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Ep. 15: From Dreams to Blooms: Niki Irving of Flourish Flower Farm
2.4k Plays1 year ago
Today we are joined by Niki Irving, owner of Flourish Flower Farm and the SE Regional Director of the ASCFG. Nestled in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, Niki's journey into flower farming is a beautiful tale of turning dreams into reality, rooted in her deep love for plants and nature.
With a background in outdoor education and a family history in horticulture, Niki's affinity for growing, nurturing, and creating beauty shines through in every bloom that graces her nine-acre farm. From lush, seasonally-inspired arrangements for weddings and events to sharing her expertise in her best-selling book "Growing Flowers," Niki's commitment to sustainable flower farming and her belief in the transformative power of flowers is truly inspiring.
In this episode, Niki shared valuable insights on her journey, including the importance of patience, the lessons learned from failures, and the strategic planning behind her diverse selection of perennials and annuals. From hydrangeas to zinnias, ranunculus to cosmos, Niki's farm is a vibrant tapestry of colors and textures that reflect her passion for creating stunning bouquets.
So flower friends, grab your gardening gloves and get ready to be inspired by Niki's dedication to nurturing the land and spreading beauty through her flourishing flower farm. Tune in to this episode to learn more about Niki's journey, her favorite flowers to grow, and her tips for successful flower farming. Let's let our backyards bloom with Niki's wisdom and expertise!
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
- 00:02:23 - Nikki Irving's Journey into Flower Farming
- 00:07:25 - Challenges and Lessons of Moving Farms
- 00:11:24 - Finding and Leasing Land for Flower Farming
- 00:19:11 - Lessons in Patience and Planning on the Farm
- 00:26:38 - Searching for the Forever Farm
- 00:32:07 - Planting Perennials on the Forever Farm
- 00:42:20 - Recommended Perennials for Flower Farming
- 00:47:58 - Annual Flowers Grown on the Farm
- 00:53:03 - Bouquet Ingredient Categories and Favorites
Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2024/03/26/episode-15-flourish-flower-farm-with-niki-irving/
Learn more about Niki Irving & Flourish Flower Farm:
- Visit Website: https://www.flourishflowerfarm.com/
- Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourishflowerfarm/
- Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flourishflowerfarmNC
- Signed Copy of Growing Flowers Book: https://www.flourishflowerfarm.com/shop/growingflowersbook
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Transcript
Introduction to Backyard Bouquet and Jennifer's Gardening Journey
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,
00:00:32
Speaker
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.
Nikki Irving's Transition to Flower Farming
00:00:56
Speaker
Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Nikki Irving, owner of Flourish Flower Farm, nestled in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. Nikki's journey into flower farming is a beautiful tale of turning dreams into reality.
00:01:12
Speaker
After years spent in outdoor education, Nikki's deep-rooted love of plants and nature found its expression in the form of Flourish Flower Farm. Drawing from her upbringing as the daughter of a landscaper and tree farmer, Nikki's affinity for growing, nurturing, and creating beauty is evident in every bloom that graces her nine-acre farm.
00:01:36
Speaker
At Flourish Flower Farm, Nikki's creativity knows no bounds as she crafts lush, seasonally-inspired arrangements for weddings and special events, showcasing the farm's gorgeous, fresh blooms. Her commitment to sharing her knowledge and passion for flowers shines through in her best-selling book, Growing Flowers, everything you need to know about planting, tending, harvesting, and arranging beautiful blooms.
00:02:02
Speaker
Located just 15 minutes from downtown Asheville, her farm serves as a sanctuary of beauty and sustainability in old tobacco country. With lush pastures, a babbling creek, and breathtaking mountain views, Flourish Flower Farm is a testament to her dedication to nurturing the land and preserving its splendor. Join us today as we delve into Nikki's inspiring journey, her dedication to sustainable flower farming, and her unwavering belief
00:02:31
Speaker
and the transformative power of flowers to make the world a more beautiful place. Welcome, Nikki.
00:02:38
Speaker
Oh, thank you so much for that wonderful intro. I'm really happy to be here. We are so honored to get to chat with you today. I am so excited to learn more about you and your farm and your role on the ASCFG, which is the Association of Specialty Cup Flower Growers.
Influences and Lifestyle Changes Leading to Flower Farming
00:02:58
Speaker
So let's just dive right in. If you don't mind, can you give us a little bit more background into who you are and how you fell into flower farming?
00:03:08
Speaker
Absolutely. So like you mentioned, I grew up with horticulture as my family's livelihood. My parents operated a landscaping company and tree farm. So from as long as I can remember, I was always around plants. My parents had a beautiful garden. And I think that's just stuck with me throughout my entire life.
00:03:33
Speaker
Um, after I didn't really set out to become a flower farmer, but it definitely that like dream and desire grew over many years of becoming an adult. Um, so I started off leading wilderness trips for teenagers and these were kids who really wanted to be on the trips. That's very,
00:03:56
Speaker
different experience than kids who don't want to be there and traveled all over North America, British Columbia, actually spent a lot of time in your neck of the woods in Washington. I love it.
00:04:13
Speaker
So it was a wonderful time. I did that all throughout my twenties. We would be on like 30 day expeditions and the longer I did this, I did it about 10 years. I really started having this big craving for like home and a garden and truly just to like nurture something that was not necessarily people, but more just an environment.
00:04:41
Speaker
And at around that time, I got married to my husband and we were living in the city of Asheville at the time. And I was like, I'm ready for something different. I don't know what that's like, you know, I don't exactly know what it is, but I think I want to be a flower farmer.
Starting and Planning a Flower Farm
00:05:01
Speaker
And I didn't realize this was about 10 years ago that there was this, um,
00:05:08
Speaker
small kind of resurgence of local flowers, like riding on the coattails of the local food movement. And I was honestly pretty naive and just was like, I'm going to grow some flowers. So my husband very wisely said, let's write a business plan, look at some financial projections. Let's do this the right way because I am an all or nothing type person.
00:05:34
Speaker
And so for about six months, I would work my day job, come home, and work on my business. So by the time I was able to quit my full-time job, I was ready to go with the farm. And like I mentioned, we were living in this city, so I didn't have
00:05:53
Speaker
enough space to grow but through a friend of a friend found a plot of land actually on a native plant nursery which kind of felt like home to me and I was able to lease two acres and he rented them to me for $200 a year which was like such a such a gift because getting started I didn't know
00:06:16
Speaker
Well, I didn't know anything. And I didn't know if I was going to kill everything I tried to grow, if I could even sell flowers and...
00:06:25
Speaker
It went well. I definitely learned a lot of important lessons. But over the years, I've moved to the farm three times. This is the third property that I've farmed, and it's our forever home. After a couple years on the leased property, I realized the back and forth.
00:06:46
Speaker
only being able to harvest what fit in the back of my Subaru Outback. There were just so many challenges and we moved to a property before here that had really intense flooding which we didn't realize that year I lost my entire Dahlia crop which was really devastating.
00:07:08
Speaker
So we landed here, we live on the farm. I've been farming this land for five years now and this is our forever home. I applaud anyone in the process of moving farms because it is not for the faint of heart.
00:07:25
Speaker
No, it is not, as I was just sharing with you before we started recording. By the time this launches, I will be fully out of what was our field and looking for our forever property. You have a lovely story that has lots of ups and downs in it, it sounds like. I love that you have been around flowers and plants all your life.
00:07:52
Speaker
from an early age, you had a seed planted inside you and it sounds like it's been growing and growing and now you are flourishing. And I'm so excited to talk to you for many reasons. One, my word of the year is flourish. And so I love the name of your flower farm and I want to touch on that in a little bit, but I'd like to go back to the beginning. When I launched this podcast,
00:08:15
Speaker
or I should say since launching this podcast, I have received so many emails and Instagram messages from people who are just getting started, who don't own land, who have been inspired by some of these stories and they want to find a piece of land.
00:08:32
Speaker
you mentioned that through a friend of a friend, you were able to find a space to start growing. Can you talk to us and tell us a little bit about that process, how you approached that person and how you started farming on leased land? Yes, absolutely. And similarly, I get asked this question a lot because in our area, there's not a lot of
00:08:59
Speaker
Great farmland. It's very hilly. We're in the mountains. We're surrounded by national forest. There is a farmland shortage. Even though a lot of the land around here was farmed for tobacco, it's slowly been transitioning some of them into farms, but a lot of them into development as well.
00:09:25
Speaker
I think my biggest recommendation is tell everyone that you can about your dream and what you're looking for. You never know who is going to connect those dots for you. That's what happened for me. I was busy writing my business plan, creating a website, coming up with a marketing plan. I didn't even know where I was going to grow these flowers.
00:09:55
Speaker
by telling everyone what I was working on, I was able to make that connection. So when my friend told me about this wonderful man named Brad who operated a native plant nursery, they said he's got several acres. I think that he's rented some of his land before to like another flower farm and somebody else who grows heirloom corn and they gave me
00:10:23
Speaker
brad's phone number and i just gave him a call and for me that was the beginning of pushing myself to get comfortable cold calling um i've had to do a lot of that as a business owner no one knows about you unless you'd
00:10:40
Speaker
tell them what you're doing. So I was so grateful for that connection. And that's, you know, just what I tell people is if you have a local agriculture, like a nonprofit organization or your county extension office,
00:10:59
Speaker
They're in touch with so many, just like a wide array of people. But even friends, don't be shy. Don't be afraid to talk about what you want to do because you're spreading the word, kind of casting a wide net. And I think something will stick in terms of finding a piece of land to grow on. I love that. That's such great advice because if you don't share what you want,
00:11:28
Speaker
people don't know what you're looking for and you never know who might know someone. Right now, we're following up on some leads for our property where just by sharing our story and that we're looking for land, I have people reaching out and it's amazing the power of just
00:11:46
Speaker
speaking what you're looking for and sharing and asking that ask is such an important part. You also said that you created a business plan. I think that is such a key piece that a lot of people probably skip. Can you talk about your business plan and what went into your business plan to get started? Yeah, absolutely. So from the start, this
00:12:14
Speaker
flower farm had to be run as a business. I quit my job. I left health insurance. I was taking a big risk and my husband was as well and supporting me.
00:12:29
Speaker
I knew I had to do things right because honestly it's too costly to operate a farm and it's too exhausting to do as a hobby on the scale that I
Business Planning and Financial Considerations in Farming
00:12:43
Speaker
do. I think that growing flowers as a hobby is really wonderful.
00:12:50
Speaker
Like I said, the scale of what I'm doing. So I used online, there's so many resources for business plan templates, and I'm probably going to get the acronym wrong, but it's the Small Business Training and Development Center, SBTDC, or something like that. They are like a government funded organization that
00:13:16
Speaker
their whole purpose is to support small businesses. They were a great resource in giving me some business plan templates. I just went through section by section and if you have a good template, it will walk you through of doing market research, looking at the demographics of your area, competition, what else is out there,
00:13:43
Speaker
really honing your vision of where you want to sell, what your goals are. And I've actually, since writing my business plan over 10 years ago, have updated it two different times because I've had to provide that for some grants that I've received, which I'll also say that if you ever want to try to apply for
00:14:10
Speaker
Grant or any funding you're gonna have to have a business plan so for me already having that I just went in and updated it and and I definitely had to giggle it myself because some of the things I wrote when I started were like vastly different than what turned out to be reality, but
00:14:28
Speaker
It was such a great exercise to really put in the time and effort and crunch some numbers and just really try to wrap your head around what's possible and what your goals are. Well, it's obvious that you had a good business plan because you've been very successful with your business and that's why we're chatting today. You said that you have to giggle looking back at your original business plan. Can you share any examples of something that would make you giggle today?
00:14:59
Speaker
Uh, yes, I think like selling at farmer's markets really stands out to me. That was going to be a like staple of my business because that's what people talk a lot about with growing produce and flowers. Like, Oh, it's so easy, but it turned out to be something that I really did not enjoy. And I made absolutely no money.
00:15:23
Speaker
in farmer's markets. So every time I've looked back at that, I think I did a farmer's market for one year. And I just remember I'd be standing there, maybe walk away with $100. And I know that it cost me more than that, especially in my time and labor, just standing there. And I would be like, oh my gosh, I could be weeding. I could be doing so many things instead of standing here in the sun not selling flowers.
00:15:52
Speaker
Um, so I think I just hadn't done enough research on what the farmer's markets were like in my area. People use them more as like grocery shopping, which is wonderful, but we don't, we're not a big city like Atlanta or Boston where they can sell like tons and tons of flowers. And a lot of our markets.
00:16:13
Speaker
on like the, you know, highly, they're highly competitive for Saturday mornings. And I also didn't want to give up my Saturday mornings because my husband doesn't work on the weekends and I like to spend a little bit of time with him, so.
00:16:29
Speaker
Yeah. Farmers markets are like, it's funny to look back at how that was going to be so important. And now it's not even a part of what I do. Thank you for sharing that. I think that's something that a lot of people go into thinking, Oh, well, I'll just sell my flowers at the farmer's market. And they don't explore those other avenues. So you started your farm on lease land. How long did you stay in that first location for?
00:16:56
Speaker
So I stayed there about two and a half years, so I guess two and a half seasons. By the time I was ready to move to, excuse me, the farm that flooded,
00:17:12
Speaker
I already had fall planted a lot of crops at the least farm. So even though I was moving my operation to this other location, I was back and forth between the two because once things started blooming on my original lease land, you know, I needed to go harvest those crops. But meanwhile, I was planting and
00:17:36
Speaker
planning on having the rest of my season at this new property, the farm that flooded. And then that year when we learned that it flooded and there were a lot of other challenges, we started looking and found where we are now. So I kind of repeated the process. It's not just a
00:17:59
Speaker
a like one and done when you move a farm, especially if you have, I didn't have perennials, but I had infrastructure like hoop houses that I had to dismantle. So every time I moved, it was like almost a year process. But I was also lucky in that I could kind of ease my way out and leave those fall planted crops and then move out once they were done blooming.
00:18:28
Speaker
And I had the time to clean everything up. That is nice that you had that time. Yes. It's hard when you're under a timeframe to get things out. I had 90 days to clear out and it's doable, but it also will drain you. So yeah, I can only imagine how exhausted you are. So exhausted. I'm looking forward to the future though.
00:18:52
Speaker
I think one thing that keeps us going as flower farmers is knowing that there's more beauty to be created. Absolutely. So that's where I'm at, looking towards the future. Yeah. And every time you move, you learn something. You set things up better. You're smarter about your systems and infrastructure. So there are good things that come out of it. Absolutely. Paul Mattelucci, who was on
00:19:14
Speaker
the third episode of our podcast. And he said that one of the things he loves about flower farming is that each year is an opportunity to start anew. And so I'm also looking at this as an opportunity to start anew. And like you said, do things better. What could I do better? So I'm going to turn that question on you.
00:19:33
Speaker
As you have moved farms, after you moved from your first leased location to the second, and now on to this one, what are things that you have learned to do better over time as you move your farm?
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's such a great question. One, I think is just laying out my farm in a way that maximizes the land. So I may have mentioned this earlier, but I'm on a huge hill. I don't have any flat land on my property. So I'm a little bit constrained about where I can put a field or a garden bed based on the topography and
00:20:12
Speaker
truly where it's safe enough to drive our tractor because there's a lot of areas on our nine acres where we can't really grow anything. Maybe we could grow like Christmas trees that like slopes, but certainly not flower crops. And so just having a little bit of time to sketch out like where I wanted to put things
00:20:34
Speaker
knowing that I probably only had space for one high tunnel. So where is that going to go and how can I maximize that space? And then every year we've added some more infrastructure, whether that's a barn or regrading our gravel road so I can add a farm stand or adding a walk-in cooler. Previously I had a, I called it the trailer cooler. It was a cargo trailer.
00:21:00
Speaker
And so just getting to be like thoughtful for long-term future and making decisions that also support my, my body as a farmer. Um, you know, I turned 40 last year and I don't feel as like things, I just don't bounce back as quickly as I did in my early twenties. And so as I'm building like work tables, I made sure that there.
00:21:27
Speaker
at a height when I'm making bouquets that I'm not hunched over, I can stand up straight. Um, so those sorts of things took a little bit longer, but I was able to just take the experiences I had previously and think like, how do I actually want things
00:21:43
Speaker
to be set up so that it feels really good. Like we have a little shed where we keep hand tools and netting and just some other like supplies. So I moved that shed from our leased land and I had it put right by the field. So now we don't have to walk very far to get our tools. It's right there. It's so much more efficient.
00:22:08
Speaker
And then over the years, being able to add perennials, really trying to come up with a good plan to minimize weeding and putting them in a place where they actually have space to mature and grow bigger. So yeah, it's felt like a lot, but I think after several years, I'm slowly feeling like settled.
00:22:35
Speaker
How long have you been in your new space? So this will be going into our sixth season on this space. Amazing. So it really is your forever home. It really is. Yes. Yes. Yeah. You said a couple of things in your advice that I really liked. I turned 40 last year as well. And I'm starting my sixth year of flower farming now. And I'm not old by any means, neither of us are, but flower farming's
00:23:03
Speaker
or cut flower gardening certainly takes a toll on our bodies. So I love your advice of thinking about ways that we can be gentle on our bodies and kind to our bodies because we are bending over so much. We're lifting heavy things. Even like you said, the bouquets, I was sowing seeds yesterday and I was hunched over and I'm like, why don't I just raise this up and make my back not hurt? I could be standing upright instead of hunched over.
00:23:29
Speaker
So that's really great advice. I still have a few questions for you on the lease land that I think our listeners could benefit from based on some of the questions that I've gotten recently. What advice would you give for someone
00:23:47
Speaker
who is looking to lease land for the first time in terms of obviously we want people to have a signed lease so that they're having an agreement. But when they're making that agreement, you mentioned you only paid a couple hundred dollars.
Negotiating Land Leases and Initial Farming Steps
00:24:03
Speaker
What are some things that people should be looking for in that leased land and in the negotiations of that contract? Yeah, that's a great, um,
00:24:12
Speaker
That's a great question. So I think first is really think about a timeline for when you would have to be off the land as you have just experienced. I've heard that from other farmers where it's anywhere from three months, which is super hard to a year. So I would say first try to really push for terms that give you a year.
00:24:39
Speaker
like from when your landlord would let you know that you need to vacate to actually when you have to be off. So I think that gives you a lot more breathing room. In terms of price, I think you can look at what the going rate is. That's a little bit tricky because a lot of the data is for commercial real estate, which is not really,
00:25:06
Speaker
farmland. But I think one angle is talk to the landowner about what their tax situation is. And if you can help cover their property taxes, that could be something great to use as leverage. In our area, you have to
00:25:29
Speaker
have one parcel of land as a designated farm for seven years before our county will lower your tax rate. But a lot of the land around my area, people cut it for hay so that they can keep that tax designation as a farm.
00:25:50
Speaker
but they're really not making any money off of the hay. So you could show them, hey, you can get your taxes paid, um, and maybe, you know, this much extra money. So that's one angle for me. I was really lucky in that, um, my landlord, he, he was basically like, you're just saving me from having to mow and Bush hog these two acres.
00:26:16
Speaker
you're saving me the labor the gas um or the diesel and so that's why he was willing to um lease it to me for so cheap so i think just thinking creatively about what benefits you're providing to that land owner and trying to bring those up when you're talking about like the the actual
00:26:37
Speaker
you know, price. I think that's great advice. When I first started looking for farmland, I had no idea what lease land would go for. And you don't want to pay $1,000 a month because you're going to have to sell too many flowers. I have, well, I had two fields. I still lease one quarter acre field.
00:26:55
Speaker
And for that one, it was a vacant field right behind my house. And I asked my neighbor, I said, I see you're not using this. Could we work out some kind of agreement? And we have a written lease agreement that's an annual year to year lease. And we have what's called farmer's irrigation water here. So I contribute to the irrigation bill.
00:27:15
Speaker
and then she gets flowers for our CSA. So we have a spring and a summer CSA, and of course there's always extra flowers she gets as well. But there's creative ways you can pay for things, especially like you mentioned, if someone has vacant land, it's a lot better to them to have someone taking care of it than to have weeds that they have to deal with so it can save them time also. So I just wanted to throw that out there so people aren't thinking that land is super expensive because if you pay a lot for land,
00:27:44
Speaker
you're going to have to grow a lot of high-dollar flowers to just cover the cost. For sure. Well, thank you for answering so many questions about your past farmland. I want to dive into your forever farm that you have now. When you were searching for land, how did you know that this was your forever home? Oh, such a great question. I think that
00:28:13
Speaker
My husband and I had like a list of things that we wanted. We wanted a house that was already on the land. We wanted to be within 20 minutes of downtown because he commutes to work. We wanted to already have water and power and we knew those things were important because the previous property that we had purchased was
00:28:39
Speaker
totally raw land. So in addition to realizing that the fields flooded, it felt like an uphill battle to put in infrastructure and we knew what we were capable of. So we had a list of like must haves and then truly, I mean, I'll never forget it. We were brushing our teeth one morning
00:29:02
Speaker
And because we were very casually looking for land, we had our realtor send us like a cart every Friday morning. So Friday morning we were brushing our teeth and I'm like probably had my phone like looking at the listings as we're standing there together and our place popped up. And I was looking at the pictures of the mountain views. I was like, there is no way that's real. I mean, it's really beautiful where I live, but this looked like just,
00:29:31
Speaker
Yeah, the views looked incredible. So I immediately texted our realtor because William and I both were like, the house looked disgusting. We knew it needed to be remodeled, but we didn't care. We saw all the components were there. So we went immediately and looked at it.
00:29:51
Speaker
As we're leaving, other people are showing up to look at this place. It was listed at tax value, which never happens in our county. That's amazing. Probably doesn't happen anywhere. No. Yeah. And this was six years ago, so unfortunately prices have gone up a lot. But we just walked around and we're like,
00:30:13
Speaker
This is, this is gorgeous. There's so much work, but it felt doable. And we just had, I think we had like the, because we had a list that was, I'm going to call it like the brain side, like, okay, it needs to check these boxes, but then the heart side really lined up. We just felt like we fell in love with how, with the views and how beautiful it was and, um,
00:30:38
Speaker
So we put in an offer and wrote a little letter to the people who were selling it because they were going into a retirement home. And so we knew this place was special to them. They clearly had put in a lot of work and the landscaping and a lot of things were neglected, but I think that was because of their age. So we tried to pull on the heartstrings a little bit with our letter.
00:31:03
Speaker
And we, yeah, we got it. So it just, I think that combination of not being a totally emotional decision, but also letting that feeling come in, especially because we were coming from this other property that, I mean, it just, the energy was bad. We had been looking for so long when we bought the other piece of land that flooded that I think we weren't.
00:31:29
Speaker
We weren't thinking as clearly maybe. So by the time we got to this place, we were able to balance those two a little bit, the head and the heart a little bit better. I love that idea of the head and the heart and having that list of what you need and then what checks the boxes for the heart too. And so you had that emotional connection when you saw it. It sounds magical and your pictures online are so beautiful.
00:31:58
Speaker
So tell us, since purchasing this farm six years ago, what are you doing with this land? What are you growing? Yes. So I think after leasing land and moving the farm, I was so excited to finally grow perennial crops that I went a little bit overboard. Now I'm glad that I did, but I realized the first like two and a half years
00:32:25
Speaker
of being on this property, I totally wore myself out because I was like, I want to plant all the perennials. Now, six years later, I'm reaping the rewards of those because they're mature. So that was like the well, the first thing I did actually, even before we closed, was I did a soil test. And so I started mapping out where I was going to put my fields and what I needed to do to convert
00:32:53
Speaker
the hay fields into flower fields. And because it had been in hay probably forever. So I bought the biggest silage tarp that I could afford. As soon as we closed, I spread that out. It was in December, I remember. So I knew I was going to have to leave it down for a while. But I mean, I just got to work in like prepping fields
00:33:17
Speaker
planting perennials. We brought our tractor over. I built a hoop house. I mean, I look back and I don't know how I had so much energy. But I just, I think I had lists. I love lists anyways, but just lists upon lists of what I wanted to do. And mostly I had a hard deadline for myself of
00:33:45
Speaker
I needed to be settled enough by the following June to be able to host my first workshop. So workshops have always been a big part of what I do at Flourish, how I share the farm with people.
00:34:02
Speaker
It's not open to the public because we live here, but, um, so I had scheduled my first workshop, um, for June. And so I knew like I had to have something blooming on this property. Um, so I just kind of worked backwards from there. Like, all right, what do I need to do to, to get, to get ready for that? Um, and blooming.
00:34:28
Speaker
I think I had, oh, probably just like snaps, larkspur, delphinium, some poppies, probably a lot of just like early season, like, or I guess late season spring flowers. I don't even, I don't even remember. All I remember is my high tunnel or my hoop house blew away over the winter. Yes, so I had planted it full of renunculus and anemone,
00:34:56
Speaker
And I just didn't realize how windy our location is here being on top of a hill. So after about a month, it literally got like blown out of the ground and like tossed. So I had a okay, ranunculus crop that year, but it's much harder to grow them in the field where I am because we get so much rain over the winter. And so I probably didn't have a very good ranunculus crop for that first workshop here.
00:35:28
Speaker
But it was your first year and it was my first year you pulled off the workshop. Yeah. Yeah, I did. I think never underestimate like just having a clean organized space for people there. If there's flowers, they're happy. And I've never really tried to hide the.
00:35:46
Speaker
challenges or struggles. I view hosting workshops like cleaning up for companies so we keep things really tidy, but also there's weeds, there's some ugly flowers or there's something that didn't work out and I'm not afraid to point that out. I want people to know it may look really pretty on social media,
00:36:09
Speaker
but I have a lot of failures too. Maybe I don't talk about them as much on social media, but if you come to my farm, you'll see them everywhere. Can you share one of those failures with us? Yes. Let's see. Gosh, there's so many.
00:36:27
Speaker
I mean, I think currently my snapdragons are a failure. I've planted them in the fall. I felt so proud that I finally got them planted early enough to have good root systems. And I decided not to cover anything in the field this year. I haven't in a couple of years on this farm because it is so windy, but
00:36:53
Speaker
Honestly, I think part of it is just laziness on my part of not like reinforcing the like low tunnels well enough because I'm so tired in like November or December. Anyway, so I didn't do anything with them and they look horrible right now. I think they're just it got too cold. They've gotten beat up by the wind. I think I'm just going to rip them out because I've already started new ones and I'm just not going to have
00:37:20
Speaker
as early snaps as I would like, but I'm kind of embarrassed at how ugly they look. Yeah. So that's, that's one of my current failures. Thank you for sharing that. I think people do get this false sense of reality that everything is just beautiful on a flower farm. And we do have failures. I'm going to totally butcher the quote, but I was listening to an audio book yesterday out in the field and they were talking about
00:37:49
Speaker
To be successful, you have to have failed a lot of times. And that is what leads to success. And I know I have killed lots of plants. I bought a tray of fox gloves plugs and I totally forgot to plant them. Well, part of it was due to I bought them before we got the notice to move our farm.
00:38:09
Speaker
So I didn't have a spot to put them, kept thinking, well, I'll find a spot. I'll find a spot. I forgot about them. And we got a snow and ice storm. And when all the snow melted, there was this tray, this hundred dollar tray of beautiful apricot Fox gloves, completely brown and wilted and soggy and
00:38:27
Speaker
They're still sitting in the field as a reminder. Look what I killed. Yes. Oh, yep. I think that we've all done that. Yeah. You're not alone. No. And I know I'm not alone and that's why I'm comfortable sharing it because I think when you only see the pretty side of things, you start to think, what am I doing wrong?
Learning from Failures and Flower Categories
00:38:44
Speaker
And I think part of the process is when we kill these things, we learn for future. So can you think of any lessons that you have learned on the farm that has made you a better flower farmer?
00:38:57
Speaker
Oh yes. Um, so patience is a big one. I know that sounds really generic, but I'm not a patient person by like my nature. I'm like I said earlier, I'm all or nothing
00:39:16
Speaker
And I think that being impatient, probably the most glaring example was when that hoop house blew away. I was just so gung ho. I was like, checking off my list. I got to build a hoop house so I can plant my ranunculus in it. And I built it the same way I had built other ones on my leased land, which was protected. It was down in a valley. It was flat. We did not have high winds.
00:39:45
Speaker
I just did not take the time to learn this little ecosystem here. And I think if I had, I would have realized it's really windy. I can't do things the way that I did them.
00:40:00
Speaker
I didn't concrete enough of the posts. I didn't like measure as precisely to have it be on the slope just so that it was a little bit more like oriented correctly. And that really came to bite me because I lost it. I mean, it was not only a total loss of the actual materials, but my time and
00:40:26
Speaker
and labor too of building it. And so since then, like as soon as that happened, I was like, okay, no more structures until I figure this out. Because that lesson really, really hurt. And so I think over the years, I've used that as I get like gung ho, I get new ideas. And I just remind myself like, slow down,
00:40:51
Speaker
think it through, do a little bit more research, look at it from more angles, rather than sometimes when you're researching something new and farming, you see like one farmer who's doing something one way. And you're like, oh, well, of course that works. Okay, so I'm going to do that. But it works for them rather than thinking through like, what's your soil like? What's your wind situation? What's the exposure? Like all those different things.
00:41:19
Speaker
So yeah, I think that lesson I've really carried through the last like five, six years of just try to be patient, even though it's hard. That's great advice. Mother Nature also is always on her own timeline. Totally. I think patience is one of those things that all flower farmers
00:41:43
Speaker
have to have, if you don't already have it, you quickly will learn that you have to develop patience. I'm not a patient person by nature either. So thank you for sharing that. Let's go back to, you said you started with perennials on your farm.
00:42:00
Speaker
I planted a whole bunch of perennials on my lease land. And if I was to lease land again, I would not. And so we are looking for our forever land because I want to plant a lot of perennials. I love perennials. What are some perennials that you planted that you would recommend for our listeners to also consider planting?
00:42:19
Speaker
Yeah absolutely so i actually bought a lot of my perennials before we even purchase this property because i thought i was gonna plant them on the other land
00:42:34
Speaker
Things, I think I ran out of time or I missed like the window. It was too hot in the summer. So I had hundreds of bare root trees and shrubs, which I'll tell you more about which ones, but I just want to encourage people that, um, there's a process called healing them in, which I learned, um, from my nursery friends where essentially I had all these bare roots. I didn't want to take the time to pot them up.
00:43:00
Speaker
that's just a lot of pots and labor and potting soil. So I dug a trench, laid them, laid the roots into the trench and then just covered them with soil. And then I actually ended up putting a drip line across, but I left them like that for a year. And then when I went to dig them up, the roots had started growing a little bit, but I had very minimal loss. So I say that to encourage people if you find a good deal on something or,
00:43:30
Speaker
You know that you might have space for it eventually there are ways that you can keep it alive till you're ready to plant it instead of potting things up i didn't general don't really enjoy putting things up so on my list.
00:43:47
Speaker
And these are the ones that I use the most in design that I sell the most. So I have two different types of hydrangeas. One is one of the limelight. I'm I can't even remember exactly which one, but it fades to kind of a blushy antiquey color. And then I have a peniculata hydrangea, which has like almost looks really lacy. So
00:44:15
Speaker
I have probably like 30 of each of those. I also did a lot of Neinbark, which is a wonderful foliage. I have a green and a wine color variety. That's also, I think the official name is Physocarpus of Neinbark. I did Lilac.
00:44:41
Speaker
I did snowball viburnum, witch hazel, snowberry, coral berry, smoke bush. I'm trying to think these are all down in what I call the the woodies. I have just like a field where it does not look pretty, but it's in a place in our property where like they can all just be planted in a straight line versus planting them in the landscape and
00:45:11
Speaker
trying to keep them looking nice. So I think those are the main ones that I have down there. And then for other perennials, I have a little shade garden where I planted mostly hellebores. I have a lot of a strontia and a stilbe and some Solomon's seal, which is such a fun foliage to use in the late spring.
00:45:40
Speaker
And then of course peonies so i think i'm finally done adding peonies but that first year i think i planted five hundred because that was what my budget would allow i tried to put myself on a budget with perennials but
00:45:57
Speaker
I definitely blew the budget a few times. So I added essentially like over the first three years of being on this farm, I would just add like 500 more peonies as they were, you know, so they're kind of staggered and the maturity. So the ones that I've planted first, I am harvesting off of them like crazy.
00:46:22
Speaker
So that could kind of help fund some of maybe my overspending in years past. But those are the main, I have a lot of other like little perennials that are less like woody, so columbine, some bush clematis.
00:46:43
Speaker
let's see, geum is one of my favorites, thornless raspberry, sedum, some rutabecchia triloba, which are like the little spray, rutabecchia is some perennial yarrow,
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah. So I think now at this stage, my farm, what I harvest is probably close to 60% perennials and 40% annuals. And that's really intentional because that's part of my
00:47:16
Speaker
long-term plan to keep being a farmer, annuals are just a lot more labor intensive than perennials. So I've worked really hard and spent a lot of money to invest in perennials, but now it's really, really paying off. So yeah, definitely.
00:47:34
Speaker
Definitely recommend perennials. Thank you for that list. That is a great list of perennials and they are a huge investment up front. But I love what you said that they are so much less work in the future because annuals take so much of our time. So about 40% of your field is annuals. What annuals do you grow?
00:47:58
Speaker
Yes. So, um, right now I have, uh, well, I have renunculus, anemone, Italian poppies. Those are all planted in my high tunnel. And then in the field I over winter, well, I'm,
00:48:16
Speaker
unsuccessfully overwintering snapdragons but i also fall plant um foxglove uh delphinium larkspur nigella yarrow ami and orleia
00:48:34
Speaker
So those are kind of my spring crops. I do one succession in the fall, and then I'll plant my next round next month or March. And so that those will be my spring crops. And really, I can't plant any later than March because it gets too hot here. So I have to plant all my cool, my cool, hearty annuals
00:48:57
Speaker
by the end of March. And then I start moving into mid-season annual flocks, dill, scabiosa, straw flower, those I already have started now. And they're just barely sprouting. I think I seeded them in early February, mid-February.
00:49:22
Speaker
And then in summertime, I grow a lot of zinnias. I absolutely love zinnias. A little bit of silosha, a lot of cosmos, a little bit of gumphrina. I keep like scabiosa, straw flower going throughout the entire summer. And then I grow a couple thousand dahlias as well.
00:49:48
Speaker
So I really think about my crop plan in terms of bouquet ingredients. So there's like five categories that I want to try to have.
00:49:58
Speaker
blooming at all times. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way, but it's what I'm striving for. So the first ingredient category is focal, something big, showy, um, then a secondary focal, something smaller, like a zinnia or renunculus, a spike, um, like a snap dragon, dalphinium, salosia,
00:50:20
Speaker
filler filler, super important, um, foliage. Oh, actually there's six categories. The last one is whimsy, which I think is one of the most important. And that's why I grow so many cosmos is because to me, they're like the thing that just sets bouquets apart, whether it's a market bouquet or a bridal bouquet, I feel like I just, I can't live without cosmos. And I know some people have a love hate relationship with them, but, um,
00:50:48
Speaker
Yeah, I can't live without them. I have a love-hate relationship with them because I always seem to let them get away from me and the deadheading. Then if you don't deadhead them enough or keep pinching them, they start to slow down and go to seed. But when I do keep up with them, I agree. They're amazing.
00:51:08
Speaker
Okay. I'm not sure we got all six. We have focal. Did you say semi-focal? Or secondary focal or supporting focal. And then spikes.
00:51:20
Speaker
And then filler. What's an example of a filler that you like? Yarrow is a great one. Ami, flocks. Yeah. Do you do status? I don't do status. I don't really care for it. I know it's not very popular, but yeah, I've grown it before and just don't love it.
00:51:44
Speaker
I use a lot of the apricot because I have a lot of apricot and peach coat weddings. And so that's, I'm growing that in the white, but I love those too. And then number five, you said six was whimsy. What is your fifth one? Uh, foliage, greenery. Thank you. And now you have a lot of perennial foliage. Do you grow any annual foliage?
00:52:04
Speaker
I can't even say that word now, foliage. I don't anymore. So I did my first like five years because I didn't have anything to cut off of. So I grew a lot of basil, a lot of Bupllurum, um, she so, which is an edible green was one of my favorites. So I just succession planted greenery like crazy.
00:52:29
Speaker
Um, and now it's actually really, I probably almost have too much greenery because when we moved here, there were some very mature shrubs and a big hedgerow that I can cut off of like lots of viburnums, um, Nandina and then all the, all the, you know,
00:52:53
Speaker
Folages that I've planted so I have have an abundance Oh spy Rhea is another of my favorite perennials that I didn't mention that I love. Yeah, that's a good one, too You've given us a lot of great suggestions for flowers and greenery to grow. So thank you for sharing both annuals and perennials Do you have a favorite flower to grow?
00:53:17
Speaker
I don't know if it's my favorite to grow, but it's my favorite and it's Renunculus. I just love them so much. I love everything about them. They're just so beautiful, but growing them is tricky. I've definitely had years with better crops than others. I'm gonna knock on some wood right now. They're looking really good.
00:53:39
Speaker
It can change very quickly, but they're my favorite flower. But to grow, I think my favorite flower to grow are zinnias because they're so easy and they're so happy. And I grow a lot of the Oklahoma zinnias. I actually don't grow any of the big ones. I love that size for wedding work. So yeah, I think those are probably my two favorites.
00:54:05
Speaker
I love the Oklahoma salmon. I grow more than any other. Yes. Those are good. Thank you. We've talked a lot, but we haven't touched on something that I know our listeners would love to hear about. And that is your book, Growing Flowers. Can you tell us a little bit about your book?
Writing a Book During a Pandemic
00:54:25
Speaker
Yes. Yes. So, um,
00:54:29
Speaker
I think writing a book wasn't really on my radar, per se. I felt like something maybe I could do later. But in March of 2020, I was approached by a publisher and an editor who said, hey, what would you think about writing a book? And I was like, oh, wow. I didn't know that this could happen, that someone would ask me.
00:54:59
Speaker
So that was March of 2020. And then I was thinking about it, learning more about what that would entail than the world essentially shut down and weddings started canceling and postponing. And so I actually said no to this opportunity because I was like, I have no idea what's going to happen if it's
00:55:21
Speaker
going to be just me working on the farm because I normally have part-time help. I was like, I just don't think I'm going to have time to be the only farmer and write this book. So I said no.
00:55:32
Speaker
And then, you know, as we all know, in late March, early April, 2020, things were changing rapidly. And I realized, oh, wait, if I'm not doing weddings, if I have to cancel my first couple of workshops, I actually do have the time to do this. So, um,
00:55:52
Speaker
So I wrote them back and said, actually, can I change my mind? I do want to write the book. And they were wonderful. They gave me a lot of creative freedom. But I was on a super short deadline. So my deadline, I started right around April 1, probably. I had to have the manuscript and photos turned in by the end of October. So I wrote, yeah, which I've since learned is not very typical.
00:56:21
Speaker
So I was trying to like come up with my table of contents and write so that then I could make sure to get the photographs that I needed to go along with that without those flowers going out of season. Because as we all know, things can bloom and change really fast. So I didn't want to miss the window. And I just remember I set aside, I think it was like,
00:56:48
Speaker
every Monday morning, I was like, I am sitting at my computer and I'm writing this book. And I had my shot list and I just really hustled. So it was kind of a blur, but I did it. And I think that it came out right at the right time because so many people were staying home and
00:57:10
Speaker
just wanting to grow things and especially flowers because they bring us so much joy and I really I know there's tons of fabulous gardening books that are way better than mine but I really just wanted to share like
00:57:26
Speaker
how to have a flower garden from start to finish in an approachable way, like share my successes and failures and talk about like how you can break the rules. You know, some people say you have to have heat mats when you're starting seeds. I don't, I never use heat mats. Um, so just sharing things like that to try to help people think outside the box a little bit and figure out what works for them. And, um,
00:57:54
Speaker
And also growing in this southern climate, it's very different, I think, than growing on the West Coast, where you are, and New England. We kind of have a little bit of both. We have super hot, dry summers, but also really cold winters. So we get both extremes, which can make things a little bit trickier, but everyone has challenges. So yeah, it's been kind of a whirlwind. Sometimes I think
00:58:21
Speaker
back like, wow, I wrote a book that's so crazy to think about. And it was so fast. Um, there's definitely things I think if I'd had more time, I would, I would change or like to like revisit, but I'm so proud of it. And whenever someone tells me like that it's helped them or inspired them, it, it, that just brings me so much joy. And that's, that's why I wrote it. So.
00:58:50
Speaker
Well, that's a huge accomplishment. And what a wonderful thing for the flower community. For those that are interested in checking out your book, where can they find your book?
00:59:00
Speaker
They can find it anywhere books are sold. Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Bookshop.org is where you can purchase them from smaller independent bookstores. I also sell signed copies through our website's online shop. Anywhere books are sold. Awesome.
00:59:22
Speaker
I know our time is coming to an end here. I, we've had so many great topics that we've covered today and I feel like I could probably talk to you for another couple hours and still only scratch the surface for those that are wanting to learn more about you and follow your journey. Where can they find you?
00:59:43
Speaker
Yes. So, um, on Instagram and Facebook, um, I'm most more active there at flourish flower farm, um, on my website, which is flourish flower farm.com. I have a blog where I do some deep dives into random topics that people have asked about. And we have an email newsletter list that I, um, don't send out very often, but, um, yeah, those are the main places where you can, where you can connect.
01:00:13
Speaker
Perfect. We will link to those in the show notes today so people can head to the show notes and click over to your website or social media to follow you. Before we part today though, I want to ask you, is there any parting advice that you would like to leave our listeners with today?
Encouragement to Pursue Dreams
01:00:35
Speaker
Yes, I think it's don't be afraid to invest in yourself. I think that that's something that's not celebrated in our society, not celebrated as women. I am not a mother, but I know that even for mothers, it's even more challenging to make yourself a priority.
01:01:02
Speaker
And so I just want to encourage people, whatever that looks like for you, whether it's like growing a tiny patch of flowers, if it's something big like quitting your job and starting a farm or starting a business, like don't be afraid, share that dream, speak it out loud and surround yourself with people who will encourage you in that because you're worth it. We're all worth it. And your happiness matters in the world.
01:01:31
Speaker
That is beautiful advice. Thank you, Nikki, so much for sharing that and all your wisdom today. Like I said, I could have spoken with you for hours. I feel like we've only scratched the surface and I still have so many questions for you. So I would like to leave the door open to invite you back again for another conversation. We can have part two if you'd be willing to come back on and join me.
01:01:54
Speaker
Absolutely. I love chatting with you. You ask such like thoughtful and relevant questions. So I'd be happy to come back anytime. Thank you. We will definitely be bringing you back on cause I would love to hear more, especially about your workshops and your wedding design. And maybe listeners can leave a review on today's episode or send me an email at hello at the flowering farmhouse.com and give some suggestions for topics they'd like us to
01:02:23
Speaker
continue this conversation with. So Nikki, thank you so much for being here today and until next time, I'll look forward to talking to you again. Happy gardening. Thank you Flower Friends for joining us on another episode of the Backyard Bouquet. I hope you've enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable gardening insights we've shared today. Whether you're cultivating your own backyard blooms or supporting your local flower farmer,
01:02:50
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.
01:03:13
Speaker
Until next time, keep growing, keep blooming, and remember that every bouquet starts right here in the backyard.