right now. It's there's so many farms in warmer zones that already have dahlias blooming and I have some that are just coming out of the ground. It's like I've got at least another month till I'm gonna have a field of flowers. Yeah. Oh, totally. I get it. It's hard because the social media is um obviously it's a blessing and a curse because you know, we find ourselves comparing um you know what we have to what we see on Instagram and a lot of it's not reality and I you know learn that you know there's behind the scenes no matter what nobody wants to show the dirty side of it or you know the failing crop ah or whatever it may be
00:48:36
Speaker
um Everybody wants to gla glamorize it. you know like They're out in their dresses, sun dresses, and they're just picking armed loads of flowers and frolicking through the flowers. and That's really not reality when it comes to being a true flower farmer and and literally making a living at this. um It's just hard, dirty, hot, sweaty work. and um you know We have to keep that in mind. I mean, if I could market better, and if I'd like to show my face on Instagram, I'd probably have more followers. But I just don't feel comfortable doing that. So I'm not going to force myself to do something um you know just to grab a few thousand more followers. um And so you know some people are great at marketing, and that's just their gig, and more power to them. um um but ah And ah and you know it's a great tool, because I learn a lot from other farmers. I'm still learning. like I will never not be learning when you're flower farming.
00:49:29
Speaker
especially when you're trying to figure out what's right for your climate. and you know You might even have your own microclimate um in my zone of 5a or b. um I probably am a 4a or b down in the Peonyfield because it sits down in a valley. so you know You just learn all of these things as you go. but um You know, social media is definitely ah an interesting um thing to deal with in this time and age and, you know, there's pros and cons to to all of it and you just have to take the the good parts from it and leave the other stuff. Definitely. Well, I know when I first started, I had come from
00:50:06
Speaker
while I was in corporate America and then I started a photography business. But I was always, because I was always at weddings and stuff, I was always dressed up. I always had my makeup done. I looked presentable. And so for a long time, I wouldn't show up on the camera on my stories because I'm like, I've got mud on my face, no makeup, yeah sunburn, I'm covered in sweat. yeah But I found that once I started showing up authentically, I actually had more people asking good questions and wanting to know because I was i was sharing not just, I'm in a sun dress holding a huge bundle of flowers, but this is really what goes on. I've got irrigation water all over my face. Yeah, yeah absolutely. Yeah, I think people want to see more of the the true side of it and it's more intriguing than just the glamorous you know ah way that people do it. But yeah, it's definitely interesting for sure.
00:50:56
Speaker
Yeah, well kind of on the same lines. You've been doing this for 11 years now. I'm going to put you on the spot. Can you think of one of your more challenging times as a flower farmer that really helped you grow forward as a flower farmer? Well I've had so many challenging times. Being in Colorado we get a ton of hail and I think I've had six or seven of the 11 years that I've had crops demolished. um And so I've built a thicker skin, I'm more resilient now than I was when I first started.
00:51:31
Speaker
um And so, you know, when your crop gets demolished by hail and that's what you need to get you through the winter, it's very devastating. um But you cut it down and you fertilize it and you put your pants on the next day and you get up out of bed and you just keep going. And it's like a force stronger than myself. It's like, I know I have to do this and I love to do it, even though it's really hard, but it's also very rewarding. It's like one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had. and um
00:52:03
Speaker
i'm grateful for it um but you just have to be careful that you like you said take force yourself to take a day off so you don't end up resenting the whole gig and you know there's times where you're just like why am i doing this and you know like i must be crazy and i could just sell the whole farm and go retire like really good and um It's more than just the money. and it's It's a way of life. and um I get to see and spend time with my kids every day. and um it just It's something more to it than just a job. It's not just a job, it's a way of life yeah for sure. What you've said, it what I'm getting from that is that flowers feed the soul. like i mean there's it's absolutely You go and do a lot of other things that probably make a lot more money. but
00:52:49
Speaker
e thought Absolutely. Just the connection. And the joy and and the joy on the the people's faces when they see what you've grown and you present it to them, whether it's for an event and you've made bouquets or if it's a bridal bouquet that I've created and you know they really do love it. I mean, that's what feeds me. That's what um fills me up is when they you know, see the beauty and appreciate what you've created for them. Yes. Well, I've i've had friends visit your farm. One of my friends, Katie Lila from Flowers oh yeah for the People. Yes, Katie. So sweet. Yes. her um I'm going to just do a little plug for her because I love her so much. She's such a kind person. She just launched her whole season of Flowers for the People on YouTube TV.
00:53:37
Speaker
and Oh, good. I don't know. Were you in her season or did she just come out and visit you? I know she has some stuff on Instagram with your farm. um We sold a whole bunch of flowers to them for one of their shows. I'm not exactly sure what it was or the exact one. But yes, that was last summer, I believe. And so she came out to the farm, got a tour. um And then we delivered, I don't know, 12 or 14 buckets of flowers for them to use on their filming of whatever episode they were doing. Yes. Well, I know she spoke so highly of you. And that was how I first heard about you was through Katie and her videos on Instagram. So I'm glad that
00:54:20
Speaker
That's one positive thing for me of Instagram is the connections. And so I'm grateful for this connection here. Absolutely. Yes. Thank you for hitting me up. I'm so honored. One question I didn't ask you today is how did you get the name Red Daisy Farm?
00:54:37
Speaker
You know, I don't even know if I like the name Red Daisy Farm now, but I was researching flowers and it came up as a beneficial flower. And I just love the connection of it's helping other flowers survive because it's, you know, fighting off the insects or whatever it does to repel them. I just stuck. I was like, well, it's a beneficial and I want to be beneficial in this world. So it's going to be Red Daisy Farm. I love it. Is your barn red? It's not red and people always say, why don't you paint your barn red? Well, it's just one more thing we haven't gotten to. It's just ah a metal covered, it's a wood barn, beautiful wood. You walk in there and it's like a cathedral, like you're in a church, it's beautifully built, um but they had to actually cover it with metal um in order for to keep the wood from rotting and disintegrating. So it's a beautiful barn, but we don't use it for anything other than storage. Okay. m We have covered a lot today.
00:55:36
Speaker
Is there anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to share for our listeners today? Um, nothing in particular other than, you know, um, I would just recommend that if, you know, there's so many people who see the Instagram like we talked about and, and they, you know, fantasize about having their own flower farm. And, and yes, it's, it's a beautiful, there's so much beauty that's connected to it. But if you're really considering becoming a flower farmer, I would really highly recommend going to work on a farm. It doesn't have to be a flower farm, but
00:56:12
Speaker
you know any Any working farm where they're producing you know vegetables or perishable products, that's another huge piece of it. It's a perishable item, so you really have to know where you're going to move it to and where you're going to get rid of it and where you're going to push it in a matter of two to three days because I don't want it around any longer than that. But what I would just say is just really do your research. research Don't get caught up in the you know that sensationalized um Instagram images of it. And go work on a farm before you say, oh, I want to start my own. I'm not saying you have to. I would just say that would be my recommendation.
00:56:48
Speaker
That is great advice. You really, truly get to know what it is like when you put your hands in the soil and work with the flowers or the vegetables. For sure. Yes, for sure. Well, Meg, it has been such a delight to chat with you before we say goodbye today. Can you please tell our listeners where can they find you? um So we are at www.reddaisyfarm.com. That's our website. um And then we're on Instagram and Facebook. All you have to do is at Red Daisy Farm and that should pull us up.
00:57:26
Speaker
um and Our email, if you want to email us about anything, accommodations, we always say we prefer to direct book. That saves you money. It saves us money um on booking any of the accommodations. um And that's just our name. Read daisyfarm at gmail dot.com. Perfect. So if someone's interested in a farm stay, is there information on your website about that? There is a little bit of information, but just email me. I'll send you all the links, pricing, you know all of that information that you would need to make a reservation. It sounds amazing. i someday hope to stay at your property. I would love to stay in one of those silos. It sounds like such a cool experience. We would love, love, love to have you. So you just let me know when you're coming to town. Yes. Well, our goal is to run the boulder marathon one of these years. Well, the half marathon. So maybe sometime in the fall when my season is slowing down, because sadly, I don't know that I'll ever get out of the farm this time of year. but
00:58:28
Speaker
force yourself to take those few days and go and do things that you need, you know, you want to see and want to do. Yes. Thank you for that reminder. Yeah. Come, come see us anytime and thank you so much for having us on today. Thanks Meg. It was such a delight. And maybe next time I'll get to visit with your boys when they take over the farm. Oh yes. i we I'd love that. I'd love for you to meet the boys and my daughter too. So that'd be great. That would be a fun future podcast episode. Well, thank you Meg. You have a wonderful day. Thank you. You too. Take care. Thanks. 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,
00:59:17
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.