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Ep. 27: Galena Berkompas: Scaling from Micro Flower Farm to 6-Acre Cut Flower Farm
2.1k Plays6 months ago
Imagine turning a small urban garden into a flourishing ½ acre flower farm—all while homeschooling four kids and battling postpartum depression. That’s exactly what Galena Berkompas accomplished, and she’s here to share her inspiring journey on the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Galena transformed her life through the power of flowers, starting with little knowledge and a modest space in 2020, and has now grown into a successful flower farmer known for her sustainable practices and heartwarming story. Join us as we explore the therapeutic effects of gardening and how flowers brought joy and purpose back into Galena's life.
Balancing a bustling family life with a thriving flower farm is no small feat, but Galena has found a way to weave her children into her passion seamlessly. From homeschooling to farm chores, her young ones are learning the value of hard work and the wonders of nature. Galena opens up about the tough decisions she’s had to make, like dropping summer CSAs to focus on her family, and shares humorous anecdotes of her kids’ farm escapades. You'll also discover her strategies for maintaining profitability while nurturing her children’s education and childhood, as well as exciting future plans like selling seeds and expanding her farming operations.
But Galena’s story doesn’t end there. Learn how an unexpected Airbnb listing led her to the perfect 6-acre property and how she’s embracing organic and sustainable farming practices. Listen to her serendipitous tale of purchasing her dream farm, negotiating with sellers, and managing unexpected challenges. Galena’s social media success, nearing a million followers on Instagram, underscores her genuine connection with her audience and commitment to sharing her journey. Tune in to this episode for an uplifting and informative discussion on flower farming, family, and the serendipitous joys of life.
In This Episode You’ll Hear About:
- 00:02:10 - Galena's Inspiration for Flower Farming
- 00:04:30 - Transition from Hobby to Profitable Flower Farming
- 00:06:45 - Involving Kids in the Farming Process
- 00:10:35 - Balancing Business and Passion for Flower Farming
- 00:12:39 - Managing Profitability and Personal Preferences in Flower Farming
- 00:13:21 - Transitioning to a Larger Flower Farm Property
- 00:16:46 - Involving Family in the Farming Operation
- 00:21:45 - Balancing Work Ethic and Family Time on the Farm
- 00:27:13 - Finding the Perfect Property for Flower Farming
- 00:32:07 - Implementing Natural Pest Control Methods on the Farm
- 00:40:04 - Unexpected Discovery of New Farm Property
- 00:44:08 - Challenges and Successes in the Farm Property Purchase
- 00:49:46 - Impact of Social Media Presence on Flower Farming Journey
Shownotes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2024/06/25/ep-27-micro-flower-farm/
Learn More About Micro Flower Farm:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/microflowerfarm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/microflowerfarm
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn62VzXv-XdA9Kq1hVpUolQ
- Website: https://www.microflowerfarm.com/
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Transcript
Introduction to Backyard Bouquet Podcast
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.
Jennifer Galitzia's Gardening Journey
00:00:12
Speaker
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 the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Today,
Introduction to Galena Berkumpus and Her Flower Farm
00:00:58
Speaker
I'm absolutely delighted to welcome my friend, Galena Berkumpus from Micro Flower Farm, a name that many of you might already know and admire. Recently, Galena and her family embarked on an incredible incredible journey, moving their entire flower farming operation to a beautiful six acre property, paving the way for new adventures in gardening and community building. Galena has transformed a small urban space into a thriving flower farm in Southwest Washington, charming thousands with her exquisite seasonal blooms and ability to create a thriving flower farm on such a small plot of land.
00:01:39
Speaker
Beyond her farming success, she's a passionate educator dedicated to helping others discover the beauty and fulfillment of growing their own gardens. Today is a treat as Galena shares not only the beginnings of her flower farming journey, but also insights into her recent monumental move. So buckle up and get ready for an inspiring conversation. Galena, it's fantastic to have you with us today. Can you start by telling us what inspired you to dive into flower farming?
Galena's Path to Flower Farming
00:02:10
Speaker
Sure. And thank you for having me, Jen. It's great to be here. So excited to have you. Yeah. My journey started back um a few years ago um in 2019 when I had just had my fourth baby and um back up a little bit. um Around the age of 13, I started having a lot of issues with chronic depression, which lasted into adulthood and then throw in
00:02:40
Speaker
postpartum hormones. And after the birth of my fourth child, it just got really bad. Like for anybody who struggled with depression, I like using the phrase, it's like the world has lost color, like everything was gray. So all of my coping mechanisms up until that point were just not working. So I was just looking for something that would spark joy in my life. And through my sister-in-law, I kind of just stumbled onto flowers and gardening. And believe it or not, up until that point, like I mean, growing up, we had you know done vegetables and doubled with certain stuff. And my mom grew roses. But I could not have told you what a zinnia was. like i I knew I'd seen them. But if somebody had said, hey, what's that called, I'd been like, I don't know.
Early Gardening Experiments and Learning
00:03:34
Speaker
So like that was my level of how much I did not know.
00:03:38
Speaker
um But I'm also a little bit of an obsessive personality when it comes to something that I'm interested in. So I kind of latched on to flowers, filled my kitchen with all of these starts, started everything from seed, started them way too early. Like I had four inch plants at the beginning of February, which oh my goodness I know my husband was so patient, I accidentally had ordered the pink grow lights instead of the white grow lights. So imagine that in your kitchen just oh my goodness every day. It was something. I learned like i quickly got like blackout curtains to go around it because anyone who's ordered those lights, like they work, but they're pretty annoying to look at. And then I planted all of those out um in early 2020.
00:04:37
Speaker
So, you know, I found it kind of in 2019, grew them over the winter of 2019, planted like my first flower garden in 2020, which was approximately 600 square feet. And I fell so in love with everything about it. It brought me so much joy, so much peace. um I read everything I could get my hands on about growing, about gardening. about flowers and I just decided then and there that this was what I wanted to do, which was honestly incredibly eye-opening to me on a personal level because I was one of those people who just struggled with knowing what I was supposed to do with my life. um I had wanted to be a mom and I was a mom. I had four kids at that point, but apart from being a mom, I had never
00:05:33
Speaker
really found the thing that I was really passionate about. And so finding this in the way that I did was just, honestly, I'm just so grateful and like just incredibly grateful for the entire journey and feel amazingly blessed that I'm able to do this. Well, first I want to acknowledge and say thank you for sharing that because so many people struggle with depression. And so thank you for your full vulnerability and sharing that because I know that speaks to so many others. I think
Therapeutic Benefits of Gardening
00:06:11
Speaker
that there's something magical about flowers that is really healing for so many different parts of our life, whether someone's grieving the loss of a family member,
00:06:21
Speaker
struggling with infertility, dealing with depression, or just kind of filling out a crossroads, getting your hands in the dirt as it's just healing. I don't know any other way to describe it other than it's healing. I agree. um And wow, that was four years ago. Yep. I mean, I think 2000. Yeah, four years ago. So with your 600 square feet of flowers, yeah you realized that you fell in love with this and this was this was healing and fulfilling and filled you up. And then you just realized you were all in or what happened next? Yeah,
Sustainability in Flower Farming
00:07:00
Speaker
pretty much. um First of all, I realized, well, this is an expensive hobby. thats So then my I was like, well, it should at least pay for itself. But even at that point, like in the summer of 2020, I was like,
00:07:15
Speaker
I just want you know to, I basically was selling $40 bouquets for $5 because I had no concept of pricing or like the value of local flowers. And I i remember I had started my Instagram at that point just to kind of a way to document what I was doing. I had remember a local farmer reaching out to me and she's like, ah please charge more.
00:07:41
Speaker
And that was when I first started to delving into like the local flowers and like um respect for your other growers and what labor really should be valued at in terms of you know that. like That's a whole other conversation. um And that's something that I'm very passionate about now is not undervaluing yourself or what you do. But I think that that's something that everybody does struggle with is imposter syndrome and hoping that what you are doing is actually worthwhile. Um, and for anyone out there listening, you know, if you struggle with that, you're not alone. I struggle with it too. Like I think everybody does on some level in some area of their life. Um, and I kind of think you just need to push through it. Um, and recognize that what you're doing is giving value and you should just respect that, like respect yourself enough to charge what it's worth.
00:08:38
Speaker
But yeah, like I was making, selling these $5 bouquets um and offering free delivery. And it took me about three weeks to be like, um I'm losing money very quickly. and and your time And spending all my time. And this isn't sustainable. And I think it was at that point that I actually started really considering, it's like, okay, what is a business plan? what is a way that you know you can at least make it break even. And that's when I really started to delve into business. And around that time, it didn't take me long. I was like, okay, 600 square feet's not enough. I'm gonna convert my 4,000 square foot front lawn into a cutting flower garden. um And that's what I started doing in August of 2020. So by the time November had rolled around, I had converted it at all using no-till, it was ready to plant. um I went from planting like 100 Ranunculus to for the 2021 season, I had planted 700. And I just determined, I was like, I set financial goals. I'm like, I'm going to push for it. I'm going to push myself out of my comfort zone and find a way to make this work. And I quickly realized
00:10:05
Speaker
Um, which was maybe another slight surprise to me that I loved the business side of it because there's the growing side, but there's also the business side and they're kind of two different things, even though people often smush them together. Totally. Um, but I was passionate about both and I love both. And so I set really lofty goals for myself and then just push myself as hard as I could to reach them. and Did you have a business background? No, I don't. That's amazing because so many people struggle without that background and the fact that you had the ability to see the bigger picture and realize
00:10:52
Speaker
that you have to make this profitable because it's not sustainable. It's like you said, a very otherwise it's a very expensive hobby. yeah ah Early on, I remember Lisa Mason Ziegler said, there are two types of flower growers. You're either a hobbyist growing as a cut flower grower or you're a flower farmer making a profit. And that kind of always stuck with me. Yeah, I agree with that. One of the things that I do, like and analyzing my own personality that I do have that Um, even though I don't have a business background, I know is very beneficial is that I have the ability and it's both a pro and a con, but I have the ability to remove emotion from a decision. So I became very analytical, which was like, I love those flowers, but they don't make any money. So I'm not going to give space to them. Or if I do, I'm going to grow like a minuscule amount for me.
00:11:48
Speaker
So I kept you know super detailed records about my labor, about what was like the most profitable, especially considering that I was working on such a small property. So maximizing the ground that I had mattered even more. And I think that that was one of the things that was definitely um very instrumental in helping me reach my goals as I was extremely um strict with myself about cutting out the stuff that Yes, it's beautiful, but it's not going to bring a profit. It's kind of almost a net loss. And then just pushing on those avenues that were profitable. That's so smart. And it's a really hard thing to do. I always struggle because there's flowers that I am guilty of. I grow and they don't make me money, but I love them. Hey, I do too. Roses. People are always like, do you sell your roses? I'm like, I really don't. Like if I did weddings, I would. but
00:12:48
Speaker
Um, but those were my first love. Like I always have loved roses. I grow, that you have to grow some stuff for you. Yes. Yeah. It can't be completely emotionless or not emotionless. Cause none of, I love everything that I grow, but it can't be completely like this is all going to be profitable. Totally. So when you decided to expand and you started looking at the numbers, obviously those $5 bouquets weren't serving you anymore. How did you shift your business to make money? Um, one of the things that I did right off the bat was I talked to a lot of the farmers around me. I looked at what our Portland wholesale market charged and I
00:13:34
Speaker
knew that I couldn't charge less than that because that was a wholesale amount that florists were going to. And I basically determined that whether I sold the flowers or not, I was going to have a price point and I was going to stick to it. And I was just not going to allow myself to essentially give flowers away for free. Because like, let's be honest, if you're selling a $5 bouquet, just give it to them for free. Yes. Like you might as well. Um, so that was one of the things that I did. I also just looked at my own life, um, and considered the parts of it that I enjoyed. Like what were the markets that I enjoyed the most? Um, I adore spring flowers. Like those are probably my top passion with Dalia's being a super close second. And, um, and I had to consider the fact that I was also a homeschooling mom.
00:14:32
Speaker
of four kids, so I had to think about like, okay, how can I still be a mom and still be there, still make money without completely burning myself out? And so after one year of trying to do everything, and um you'll understand this because you're from the Pacific Northwest, our summers are not long. no And when you are doing the summer market like all the time, you basically have no time. So there was a point where I did everything. I did the spring market. I was doing education. I was doing Dalia tours. I was doing the summer flowers and I reached the end of that year and I felt like, you know, I barely had any time for my family. I'd barely had time for myself. I was
00:15:20
Speaker
exhausted. I didn't even want to go out into my garden at one point, which I'm like, okay, that doesn't, that's not going to work. That says something. Yeah. And so I had to analyze it and it was honestly really hard for me because all of those things were things I enjoyed, but that was when I made the decision. It was like, okay, I'm not doing summer CSAs anymore because, um, because honestly, because of the ages of my kids and I'm like, they're only going to be this age once when they're older. I can put that back in. um But right now I'm going to give the summer over more to spending time with them and letting them have, you know, a summer. So um I've kind of narrowed down on three things that work with our family, that work with the profitability aspect. And those are the spring flower market, which I did skip this year because we were moving.
00:16:17
Speaker
And I'm grateful that I had the foresight to do that because I probably would have died. I could not imagine you doing both. yeah um Education and selling dahlia tubers. And eventually I would love to get into selling seeds as well. Like that's something that I'm super intrigued by it and interested in. um I do think that's a couple of years down the road. but I do see that happening in the future. Well, you certainly have the space for that now. Yeah. Which we will touch on in a little bit. So, so you got really specific with what you needed for your business, but also for your family. Can you just share with us real fast? What is the age range of your kids now? So
Humorous Farm Stories with Kids
00:17:05
Speaker
my youngest is it's five, seven, nine, 11.
00:17:10
Speaker
So you're a busy mom. Yes. And when I started, my youngest was, well, he was born in 2019. So when I first planted, he was one. Okay. And he was my little helper. And for all the moms of like toddlers, yes, there was was one time. And I had planted like a hundred Dalia tubers and I had labeled them all. And I went inside to get some lunch and I came back and my one year old had pulled up all the steaks. Oh no. And they were just in this little pile and I was like, well, I know what they are. So I just saved the stakes and then I had fun. I Dean them once they came up. That's a good patient mom. Yeah. But you know, I think you had just have to be prepared with that. If you're farming with small kids, there was another year where I had planted a lot of perennial tulips. But as you know, we grow tulips as annuals. So I was pulling a lot with the bulb.
00:18:10
Speaker
And I turned around and my little, I think he was three at that point. He was just going through my perennial patch and he was just yanking him up. And I was like, no, no, no, copying mom. Yeah. Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah. Those will become the good old days. The stories that you tell the 15, 20 years from now and look back on and laugh. Yeah. Now, one thing you're always really good in your stories on Instagram ah of showing that your kids are helping you on the farm. How do you engage your kids? That one, I still feel like I'm trying to figure out a little bit because when I was growing up, I knew ah families in the community that I was adjacent to or in. And they had family businesses, but they basically made their kids work for free.
00:19:05
Speaker
And their kids' education suffered as a result of that. And I just remember, and these were my peers. So, you know, I didn't, nobody would have listened to me if I had said anything, but I didn't like it. And I just, like, that's just really imprinted on my brain as something. and I was like, I don't want to do that. I think it's wrong on several levels. um So, but on the other hand, we are moving very quickly towards this being a family farm, like this being our livelihood. So um I'm still trying to figure out the approach. There are certain things where it's like, you know what? You need to learn a good work ethic. This is part of being part of being a part of our family. So yes, you are going to come out and like last Saturday, you're going to come out and dig holes so we can finish planting these dahlia tubers.
00:20:02
Speaker
and Yes, we know you don't like it, but it's literally an hour of your time and you're not going to die. Yeah. Um, they were, they were great. Their, their morale lagged a little bit towards the end cause I miscounted and my original thing was like, we need three rows. And then I was like, Oh no, we need four. And then I was like, Oh, actually we need five. And my nine year old was like, mom. I'm like, okay. I miscounted. Just do it. It's fine. I have a nine-year-old and her attention span is about an hour. I could get her out there for about an hour at a time and then it's it's time to go play. and Yes. But our other approach I think will be is that um as they get older and they're actually capable of doing more, um we we you will pay them. And we're not just going to let them have the money. It will just go into savings accounts for them when they turn 18.
00:21:01
Speaker
Because at this point, if I paid them like I would a normal worker, they might be spending several thousand dollars on Lego sets. And I i just feel like my when they're 18. So I think it will be an approach of like, we you can have 15% of it and the rest is going to go into account, which you will get when you're 18. And that's a way that we can give them a start on life. But in my brain, if you are depending upon free labor, then your farm is not sustainable. So it's pretty important to me that if there's other labor involved and it's a significant amount that they are being paid for it. Absolutely. I completely agree. Right now we're at the point of it's just trying to get my daughter out there so that she enjoys it and sees the process and and I'm not counting on her for a plant survival at this point in time. I did. Last fall when I was still thinking I was going to do spring flowers,
00:22:03
Speaker
Um, so, you know, you and I both plant tulips and crates and it's like 80 tulips in a crate. And I had, I was defining to her. So I was like, Hey, I'll pay you pay my kids. I'll pay you to plant tulips in the crate. And I made the mistake of being like, I'll pay you $5 crate. My nine year old very quickly realized that he could take a variety, dump it in, spread it out. and he was done with a crate in like a minute. Oh my goodness. I was like, well, this is a little bit more expensive than I was planning. Smart kiddo. He was smart because I had like 60 crates. it And yeah, so anyway, if you ever have your daughter help you plant crates, I don't know, maybe $3.00. That's good advice.
00:22:59
Speaker
I think it's really special though to involve the kids in the farm. I mean, whether they really get involved in it now, like I think of Marin and Farmer Finn and I'm like, my daughter's probably never going to be a Farmer Finn. I just don't see her being that into it and that's okay. But at least she's getting that introduction and getting to see the value of getting your hands in the soil. And like you said, the hard work piece, like farming's not easy. And I think that, especially as female farmers, showing our kids that we can do something really hard is so valuable at a young age. And if all they get out of it, like if none of them want to be farmers, that's fine. But if all they get out of it is a strong work ethic, I would be thrilled. Totally.
00:23:49
Speaker
um I feel like I got a lot of mine um from working on a chicken farm, actually, as a teenager. We had this old guy in our church community who ran a free-range chicken farm. So he would do egg chickens, but meat chickens. And they were all grass-fed, organic, and everything. But he would hire the teenagers he knew to come in when they processed the meat chicken. So it was like a very niche ah
00:24:21
Speaker
like market for people who are really interested in like organic pasture fed meat. Um, and it was five times a summer. He gave you minimal instruction, but it was like a safe work environment. And we found out later that his goal was honestly just to teach the kids in his community to work really hard. That's amazing. It was such a good work experience. There was no space in there to be all clean and pnc like you were, my job was to basically gut and process chickens. wow And um you were paid by how fast you were. So I got really fast at it. And I still think that that's one of the ways I can work very quickly now. But more importantly, like that is like the time in my life that teenage year every summer where I feel like I learned how to work really hard and just be okay with not with dirt, you know, with not being in a,
00:25:20
Speaker
always clean, although showers are great. But if like I can give my kids that experience and they can reach adulthood no matter what career they choose, I'll be thrilled because I feel like if you have a desire to learn and a good work ethic, you can pretty much do anything that you want to in life. I couldn't agree more, 100%. Well, you obviously learned a really good work ethic at a young age at that chicken farm. And that work ethic led you to turn your half acre plot into a full scale flower farm on a micro scale. yeah Tell
Farm Expansion to Neighbor's Land
00:26:01
Speaker
us, so you grew from your front yard, you've eventually expanded to your entire property in a very short amount of time, correct? Yes. Um, so the first year was 600 square feet.
00:26:13
Speaker
The second year, which would be like my first business year, was probably, I want to say 8,000. And by the third year, which was our second business year, I had converted the entire property and moved over onto to my neighbors as well, who was just like a super sweet, older lady. um And that was a fun story because she had like this gorgeous, just completely sunny, really big, like dirt spot. And she was like, I just want to spray it with Roundup and dump. And I was like, let me, let me just plant some zinnias. Like I will do all the work. You can like pick whatever you want. Like, let me just try. And she gave me like this tiny row. And she said, she's like, so many people stopped to talk to me and I got so many compliments. Like she just like gave me the whole patch. look Oh, I love that.
00:27:14
Speaker
And I planted it at all for her before we moved out. and I just planted it going back there a couple of times a year to like maintain it for her and help her out because yeah, we, we developed a great relationship and that was honestly super special. So. I love that. So she was going to put Roundup down to keep the weeds out and instead you convinced her to plant flowers and you didn't even use that for your production. That was just so she could experience the beauty. Yeah. Amazing. Oh, I love that. That's, that's really special. And what a gift you've given her too, that she gets to enjoy this year, even when you're gone. Yeah, I hope so.
00:27:58
Speaker
Yeah. and And you know, I don't blame her for the roundup. I was just like, ah for obvious reasons, hoping to like convince her otherwise because her husband had had a stroke, had one acre property. She's about 70 and um he wouldn't, he won't let her sell the property. So she has to maintain this whole property because they just have this very high standard of like, everything has to look pristine. So she's just tired. That's a lot of work. Yeah. So I wasn't being all judgy on her, but I was just like, hey, like, how about you let me just try this other thing? I love that. Yes. An alternative to round up creating beauty in its space. um And it brings in the beneficials, which you are a no-till, no spray farm. Is that correct? Mostly no-till. I did have to till this year because we moved to literally at the beginning of June. There was no time.
00:28:58
Speaker
to do anything else, um mostly no spray. I would say that i'm i am if I spray, it is like the last, last, last resort, but I'm not completely anti-spray. And when I talk about spraying, I ain't talking about organic sprays because I do feel like as a farmer, there are just certain points where you cannot afford to lose a crop. So I feel like everybody jumps to spraying way too quickly and that there are so many other ways that you can manage um pest invasions organically without ever spraying. But I would also just be honest and say that I'm not completely anti-spray because I do think there are some very rare cases where you have to yes in order to not in order to be able to continue to feed your family. Like I think if you're gardening, there's a little bit more room to be
00:29:57
Speaker
very patient and maybe lose your garden one year because of a pest invasion, um farming, if it's your livelihood, there are cases. But I do think that people jump to spraying way too quickly. um And I rarely, I mean, I can't even remember the last time I did, but honestly I have before, but it's Like 9.9 times out of 10, it's not happening. Yes. Well, you have so many flowers that you attract so many beneficial insects. Right. Yes. So you probably have a pretty good frontline of defense. Right. That's what I feel like. I feel like you know focusing on um interper um interspersing natives throughout your fields is a great way um companion planting, super good way, encouraging a lot of bird populations. That's like the best way ever.
00:30:53
Speaker
because they'll just snack on stuff all days. I like using Brix molasses, which I recently posted about um to raise the sugar content in the plants just to make the insects not wanna eat them. And that's probably the one that I have found with the birds makes the most amount of difference in that you know the bugs that you don't want are still there, but they're not doing anything. They're not touching your plants. Right. Because the bricks makes them undesirable. The taste changes. Yes. So I think that with time and effort, you can absolutely get to the point where even those super rare cases of spraying, you don't even need those. And that, I mean, I got there on my last property. It takes time to build up.
00:31:48
Speaker
So we'll see how quickly I reach that with this property, but I'm determined because, um, as we all know, spraying does not discriminate. So I'm extremely careful when I do it. If I have to, but still as a farmer, you like, you know, yes. yeah Yeah. Last year I didn't have to spray once. I mean, I have my full year spray that doesn't have any pesticide or chemicals in it. It was the high bricks molasses. Yeah. um But that with a monthly um releasing of beneficials and I had a combination. It wasn't like I just released ladybugs. I had the lace wings and the minute pirate bugs. Yes.
00:32:32
Speaker
cucameras and Swersky, I can never say the first word on it, but they're like the little mites that attack the spider mites. I mean, that and the high bricks really kept everything under control. And we have a huge grasshopper population here. My first few years, my dahlias were decimated by them. And last year I still saw the grasshoppers, but like you said, they just left them alone. I know. Did you end up ever having to like do the bags on them? Nope. I should have though on my whites because the birds, I had so many birds and um we had a lot of dew last year and I kept waking up in the morning and a lot of my whites would be brown and I was like, what is going on with the petals? Why are they turning brown? Well, one morning I went out before the sun was up and I watched as the sun come up came up and there were birds perched all along my white dahlias and it was their muddy feet were ruining. Yes.
00:33:27
Speaker
Yeah, like insects biting them, which no cool. Our problem is cucumber beetles. And when I was first started the brick stuff, I was kind of skeptical because I was like, Come on, like, it can't be that easy. This thing's a little hooey. But then I just I was like, I can't hurt it's just sugar. And I got to the point very quickly in the summer. And it was so weird. I had cucumber beetles sitting on my flowers. and there were no bite marks. Wow. They just, which was cool. So um I'm gonna do my, I mean, I will say that when I have sprayed, um like I did it once when I bought some cuttings that were virus, and thrips as we know, spread virus, so. Yes. um But the only time that I have done it, and I always stop after this is
00:34:27
Speaker
when the dallies are super little before any of them are blooming because I'm like, no pollinators are going to be on these because there's nothing for them. So that's the only time that I've resorted to it. And then after they're blooming, I'm like, nope, because it's just not worth it. It's amazing when you walk through at nighttime and you see, it's one of my favorite things in the evening, you walk through and the bees have just like tucked themselves into the petals at the nighttime. I have so many like videos of like all the little bumbles in the dally of petals. And it's my favorite too. I'm just like, Oh, look at your cute little bodies. Do you have frogs? Cause I see like all the cute pictures with like frogs in the dahlias and we don't have very many frogs here. We had frogs that are at our last place, but I could never get a frog. I could never get a frog picture, which was kind of annoying to me. Cause I'm like, I know I have the billion cause my husband had made a wildlife pond. Oh, but for some reason they stayed out on my dahlias. So I don't,
00:35:23
Speaker
think we really have any here cause we don't want any type of wetlands on this property. Um, but my husband is going to build another pond. So maybe, Oh, awesome. Yeah. What about ducks? We have ducks. I am going to get ducks, which is hilarious if you know me because I'm like, all right, nobody hate me, but I'm just not an animal person. My husband and I both grew up taking care of a lot of animals and we had a lot of animals and I think we were both just maybe a little burnt out. We're very like, we've we've done a lot of animal care. So when we were got married, we were like, no animals until we both agree. And we have to both agree on the animal. And I was pretty firm on that. And now I'm like, I moved to this property. I was like, I want ducks. I want pygmy goats. And he agreed.
00:36:19
Speaker
Well, he did point out that goats aren't a great idea. And i I was like, yes, you're right. Don't let me get them. They're so cute, though. So cute. Because my family had goats growing up. And literally, every time like the garden got just almost to the point of harvest, the goats would get out and eat it all. Oh, no. So like goats are extremely dangerous. like you They only have to get out one time. And your your stuff is decimated. So I was like, yes. I told my husband, do not let me give in and get goats. Well, now you have an entire audience also that's going to hold you accountable to not getting goats, because no one wants to. Because I just kept building my feed and people were like, don't do it. Yes, because everyone wants to see your new field full of dahlias. So let's talk about you grew micro flower farm on a half an acre.
00:37:16
Speaker
her And now you have moved to this massive property. How did that transition come about? Well,
Motivations for Moving to Larger Property
00:37:25
Speaker
so last fall or last summer, um my husband and I seriously started talking um and it was a multi-prong conversation because not only did, like I was very motivated to move the farm to something bigger, but as a family, we also wanted more space for our kids because I had converted our half acre to full production, there was honestly no room for them to do anything. And that wasn't really how we wanted to raise them. We wanted them to have more outdoor experience. And um some people listening to this might be like, well, they could still be out there in the flowers. And yes, they were, but working on such a small space, my pathways were so tiny.
00:38:11
Speaker
that they were almost non-existent. So I didn't really let anybody help me because it was a chore just for me to do stuff. It's like, you know, you have eight inches or six inches in some days. You're sidling down that, being really careful. And I was pretty much like, nobody is allowed to help me because nobody cares about these flowers like I do. So you're going to be like smashing stuff right and left. So we wanted more space for our family and we wanted more space for the farm. and Um, honestly, two acres would have been fine. Like I know that we were kind of not really more than five. Um, but also when you're looking for property, you can't be that picky. Like you might end up with 10, which I'm not sure what we would have done with that. But I think our goal was, you know, my husband was more like, I want two. And I was closer to, I want five. We ended up with six.
00:39:12
Speaker
But our original plan was to move this fall, was to start looking this fall. So basically once the dallies had been dug up, put our house on the market, find something in the fall and move before shipping season starts before, you know, all of that happens. Well, a friend of mine was moving um to South Carolina and we were texting one day and she's like, Honestly, because they lived in a rental house while they were here. She's like, honestly, I just want to move into an Airbnb so I can get my rental house like completely ready without worrying about my three kids you know just in the way. um And I was like, oh, Airbnb. And I literally just got on Airbnb. And I was like, I wonder what's on Airbnb in our area.
00:40:05
Speaker
um because I just love real estate. So, you know, she wasn't like look on Airbnb for me, but I was like, yeah, I wonder what's on there. And I came across this farm that just literally made me gasp because back up a little bit, my husband and I are very picky and um we get along great, but when it comes to like buying property, we had a very specific list. Nothing had come up in like the whole year and a half when we were toying with the idea of moving that we both agreed on and was in our price range. I mean, there's plenty of stuff that's absolutely gorgeous. That's just like millions and millions, but you know, pipe dream, right? For most of us. um So we had just never found something. And this one, I just went through the pictures like five times and I closed down my browser and I made dinner and then I pulled it back up again.
00:41:04
Speaker
and went
Finding the Ideal Property through Airbnb
00:41:05
Speaker
through it again and I was like, babe, babe, come here. And he loved it just as much as I did. And I was like, I'm just gonna message them. I'm like, what's the worst that could happen? They'll say no, they think, you know, I'm a weird person. So I was, and and that's out of like what I normally do because I'm usually probably overly respectful of people's personal space. I don't wanna be a bother. So I was like, hey, I was on Airbnb and if you're not interested in this, please know that I will not bother you. I will respect your space, but I'm a local farmer. I'm looking to expand our farm. I came across your property and it is everything that I've dreamed of. Have you ever considered selling? And the wife of the owner wrote back and she's like, well, we'd be open to talking about it.
00:42:04
Speaker
So we exchanged text numbers. She went and talked to her husband. They got back to us about a week and a half later. She's like, okay, to be open with you, um we have a family friend and we told them that if we ever decided to sell, we would ask them first. So we're gonna, she basically was like, there's not much likelihood this is gonna happen. So another week went by and I was just honestly just prepared for, ah It's not going to happen, but then they wrote back and it's like, they don't want to move right now. What do you like to have a meeting and like get together? So we got together a great conversation. Um, he told us a lot about the property. They had moved out of it two years ago and put it on Airbnb, but it was an extremely special property to them. Um, they didn't have to sell it financially.
00:43:03
Speaker
they um they had built it originally as like their forever family home. And then two years before had decided to buy 80 acres just a little bit east of us and move out there with like other of their like extended family. So it was like, we don't actually, they did not actually have to sell the property. So It was a case of like convincing in them that we love this property so much for what it was. We had no plans on developing it or changing it, you know like zoning it down to houses, which I think you could do on this area. I haven't looked into it because I don't plan on doing it. um And then we had to move forward with, it was a very quick process from that point because I think it was early March. We had to get our home ready to list.
00:44:00
Speaker
um We had a super short amount of time. I don't think I've ever spent more time painting walls. And we had a very tight time window for it to happen because you know, like, stallies have to go on the ground. So we were kind of like, if things aren't settled and we have the properties sold by like the first week of June, like we can't do this. We have to just call it quits. So we got our house on the market.
00:44:31
Speaker
We had an interested buyer right away, which was great. But two weeks later, they just backed out for actually literally no reason. Your buyers? Yeah. Their realtor was like, I don't even know why. They just decided, nope. They'd already gotten in the inspection done. Everything was fine. And the part that was super frustrating to me was that they dragged their feet for two weeks because I was like, we don't have time. like Don't you understand? Dahlia's have to go in the garage. Right. So back on the market, it went. And you know honestly, it all turned out for the best because the buyers that we ended up getting were exactly the people that I would have wanted to sell the house to. Amazing. If I had the choice, which you don't have the choice when you're selling a home, really.
00:45:26
Speaker
Um, they love the property. They wanted to garden not on the scale that I did, which also worked out because they were okay with taking for me, taking the stuff that I wanted, like my peonies and my roses. Um, and then after that, it just moved super quickly and we actually completely closed two weeks ago. Oh my goodness. Congratulations. And, but then the other, fun thing about it was that our original closed date was May 24th and it had to be moved up like later for a couple reasons to June 3rd, which I was bummed about for just because May 24th was my birthday and I was like, oh, how special would that be? And it was also the day that my friend was moving because they were moving to South Carolina and I just felt like it was like, you know, a complete circle. So we moved the closed date up, but
00:46:23
Speaker
Turns out the owner of this house agreed to let us have access on May 24th anyway, which I was like, that's kind of the same thing. Amazing. So we started moving in on my birthday, got the field tilled up. I was able to start planting. I'm basically done. Have about less than 300, you know, those random ones you find in a crate that you forgot about. You're like, yeah that's what I have left. But it was just, like there were there were moments when I thought it would all fall through.
00:46:57
Speaker
um But it was just, yeah, it was just amazing. And being able to find the right property that we both loved and that like checked all of our boxes um off market was pretty awesome. It feels like it was meant to be the fact that you weren't even looking on, you went on Airbnb for your friend, right? And there's this property in front of you and the stars all aligned for you that you were prepared. Obviously you had such a clear supervision or super clear vision. Yeah. but When you saw it, you knew yeah that this was it, which is incredible. And then the fact that you and your husband were on the same page and
00:47:42
Speaker
the people were open to the conversations. I remember you shared some of this with me and it throughout the process because most of the listeners know that we're still looking for land. And so I instantly went on Airbnb and I've reached out to a few people and I have not had the same luck as you. So like it was totally meant to be for you, which is incredible that yeah i it opened up like it did. I feel very grateful, honestly. And I do feel 100% that it was meant to be because there were You know, there were like finer details that, you know, I'm not going to go into for sake of time that would have completely thrown the entire deal off, but they just worked. Like it just got solved. Like the problem got solved, um, in just a way that was kind of out of the blue. So ah yeah, both my husband and I still are pinching ourselves and just so grateful for how it turned out. Um,
00:48:41
Speaker
and feel so at peace about it because we don't, well, I don't think anybody likes moving, but you know, we were both, we don't want to move again unless it is the right property and like the right space. And we just feel like everything aligned so smoothly that this is really where we're meant to be. What an incredible story and just circling all the way back to your start with flower farming. Like here you found flowers as a way of healing and it has opened up this opportunity for you to share so much beauty with the world. One thing that we haven't touched on is the fact that you have grown a massive social media following.
00:49:29
Speaker
Um, I haven't been super active on social media lately because I've been so busy trying to still catch up from moving our farm and getting all the dahlias in the ground. But the last I checked, you're getting close to a million followers on Instagram. Are you over that million now? No, um but yeah, it's around seven 40 or something. Um, yeah, that, I mean, I would say it's not something I super focus on, like not the the numbers. And part of me just feels, I think, surprised about it. but and And it's humbling, honestly. like I think maybe that's the better word to say, is that it's humbling that so many people are interested in my firm and what I'm doing. And I don't take that responsibility lightly.
00:50:24
Speaker
um And, but I'm also a very, I would describe myself as very down to earth. So it's like this fine line of being aware of that and not taking the responsibility lightly that so many people are following me for advice, but also not trying to focus on it that much because I don't ever want to be a person that I don't want anyone to ever follow me. and come away with the impression that I'm arrogant or a know-it-all or just you know way up here and everybody's way down here. Because that's not at all who I am. um So I don't know if that makes sense, but that's how I view it.
00:51:14
Speaker
Well, I've known you since pretty much the beginning of your journey, I think, on Instagram at least, because I remember before you even had 10,000 followers reaching out to you because I was looking for other farmers in the area. And the one thing I'll say about your journey is you have so openly shared everything. And and you you show people the good and the bad and how to do things and how you have figured things out. And I think that's what's so beautiful is you show these beautiful pictures and videos of what people can do with their own gardens, but you're teaching at the same time. And I think that's a really unique thing about you that makes your farm and what you do so special. And you're truly sharing that beauty with others. So um thank you for doing that that. That means a lot because honestly, that is my goal. is is I think that there's so much you can do even if you don't have a large space, which I mean, a lot of people
00:52:11
Speaker
would say that six acres is large now. Although I've also get DMs from people saying, I have 50 acres. Is that enough to like start a flower farm? And I'm like, lady. Start with half an acre. Tell me how you feel after this. la But you really you really don't need, especially if your goal is just to grow flowers for yourself and have enough to give away to all your friends, you do not need a lot of square footage. and I know that's something that you talk about a lot too on your Instagram. and my My hope and my goal honestly is just to empower people to realize how much you can actually do with a small amount of space. I love that um because that's that's what flowers are about is that healing and spreading that beauty and experiencing the joy that comes from growing them.
00:53:05
Speaker
and I just love that. Love what you were able to do on such a small space. And I can't wait to see what you're going to do now. Can you give us a little bit of a look into your plans for this summer? I mean, six acres is a huge leap, ah especially for flower farmers. I live in an area where we have a lot of orchards. And so when I say I was farming on an acre, they're like, oh, that's such a small piece of land because they're used to hundreds of acres of fruit trees. but six acres, you could grow a ton of flowers. So what are your plans? Yeah,
Future Plans for the New Property
00:53:38
Speaker
so my initial plan was, um I am mostly a no-till farmer, but we did till this year just because of the timeframe of when we moved. We were basically moving at the end of May. There was no time to do anything else. um But I also don't think there's anything wrong with tilling.
00:53:58
Speaker
I just think that there's different forms of farming. There's different forms of gardening. People find what works for them. So ah we had an acre tilled. I still don't own a tractor. I had someone else do it. And I've cover cropped half of it because I intend to treat it all as no-till from now on. And then about 4,000 square feet of it is a cottage garden, which was basically all the plants that I moved from my previous home. And then the rest is dahlias, which are basically the the one crop that I am doing this year. um I did not have the the mental energy with listing a house with my kids, everything moving to do more than just that. And dahlia tubers already are kind of my bread and butter crop. So the goal though, is that whole one acre will be in full production. And at this point,
00:54:57
Speaker
I'm not completely sure if I will take, I do want like a quarter acre of peonies at some point, um, which I know takes a while to establish. I'm not sure if that one acre will include that or not. Um, I'm also not sure about how, how many Dally isn't going to grow. I told my husband when before I started planting, I was like, we should do 12,000 next time. Oh my gosh. And he was like, uh-huh. And I'm just finishing planting at 5,000. I'm like, maybe not. 5,000's a lot because they multiply. Exactly. um has like And I was talking to another friend. She's like, yeah, you just have to dig and divide them. I'm like, I know. I always forget.
00:55:48
Speaker
like i like spring me needs to have a conversation with fall me and you know talk a little sense into her. It's kind of like having a baby. You forget the pain and you want another. And the dahlia is until you have to divide them again. When you see those beautiful blooms, you want more. Yes. So we'll see. i i'm I'm doubtful that the 12,000 will happen. I think my husband will talk a little sense into me when next spring rolls around. But I do plan on doing seed crops of some type. um At this point, I'm not sure which ones they will. I think that's definitely a 20, 26 probably goal. But another big goal is to turn one acre. Our property is a bit of an L shape. So like you have the house and you have the barn and it goes straight back, but then it um goes to the south and there's an acre to the south.
00:56:45
Speaker
and that's like the L. And my goal for that is to turn it into a native woodland. So there's basically, there's probably like six trees on our entire six acres. So that one acre, I want to plant a lot of native trees and native flowers. And probably I would say 80% native, 20% native, you know, those spring flowering bulbs like daffodils and just like the stuff that comes up and it's just incredibly gorgeous. didn And then mow grass pass. But basically it's like a wildflower native woodland that's just left for nature. That'll be amazing. That's my goal for that. One acre in production and then the rest of the property over time that we live here, which is probably
00:57:42
Speaker
going to be a solid 10-year project is to convert the rest of it into perennial cottage gardens. And my goal long term, probably when my kids are ground, is to have a space that is a teaching garden where people can come and observe how you can do this in an organic, sustainable, minimal plastic use no-till method, um like that's my goal, is like I would love to be able to eventually open it up to the community and do teaching in that way. That sounds incredible. But I do think that that will be after my kids are, at least in their teenage years, because giving them their privacy and their child is extremely important to both my husband and I and it's something that we don't take lightly.
00:58:41
Speaker
So that takes priority over everything. I love that you have your priorities in line and that your children are that top priority and that you have time. you Your time is fleeting at home and eventually they'll be gone and you can totally have your place open to the public. like So right now though, for those listening, they probably shouldn't try and come over this summer. It doesn't sound like you'll be open to the public. No. And I'm very clear about that on social media. I do get a lot of questions.
00:59:14
Speaker
about that, like especially when I moved. um It's like, are you going to have events? Are you going to have workshops? um Maybe. But there are no definite plans for that because you know my kids are not just my kids. They're my husband's kids as well. like We are a team working together, raising them. And he we both have agreed that like their home needs to be their home for now. And they're still very young. um As they get older, I'm sure that um they'll be shown a little bit more, especially as they do more farm work. But especially too, when I started all this, like my my youngest was one, my oldest was seven. um They were, you know, so young and I didn't feel okay. And this is no judgment to anybody who does because I completely respect all parenting positions, but I didn't feel okay putting them online
01:00:14
Speaker
for a lot of reasons, even more so now that's something I have to really think about with the following that I have is like, what is okay? um I still don't feel comfortable showing like identifying features of them. I think that we'll get there eventually, especially as we convert more to a family farm. The goal is for my husband to eventually quit his job. And we are just, this is our life and this is our full time work. And at that point, you know, I think they'll be in their teenage years and I'll be fine with it. But when they were babies, I didn't feel okay. And even now I'm just a little bit, I just don't feel like we're quite there. So same thing with like events on the farm. Maybe eventually, no plans now. One step at a time right now. Yes. Well, you have a huge adventure ahead of
01:01:11
Speaker
ahead of you. And I can't wait to follow along as you transform your six acre property into another amazing flower farm. And I know it's just going to be beautiful. We have covered so much today. For those who are not already following you, how can they connect with you? um You can find me mainly on Instagram at micro flower farm. I also have a website, same name, microflowerfarm dot.com. That's where I sell DahliaTubers, that's where I list the online courses that I do. I try and teach a Zoom webinar on a topic that I'm super passionate about, about once a month. um Because I find that I love teaching and that's about the schedule I can manage with my kids right now. So those are the two main places. I also have a YouTube, which has not been updated in a while. Same name though, Microflower Farm. And I am planning on posting
01:02:12
Speaker
um probably biweekly or monthly videos of documenting how we transform this property. So if people are interested in more long form content um that's pretty down to earth, not overly edited, very vlog style of how we transform our six acres because it's basically grass at this point. um That's a good place to follow. And yeah, those are the three main. I am on TikTok, but I don't use it, so. Perfect. Well, we will provide links in today's show notes for all of those so that people can connect with you. Before we say goodbye today, is there anything that I have not asked you or any parting advice that you would like to leave our listeners with today? I think
Encouragement to Start Gardening
01:03:03
Speaker
my main advice is that you know if you're in doubt about whether or not to start a garden, just go for it.
01:03:08
Speaker
find something that interests you in and plant it and you'll be you'll be surprised at how much joy it brings you. I love it. Thank you. Well, Galena, it has been such an honor to get to hear your story of how you started a flower farm looking for joy in your life and to seeing what amazing farm you have built. Now you have six acres and I can't wait to continue following along on your journey. I'd love to leave the door open to have you back on and maybe this fall you could share some of your learning lessons with us and some of your experiences of having grown from a half an acre to six acre and share an update on your journey with us. I'd absolutely love that. Thank you, Jen, for having me. Yeah. Thank you so much for being on and good luck this summer and we will look forward to talking to you again. Take care.
01:04:06
Speaker
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, 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.