Transcript
Jennifer Gulizia: Today on the Backyard Bouquet podcast, I'm excited to welcome Madison Milgard from CF Greens, one of the largest flower farms in the United States. CF Greens has a rich history as a family run farm and their story highlights the intersection of scale, sustainability, and the future of floriculture.
Jennifer Gulizia: Madison brings a unique perspective, not only representing such a significant player in our industry, but also offering insights that are valuable to farmers of every size, from sustainability practices to industry leadership, I know you're going to walk away inspired.
Jennifer Gulizia: Madison, welcome to today's show. to get started, could you tell our listeners who you are and what your role is with CF Greens?
Madison Milgard: Well, it's nice to meet everyone. um Thank you for having me on, Jennifer. I'm Madison. i am the Vice President of Brand and Market Strategy at Continental Floral Greens, and which I'm very proud to say is our family-owned and operated business.
Madison Milgard: We just had our 10th anniversary last year. um and I've been...
Jennifer Gulizia: Congratulations.
Madison Milgard: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I've been with the company now for... It's been four and a half years. And i had an interesting start because I was always a little hesitant to work at the family company.
Madison Milgard: And... Wasn't sure if that's what I wanted to do for my career. And I was living in New York City at the time, and I just left my job with a big retailer there in the fashion world.
Madison Milgard: And I started just with a small job at Continental Floral Greens, just doing their social media and feeling out how that was. And it was only part time. And then now today I'm the vice president of brand and market strategy. So it's been a journey, but I love being able to work alongside my dad and our family business. And it I just feel that there's so much more value in that than working for, you know, another company when I have the opportunity to work for our family owned business.
Madison Milgard: So it's been wonderful.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thank you for sharing that. Well, CF Greens is a U.S.-based flower farm, but you're very different than what we think of as most flower farms.
Madison Milgard: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Can you tell us a little bit about CF Greens and what your flower farm looks like?
Madison Milgard: Yeah, I think it's kind of important to start where it started. So in 2009, my dad bought a farm up and next to Mount St. Helens in Washington state.
Madison Milgard: And he was always really passionate about forestry and farming. And he had grown up in high school, working in forests and cutting boughs and cutting trees. um So we had experience in forestry and I mean, just love nature and the outdoors. And so when he bought that property, it was more of just a passion project that they were hoping to just do a little bit of Christmas product and to own the property. I mean, his intention was to always have it in our family forever, to have it for generations and for our kids to go to. And we're very blessed because it's the most beautiful property right on um the monument's lines.
Madison Milgard: So you look right at where the volcano blew up. And then if you turn around, you look right over at Rainier. So it's just a stunning property with a bunch of noble trees up there.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Madison Milgard: And the volcano blew up in 1980. So there were no trees around when that volcano blew up um when my parents were kids. And then Weyerhaeuser, which is a big forestry company up there, they replanted the whole property and they replanted it with Noble Fur.
Madison Milgard: And so Noble Fur is kind of our signature product up there. um And it's just a beautiful product that's used for reeds and garlands and centerpieces. And so we really started our business with that Christmas side. And then you kind of fast forward to 2014 is when um my dad was really introduced to Continental Wholesale Florest, who at the time was based in Antonio, Texas. And it was a big...
Madison Milgard: floral company and mostly did floral greenery across the United States and we ended up acquiring them. And then that's where you know our 10th anniversary comes in. So we've been around for 10 years as continental floral greens.
Madison Milgard: um and We really focused on floral greenery and niche products. and And that's really important to us is making sure that we're not growing anything that could be grown in Colombia or Ecuador and that we're kind of finding place where you know a place where that there's no products, you know, and um where we can kind of find a marketplace for ourselves. And so those evergreens can only be grown at that elevation on our farm in Washington. So that product is very special for Christmas.
Madison Milgard: um And then we also focus on things like flowering branches out of Oregon, which is a great niche product grown in January and February. um And then we also have peonies and butterfly ranunculus. So we are getting into some floral products, but only if they fit kind of that mission of um having a niche product that is from farm to market.
Madison Milgard: um And we sell directly to to our customers, which are wholesalers and mass market customers. So that's, you know, grocery across the United States. We do not sell directly to consumer and we don't currently sell directly to florists either.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay, so like Mayesh or Frank Adams or grocery store chain would be your customer base.
Madison Milgard: Yep.
Madison Milgard: Yes. Yeah. Those are our customer base.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that you said you have found this niche market that you don't have to worry about competing with the imported flowers because they can't grow what you're growing.
Madison Milgard: Yeah, yeah. and I think Dahlia's is a really good example of that because it's a new test product that we did this year that we're super excited about. um And Dahlia's can't really be grown in Colombia or Ecuador and because it's such a fragile product that for it to be shipped, it it just doesn't really work and doesn't grow well because it has to have, as you know, kind of a little bit of that frost and colder weather.
Madison Milgard: And so we started that in Washington and on our Oregon farms, we kind of did two little test patches. And we also found that there weren't a lot of really large scale commercial growers in the Pacific Northwest. So we kind of had an advantage with that test um to be a regional provider there for the product.
Madison Milgard: um And so we've been really testing that out and and mostly sending it to those regional partners, because as you know, they don't ship super well across the United States. So we're kind of targeting that area for now. But that's kind of an example of um a product where we really looked at the marketplace and we're like, okay,
Madison Milgard: Obviously there are dahlias in the marketplace, but they're not shipped at the national scale. um And even at the regional scale, there's not really enough to supply grocery stores with a lot of the product.
Madison Milgard: And then we partner with Inflora Genetics or Inflora Cut Flowers. And they had a new genetic line called the design line. And these genetics are supposed to help the dahlias last longer because typically they don't have a super long base life. And so we're testing this new product with them and we're one of the biggest, um they gave us most of the plugs. So we're kind of that first true partner with them to test out the product to see how it goes. And it's been great so far, but of course there's a lot of challenges trying out a new product and seeing how it fits in the marketplace and learning how to
Madison Milgard: ship it and package it correctly. So it's been a big learning curve for us there.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wait a minute here. You just said there's a new product for Dahlias. It's a plug that your company brought in this year. Is that right?
Madison Milgard: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So it's with, um in, in Flora, they, they have these new genetics they've been working on over in Holland. Cause they, they have their karma series, which some people are pretty familiar with is out in the marketplace, but they have this new one called the design series.
Madison Milgard: And that one has, it's around like eight different color options and varieties that we're testing. And so they're also learning with us. They've been coming out to our farms and seeing how the product's doing. Cause You know, we're the first person to really grow it at the scale so they can see how well they do. And they're like, oh, OK, like we both decided, like, maybe we're not a fan of how the whites are growing because they're not growing super well in the climate or lasting as long as they thought. So that's kind of the new product that they were introducing and that we were lucky to partner with them on.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay, I have so many questions about this for you that I didn't know I was going to be asking today. Because I'm so curious. I have been growing their karma series this year. And I'm finding that some of them aren't cut for cut flowers for us either.
Jennifer Gulizia: But I'm curious. First question is, you said at a large scale, what quantifies a large scale for you? How many dahlias are you growing this year?
Madison Milgard: um So we were very surprised, like when you first plant you know plant You don't really know how much it's going to produce, especially for dollies, because there's so many different blooms. So I think we had kind of assumed that it'd be around us seven or around five, but now we're getting seven off of the stems. So we're producing a lot more than we were expecting.
Madison Milgard: So it's a couple hundred thousand stems that we can sell out to customers. So it's quite a lot for that first, what we call a test.
Jennifer Gulizia: Per week.
Madison Milgard: No, in total, I think it'll be close to like 350,000 maybe.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Madison Milgard: um Yeah, so it's it's it's a lot, but for us, like that you you have to have a test that's at least to enough scale all that um you can actually see how it's going to work in the marketplace versus doing kind of like a smaller test plot. That is just to test how it grows. But um it was it was really helpful because our organ operation...
Madison Milgard: um which is in Forest Grove. It's right outside of Portland. That's where a lot of our fun specialty products are grown. They have the most stuff that comes out of there. And our team there is so amazing. And they've worked really hard to grow our peony program. In the spring, we sell a lot of peonies.
Madison Milgard: um And so they've done a really good job with our floral products and being really quick on their feet and learning quickly how to change the packaging and how to deal with post-harvest care. And so they have so much experience with that, that when we went in and did the test with them, they did a great job helping it um really go well in that first year. So I think having all that experience helped us to have a successful test.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow. Okay. How many dahlia plants are you growing with your farms?
Madison Milgard: Oh, I don't know if I can tell you, we have to keep that a secret, I think.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, you do. Okay.
Madison Milgard: Yeah. yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: It's a lot though. How many acres do you have planted? Is that?
Madison Milgard: Um, I don't actually know the exact acreage either. So we'll both be as a mystery to both of us.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay. What about your acreage for your forest grove farm? How big is that one?
Madison Milgard: It's around, i think 300 or 400 acres.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, wow. It's a huge space.
Madison Milgard: Yeah. Yeah. It's a big space.
Jennifer Gulizia: And are you guys utilizing the whole space?
Madison Milgard: Yeah, we use all of it and you know we kind of have some test areas and there's a lot of different products across that farm. We have a really big field of Ilex and we have these really you know beautiful greenhouses that have spirea and peonies and we have persythia in one of the other fields. So and we're always kind of rotating them out. One of the products that's been there for a long time and the old owners was called Organ Roses and they were really focused and on roses and American grown roses.
Madison Milgard: which as we know, you know, the rose industry has been kind of pushed out of the U.S. It's pretty hard to grow roses here with the competition in Colombia and Ecuador. But um when they sold it over and they still actually live on the property, so we get to say hi to them, but they um they grew roses and they had boxwood. So they had a bunch of these beautiful boxwood rose that they would put into a bouquet, like a mixed with...
Madison Milgard: roses and boxwood and then they grew their own species as trademarked called Oregonia, which has a really beautiful variegation around the leaf on the boxwood. And so we have a lot of roses of those and that product does really well and is just ah staple throughout the year. We use it in a lot of our manufactured products too. So in garlands and wreaths and centerpieces. So those are just some of the fun products and in Oregon.
Jennifer Gulizia: That's amazing. That's a huge property when you think about scale size, when most of our listeners are probably growing on a quarter acre or less. um I want to go back to the dahlias.
Jennifer Gulizia: Hopefully you can answer this question for me. You mentioned that the trial is to see if you can get the dahlias to last longer. We all know that dahlias are not traditionally a long lasting flower, but they're so pretty.
Madison Milgard: and
Jennifer Gulizia: How long a base life are you getting with these trials?
Madison Milgard: So instead, I think that the regular doll is they say like seven to 10 days is the average. And they're expecting to be able to add around like five more days to that time once it's in a vase.
Madison Milgard: And that it can kind of hold longer and a cooler too. But we're really having to test it out because its it can be climate dependent. It could be dependent too on how well you're doing that post-harvest care. So an example of that in the Pacific Northwest um up in Washington, we make sure that we are only cutting it right in the morning when it's the coolest.
Madison Milgard: And then you're immediately bringing it to the cooler um and putting it in water. And so like that those little details really matter too, to extend the life of the product. So I think there's still a lot of learning for us for Inflora as well, and just testing and seeing how this product holds up between all the different stages because you have to take it from the field it sits in the coolers and then it gets shipped and then the customer has it and it's also dependent too on how they're handling the product so if they're immediately putting in it cooler if they are cutting it and hydrating it so there's a lot of variabilities with with how well it lasts but for right now we are seeing you know good quality and that they are lasting long so we hope that we can get some true data and be able to speak to that with customers too a little more confidently next year
Jennifer Gulizia: That is amazing. That would be so promising for the Dahlia industry.
Madison Milgard: Yeah, yeah, and they should be available too for everyone to buy, so um they're not exclusive to us.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay, that's good to know. So do you go straight through in Flora or do you have, you do, okay.
Madison Milgard: Yeah, in floor cut flowers, yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: I was not familiar with them before, so thank you for sharing that. It's always interesting because like i had our CSA pickups the other week, and I always ask my customers, how did your dahlias hold up last week?
Madison Milgard: Of course.
Jennifer Gulizia: And the first person, she was like, not that well. And I was thinking, oh no, but it was a 100 degree week. So of course, the dahlias are going to struggle depending on how long you left them out of water between the farm and your house.
Madison Milgard: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: We always wrap them in a biodegradable wrap. But still, if it's hot or if their kitchen's hot, if someone doesn't have air conditioning. And then the next person came and I said, how'd your bouquet hold up?
Jennifer Gulizia: And they said, we still have our dahlias. And it's day eight now because it's been a week.
Madison Milgard: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: And they're like, I yeah put them into two more bouquets. I cut the stems. And so it's so much as variable when you send them out into the world.
Madison Milgard: Yeah, it is. so Yeah. One of the learning things that we just had happen. So we've been sending everything mostly wet pack. So it goes, you know, in the bucket to the customer and it's it's typically in a cooler during that entire chain.
Madison Milgard: um We have not been sending them out dry pack to anyone, which normally we only do that for samples or, you know, sending sponsorships. So um with a few influencers I work closely with, I sent them a few boxes of dahlias really asking for their honest feedback so we could learn what's the best way to send them dry pack so it holds really well.
Madison Milgard: And so that if we're sending samples to a customer, they open them and they obviously you want them to look beautiful and be at their best. um So the first time that we were sending them, we were packing them, i think a little too tightly.
Jennifer Gulizia: Right. Oh.
Madison Milgard: And then we were using plastic and we kept seeing that the plastic was holding moisture in the box and that that was starting to damage the dahlias.
Jennifer Gulizia: oh
Madison Milgard: And so with the next one that we sent out, we switched it over to paper. and then did less of them inside of the box. And they looked incredible. There was a huge difference between the two. So I think that there's so much room for learning and that I think what we've learned is for asking for that feedback from our customers and from influencers or family and friends, is it's super helpful for improving your product and how it's presented and how they open it. So um I definitely encourage doing that too when you're testing things.
Jennifer Gulizia: That's great advice. Now, I know you can't share how many you're growing, but with the large scale that you're growing, are you is your team digging and dividing them every year or do you start fresh every year?
Madison Milgard: We probably have to start fresh. um I would say, especially with this test too, and and like trying to figure out the best balance for the soil. um and And it's so different too, between the Washington location where we're growing some and between Oregon, just in the in the weather and how cold it is, it really can affect how that grows. So I think we will end up doing it fresh next year.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay, thank you.
Madison Milgard: And sometimes too, for the labor, it can cost more to to get up versus buying new. So we also have to kind of choose that balance as well.
Jennifer Gulizia: Totally. it's It's a very manual process to dig that many dahlias, I'm sure.
Madison Milgard: ah yeah Yeah, it's it's hard.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay, so you've mentioned your Oregon and Washington location. Sea of Greens is the largest American flower farm. I assume that means you have a couple other locations besides Oregon and Washington.
Madison Milgard: Yes. Yes, we do. So out of Washington, it's mostly wild harvested product and evergreens that is grown on our farms. And then Oregon, you have all those beautiful fall products and specialty products. And then when we get down into California, we have a location in Watsonville, California. It's one of our older locations.
Madison Milgard: And some farms around that area and like Rosey in Kingsburg, which is a few hour driving between the few of them. And then one of the newer ones is Willow Creek, California, which used to be owned by Sun Valley Floral Farms, which some people are familiar with.
Madison Milgard: um And Willow Creek is so beautiful. And that's where we grow a lot of Ilex, which Lane DeVry is known a as kind of a legend in the industry for perfecting the genetics of ilex and so we have his original ilex there so it's just the most beautiful crop and like the branches are bending over from how many berries are on them it's so so stunning and so like catinus the snowball viburnum and rose hips so kind of still that specialty product at willow creek um and over in watsonville obviously lot a lot of eucalyptus which is very common to the california farms and we recently partnered with kendall farms too on a location with more eucalyptus and so
Jennifer Gulizia: wow
Madison Milgard: Really those California specialty products. And Butterfly Ranunculus, we just started growing there. And then Brassica is a new one for us. The ornamental cabbage is coming on out of there. And then we have some big farms over in Florida and kind of the fern country. So that's more of your tropical products. And some of my favorites are like Spring Rye and Plumosis. You have a lot of those flowing, beautiful products there. And of course, your staples like Leather Leaf.
Madison Milgard: um and sword fern and then nagai is one of our favorites there too, a lot of acres of nagai. um And then our commercial office is in Miami. So we we ship a lot of stuff out of there, but obviously no farms down in Miami.
Madison Milgard: And then we have some farms that we're working on in North Carolina, mostly as Tess. That's a big distribution facility for us and manufacturer for some of our Christmas products to East Coast customers.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Madison Milgard: So that's kind of an overview of all of them. there' They're spread out, but yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thank you. do you know how many acres in total you steward as a company?
Madison Milgard: So there's there's different acres that we steward too. So um our tree farm is the biggest, that's 10,000 acres. So it's very large and and that's actually small if you start comparing it to true timber companies.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Madison Milgard: But just for our boughs, I mean, it's millions of pounds of boughs coming off that farm a year.
Jennifer Gulizia: oh
Madison Milgard: um And I would just say hundreds of acres probably across all of our other locations. um So it's it's a big operation, but you know we have them spread out in those key locations, which I think is a huge benefit to us because we have product available year round and a lot of different products. So we offer you know over 100 varieties between all of those different farm locations.
Madison Milgard: And it's super helpful for logistics too, because we have you know East Coast presence and West Coast presence. It makes it pretty easy to ship to our customers um and to make that easier for them.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thank you for sharing that. Now, when you said you have your distribution centers, is all of your products staying in the US or do you ship internationally?
Madison Milgard: we do ship internationally um we one of our biggest products for that is like obviously products too when you're shipping internationally there's you know a time crunch and a ticking time bomb you're trying to get rid of it as soon as as quickly as you can because it has such a short time that it can stay alive and most of the time you're having to ship it by air if you're shipping it over to europe but for us our wild harvested products, which would be salal, beargrass, huckleberry, that's all out of the Pacific Northwest.
Madison Milgard: Those products can last in a cooler for six months. We do not have them in a cooler for that long, but that is how long that product can last and still look beautiful when you take it out.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh my gosh.
Madison Milgard: So that product is perfect for shipping over to Europe because it can be sent in a container and doesn't have to be shipped by air. So we do send a lot of product out to them and we're hoping to get more into the international markets.
Madison Milgard: But it's definitely you know a balance with those logistics for sure.
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. Well, I know your family story highlights sustainability as one of your core values. Since we're talking about shipping and stuff, let's talk about what sustainability means for CF Greens.
Jennifer Gulizia: How do you bring that to your day-to-day life and business as such a large scale flower farm?
Madison Milgard: Yeah, that's it's a really good question. it's you know Sustainability has been the heart of our operations. And a quote from my dad that I love to use is that when you plant a tree, you're making a 100-year-long business decision.
Madison Milgard: So you you know we have the mindset that we're going to own this business for generations. So you know you're treating every acre like you own it. And I feel like that culture is really spread down for every employee in the company is if you take care of the land, it gives back to you.
Madison Milgard: So by using better you know fertilizers or tilling less or using better packaging, it's just it's the lifecycle of of the product. um And I think that it's really important to care about those things, but it can be really hard to care about those things and to know the right way to do it. Because what we've discovered and what is pretty true of being sustainable in a company is that you you are prioritizing profit most of the time it is cheaper to be sustainable especially in the long term so um an example of that is one of the things that we use for packaging when we send to customers we we're always using ah wax cardboard boxes for our evergreen product because it's very heavy and it's very moist when it's in the box so you can't put it in regular cardboard well the bad thing about wax cardboard is it's not recyclable
Madison Milgard: So when you have them people just have to throw them out and you'd use these huge staples to you know smash the cardboard down and it's super hard to open. And then you had to just throw it in the trash so that that is obviously not very sustainable. And so we're always looking for an alternative.
Madison Milgard: And when we ended up finding it at one of our trade shows, it was a company that has recyclable plastic so it's a box that is much much easier to open for the customer and then on the marketing side we love it because we can really easily put like a printed photo on the box to make it really pretty for christmas um and it's you know way more sustainable because it's recyclable the customer can reuse the box again if they needed to it's easier for them to use and it was around the same price So in the long run, that's pretty impactful to switch all of those wax boxes if you think about how many were used and thrown out.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay, thank you for that example. That's ah fascinating. I never even really thought about it that way. So I'm sure you have so many decisions to make in terms of sustainability with so many different diverse growing areas across the country too.
Madison Milgard: Yeah. Yeah. and I mean, as long as you put it as ah priority that you guys are always talking about with your team members, we found that a lot of our team members have innovated for sustainability because we encourage that conversation too among each other. So they often come and are like, Hey, we,
Madison Milgard: There's this better company that we can use for um spray out of Florida, and it's actually cheaper too. And it's better for the product and better for our employees and for their safety and health when they're using the product.
Madison Milgard: um and And for a while, it was really just a part of our culture as a company. And now we've taken the initiative. I started a sustainability committee. So just makes it a little bit more formal.
Madison Milgard: um And we only really meet once a quarter to discuss the projects that we're working on, but it kind of works as a collaborative space in our company for everyone to bring forward new ideas they have, to talk about projects that they're currently working on that are sustainable.
Madison Milgard: um And then we joined ah group, it's called Sustainabloom. I don't know if you're...
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Madison Milgard: familiar with it yes and and afe started it and we helped them get started around two years ago i'm a board member with them and they are a really really great resource for every part of the industry whether you're a wholesaler a floral grower a florist and and they just have a lot of resources and ways to look into how to be more sustainable and how to save money and how to really tackle one issue at a time. Cause I think it could be overwhelming when you look at the bigger picture, but if you just focus on trying to make one change a year, you know, or a quarter, then could be really impactful in the business for the longterm too.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. You said AFE, for those that are not familiar, that stands for?
Madison Milgard: The American flower endowment.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thank you. And they're the ones that funded and started Sustainable Loom, is that correct?
Madison Milgard: Yes, they did. Yeah, it's it's a part of AFE, which is a nonprofit organization. They have a lot of education and resources to for for everyone in the industry. They're they're amazing and have been around a long time.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thank you for sharing that. um I imagine with such a large scale operation, you have to have a lot of technology and innovation as well to make things run efficiently.
Madison Milgard: Yes. and i Yes, you definitely do. i you know, technology is is hard in our industry. i would say that the floor industry is a little behind in technology, especially in the U S because I feel like I'm always seeing those videos of the farms in Europe and they have these beautiful greenhouses and all these different machines to carry the hydrangeas and cut the flowers and i'm like oh my gosh those look so beautiful and it seems like we're a little bit behind but i think that's one of the things that we're really trying to invest in like technology for us is machinery and that's not machinery and you know you have this machine that's picking the flowers for you and doing everything but it's it's the little things it's putting in you know a conveyor belt that just helps you know speed up the production and and to make it easier on the employee and the actual physical labor that they do with their
Madison Milgard: putting together a bouquet or carrying the product from one place to another. um And so that's been pretty important for us to do slowly over time. It's a lot of money to invest in that. But I think you just prioritize making those small changes and it's really changed you know how much we can produce too. So An example is with Christmas.
Madison Milgard: um We have kind of two different ways that you can make a wreath. One of them is hand tying it. So the person is holding the wreath and they're hand tying it and it's pretty physically exhausting to do, but it looks so beautiful. And then we have these cramps.
Madison Milgard: There is this machine, like a little metal like claw that comes out of the table.
Jennifer Gulizia: Uh-huh.
Madison Milgard: And while you're making the wreath, you use that where this little metal claw is kind of helping you to um tie the wreath. So it's a little bit less physically tiring to make, um which is better for the employee. And it's quicker too, to make that type of wreath.
Madison Milgard: But if I were to look at both wreaths side by side, you could tell that the hand tied one is a little bit prettier in the quality. And so um we do obviously let customers know that, and they know the difference between the two of them. But that's kind of an example of something you could use to make it easier for wreath production.
Madison Milgard: um And it also helps us to be dependent on less labor because as as you might face this issue as well, is it's very, very difficult to get farm labor in the US. And we have farms and locations in a bunch of different states and it doesn't matter what state you're in. It's it's very, very hard to get people to work in our industry. So we are pretty dependent um on H2B labor for our Christmas season when we have a huge um rise in harvesting and production that we have to do during that season.
Jennifer Gulizia: Is that your biggest season?
Madison Milgard: Yes, I would say that's our biggest season of the year, which, you know, typically for most people, it's Valentine's Day. But for us, because we started in the evergreen business, Christmas is our biggest time of the year. So it's kind of our Super Bowl and we are in it right now is when it starts, if you could believe it.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow, so it starts, we're recording this we get middle of September. So you're already working on Christmas.
Madison Milgard: Yeah, yeah. but Yes, we are already working on Christmas. And again, you know, we're so lucky with evergreens because they hold up so well, even when you're cutting them now, you can use them a year from now for samples.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Madison Milgard: We never have any in inventory to do that with, but we'll save, we'll put aside a bin every Christmas so we can use it for samples for people when it's outside of the Christmas season. And it still looks as though you just picked it.
Madison Milgard: So it's a very resilient product.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow. I assume when you pick it, it goes into a cooler. So you're holding it in a cooler.
Madison Milgard: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay.
Madison Milgard: think Yes, yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Otherwise, I picture like when, you know, when people leave their Christmas tree on this side of their yard and it just turns all brown after a little bit. So they should just put their tree in their their their fridge.
Madison Milgard: That that would happen.
Jennifer Gulizia: Everyone has a big fridge and they could leave their tree for the next year, right?
Madison Milgard: Yes, if you could put it in a cooler, it would last for the next year for you.
Jennifer Gulizia: I'd love to see someone try that. Do you sell Christmas trees also or is it just the wreath making material and greenery?
Madison Milgard: ah
Madison Milgard: We do, we do actually sell Christmas trees. um Not the typical size that you're maybe thinking for a living room, but little tabletop trees, you know, for families who might have an apartment and can't do a full size tree, or maybe they just want it on a table for,
Madison Milgard: you know, setting like a dining dining setting and you just have a little tree on the table. So we kind of call them our Charlie Brown Christmas trees because they're naturally grown. So they're not, you know, we're not making rows of Christmas trees like you normally picture a Christmas tree farm.
Madison Milgard: um On the farm in Mount St. Helens, I mean, it grows like grass. There are baby trees everywhere that just nature grows for us. So that's kind of fun and and different too and how we harvest those little baby Christmas trees.
Jennifer Gulizia: That's amazing. It would be so fun to come and see one of your operations around the holidays. I bet there's so much greenery.
Madison Milgard: me Well, it is chaotic too.
Jennifer Gulizia: It was our, I bet it was our first cold morning today. And my daughter was like, I'm ready for my chai tea latte. She gets a decaf chai. And I'm like, oh my goodness, it is starting to feel like the weather is really shifting right now.
Madison Milgard: I know. I feel Christmas in the air and fall. I'm excited.
Jennifer Gulizia: I started getting emails, it's we're recording on a Monday morning and I'm opening my inbox and it's like Christmas holiday deals are here. And I'm like, what? I still have my dahlias to enjoy.
Madison Milgard: um i know Yeah, retailers just earlier and earlier, it feels like they're starting to put out product for these holidays, Thanksgiving included.
Jennifer Gulizia: Totally. um I know I've heard a little bit in the news that people are estimating it's going to be a tougher year for Christmas with like retail sales. Have you noticed any dip in the floral industry or are you predicting any changes?
Madison Milgard: um I would say that we have not seen any indicators of that this year so far. um For us, we're really lucky, i feel, just in the floral industry as a whole because we're a little bit um resistant to economic downturns because people are always having to go to grocery stores and events typically always happen, even if they slow a little bit, people are still being weddings and celebrations and birthdays and funerals. And so um I would say we're a little resilient through through those times, which is really helpful. And then for us, for our product, I mean, um we don't really see any downturn because the competition, I mean, we're the only growers of a lot of our product too. So that's that's really helpful when it comes to these seasons.
Madison Milgard: mean, for right now, the way that it seems for Christmas is that it's going to be our best year yet. So we're hoping that that's the case for for everyone too. So.
Jennifer Gulizia: That's amazing. Well, I feel like everyone just needs a little bit of joy right now. And I think flowers, like I've noticed more people coming and treating themselves to a bouquet at the farm.
Madison Milgard: yes
Jennifer Gulizia: Just, I need something to brighten my day today.
Madison Milgard: yes yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: And I think people are hungry for that with everything going on in the world.
Jennifer Gulizia: What are some of the challenges that maybe are unique to having a large scale farm that small scale flower farmer might not even think of? what are something like, are there any examples of something that you guys struggle with that would be easy on a small scale farm?
Madison Milgard: I think that a lot of issues we face, every business faces. And you know we were a small business once too and and are still growing and learning. And um you know the labor issues that we face, even though they might be at larger scale, is still labor issues that we're all facing.
Madison Milgard: um Same with if you're you know buying hard goods or anything for production, you know tariffs are going to affect that no matter what scale that you're at. um I'd say something unique to us is you know we always want to be able to sell our product to everyone. And there was a time where we wanted to do that, where we were selling to florists and event planners who are kind of at at a larger scale and we're selling to wholesalers in mass market and this was only for you know a year or two when we had acquired continental wholesale florist and then we realized well we can't sell to our customers customers because if we're selling to florists then we're selling to our wholesalers customers and so and for the efficiency and logistics of filling a truck and and trying to ship out that product you know florist needs are pretty
Madison Milgard: um on a weekly day-to-day basis sometimes for for the things that they have to prepare for. And so it it was really difficult for us to provide them with product.
Jennifer Gulizia: Right.
Madison Milgard: And so we we do not sell to them. We only sell the wholesalers. And when florists reach out, we try to direct them to all the different wholesalers that are in their area so they can still get our product and ask for it. And of course, we want to share our product with them, um but we just want to make sure that it's done the right way.
Madison Milgard: And so I think at our scale, um One day we do wish that we could have you know some sort of direct to consumer brand that's not off the table to have that where people could buy something online from us. I would love to be able to set that up for us.
Madison Milgard: But for right now, it's just kind of that mass market wholesale scale. So I think um as you grow your business, you're just always having to reassess your customers because sometimes your customers aren't good for you too because for us we weren't making money off of selling to florists as much as we wanted to and so we had to cut them out and sometimes you have to make those hard decisions along the way but
Jennifer Gulizia: That's such an important reminder for all of us to look at that, especially as we're coming to the end of the year and looking at what worked and what didn't for this year, because it can be hard to let go of something. But if it's costing you money or not making sense, that's so important to do.
Jennifer Gulizia: How long ago did you guys let go of your florist accounts?
Madison Milgard: It was probably five, six years ago. It's been a while.
Jennifer Gulizia: So it's been a while now. Okay.
Madison Milgard: Yeah, it's been a long time.
Jennifer Gulizia: We keep going back to you being the largest flower farm in the country, which is a really unique thing because right now there's this movement of a lot of small scale farms and people are serving their local communities.
Jennifer Gulizia: How do you see CF Green's role in shaping the future of the floral industry in the US?
Madison Milgard: a That's a great question. i think something that's become very apparent and important for us is partnering with other people in the industry.
Madison Milgard: And, you know we have a lot of connections and friends and we're lucky because we're not growing roses. So we're not directly competing with the rose grower. So a lot of the times our products pay. pair really well with someone who grows flowers.
Madison Milgard: And it's really fun and easy for us to partner with them and to both help each other grow and to sell more. And that's all we really want for the industry is just to sell more flowers and for people to be buying them every day.
Madison Milgard: And so that was kind of the partnership that came to fruition this last year with Kendall Farms. um They're great friends of ours. They are huge growers in California that have beautiful operations. um And we have a lot of product that really pairs well together and they do some of the same products that we do.
Madison Milgard: but when we come together on a farm together, we're able to offer our customers more because now we can say, hey, we have a bouquet with continental floral greens greens, and then we have some of Kendall Farms beautiful flowers that are used in the bouquet, too. So it offers more to our customers and then it and it benefits both companies. So I think leveraging those relationships is really important for growing your business. And I think it's really healthy for the industry as a whole.
Madison Milgard: um And then for us, you know, just being really involved in the community and in different organizations across the community and, you know, being a part of those associations or organizations, um,
Madison Milgard: It's also really helpful to the business because you receive so much information and insights into the marketplace and what's going on and what's happening with other growers, what's happening with wholesalers, what's happening with the grocery stores.
Madison Milgard: So you really learn a lot from being in those associations. And then now we're finally at the stage where we're really influencing a lot that goes on in those groups. And I'm on the board for Sustainable Bloom and That Flower Feeling.
Madison Milgard: there's a lot of those great groups. And I think for us, yeah it's important to continue being a voice in the industry and a voice for things like Sustainable Bloom and things that we really value and that align with our company values too.
Madison Milgard: So I say that's important. Did I answer your question? Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: You did. That was great.
Madison Milgard: Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that you mentioned the collaboration piece because it helps everyone go further. I'm curious, is there a way for smaller farms to collaborate with you?
Madison Milgard: Yes, of course. we um We love working on collaborations. I'd say a good example of that is we did a workshop last year. And of course, if we want to keep hosting workshops, we were not able to this year, but we're always sponsoring and sending out products for for events like that. But we'd love to, you know, if we're like, we hosted ah a workshop with a lot of our own products, but we don't grow every flower, especially in the fall. So we needed flowers to be used in the workshop too. And We are super open to working with other farms and and including their product and events like that and supporting other American grown farms. And I think that's important too, is being a community of American growers. It's it's hard to be an American grown farm. and And we know that, that there's a lot of competition and pressure on us.
Madison Milgard: um But I think coming together and promoting each other's products and businesses is is really important. can be hard to do um and to let down those those boundaries. But we are super open to that. And I think, um you know, if people were ever to reach out, we we would always love working with anyone and and hearing their ideas and and feedback.
Jennifer Gulizia: Are you the one in the company that handles those collaborations?
Madison Milgard: Yes, I do, which is a very fun job.
Jennifer Gulizia: You are, so anyone listening to this podcast that's got a light bulb going off can follow up with you after this conversation.
Madison Milgard: Of course. Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Awesome. Well, I want to ask you a few personal questions. My first question for you on a personal level is have you worked in any of the fields?
Madison Milgard: I not gotten my hands dirty enough, I wouldn't say. um i do visit and get to see our farms all the time. That is the one downside of being pretty spread out across the country is, you know, we're not in an office right on one of our farms, so I can't walk out and play and be in the product every day.
Jennifer Gulizia: Sure.
Madison Milgard: um But I try to visit them a lot and i I love getting to see all the products on the farm you It's very grounding to visit the farms, I feel, when I'm on them.
Madison Milgard: um But I do need to learn how, you know, harvesting, like if you actually go out there and do it with someone, you you appreciate it so much more and realize how hard it is. I do a lot of the design side and helping with like,
Madison Milgard: you know, how do you use the forsythia in something? So I've played with a lot of the product and even that is so humbling. I'm not a florist. I'm not an artist like that. And so when you see what people are putting together, um you know, the influencers in the space, I'm always so amazed at what they can do um and you just appreciate it more so.
Jennifer Gulizia: I think that's awesome that you're getting out in the field and seeing what your team is doing. um What inspires you most about working in floriculture?
Madison Milgard: I think just going back to land ownership um and and being a steward of the land, I think is is really beautiful and taking care of you know God's beautiful world and nature and and making sure that it can last for our kids' generation and that it's even better when they have it. And that you're taking care of the wildlife and the soil.
Madison Milgard: And so that is really what inspires me. And that's why being on the farms is one of my favorite things when I can go out to them um and getting to walk them and see the product and see how beautiful it is. And um and all that product is going to bring someone else joy.
Madison Milgard: you know You're touching so many people's lives with your product and then flowers just bring joy and happiness to everyone. So how could you not love that?
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. i mean, i was just talking with someone yesterday who was visiting our farm and we were talking about the ripple effect that we don't even know how far that ripple goes once the flower leaves your farm or your operation that, I mean, you don't know, like it could be going to a wedding or ah graduation and then who at that wedding might see those flowers that it brings them joy outside of the bride and groom or the couple.
Jennifer Gulizia: So it's it's really quite the ripple effect that we all are creating.
Madison Milgard: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Do you have a favorite crop or flower that you grow at CF Greens?
Madison Milgard: Well, I would probably again go back to my favorite farm and because it's the product that got us started is the Noble Fur. I just think it's so beautiful and and our product is so special to me because it's how our family got started.
Madison Milgard: um the heart of the operations and feeling and seeing that product just smells like Christmas. And you're just bringing so people joy for the holidays and gifting someone a wreath.
Jennifer Gulizia: hu
Madison Milgard: I mean, I love being able to give our products to people and the joy that it brings and they can see it for, you know sometimes up to a month in their house and and bringing that space, kind of that Christmas feel. Yeah. And noble fir to our product is really special because when the volcano blew up, it's volcanic soil up on that farm. So our trees are a special color.
Madison Milgard: They're a silvery blue that no one else's are.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh.
Madison Milgard: um And it's special too at that elevation. It's only grown there. We're the only growers of it. It's trademarked. And so that is also special because it's a really unique color. um And it's just kind of the icon of our the mascot of our company, I'd say, is the noble fir.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. And I think it's so unique because when you think of someone in the floral culture, I immediately go to flowers. But the greenery is such an important piece of it, too.
Madison Milgard: Yeah, people forget about greenery, but it's the foundation for every bouquet arrangement and installation. But everyone wants to you know go to the ones that are that draw your eyes, but greenery is so important.
Jennifer Gulizia: ah Yeah.
Madison Milgard: And we're always trying to educate on that too, in the different ways you can use it. And it's so much more resilient and it lasts a long time. And so we're always encouraging people to work with it more too.
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. Well, I mean, I remember my first year of growing flowers, I focused so much on the focal flowers. And then when I had to make my CSA bouquets, it was like, oh crap, I don't have enough greens to fill my bouquets.
Jennifer Gulizia: And so then you start overstuffing it with your focals. And so over the years I've learned how important it is to have plenty of filler and greenery because they really elevate that bouquet.
Madison Milgard: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I mean, especially like scented greenery, I've been using a lot of scented geraniums right now and my customers come back every week and they're like, that scent is just unlike anything else.
Madison Milgard: who
Madison Milgard: Yeah, it leaves an impact. It leaves an impact for sure. And I think too with greenery, I mean, obviously greenery is less expensive too than those focal flowers. And so that's a huge part of our education is saying, well, you know, when you're using more greenery, it's lowering the cost for you as a florist.
Madison Milgard: But typically the person buying it isn't always... ah aware of that too, when they're buying it.
Jennifer Gulizia: Right.
Madison Milgard: So it can be as a part of your business is like making this beautiful arrangement that's sturdy, that will last longer in their home if it has more greens in it too. And then it's a lower cost to the forest to put together. So that's kind of a part of that the model too, that we try to preach.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes, absolutely. What advice would you give to someone who has dreams of scaling their flower farm?
Madison Milgard: I would say the most important thing is being resilient. It is so hard to own and run a business. And, you know, I've seen my dad go through it for the last 10 years. There is no easy part of being the CEO and owner. And there's so much pressure and, know,
Madison Milgard: you know sleepless nights but it really really pays off in the end and I think in growing it you just have to go through those ups and downs we've had a ton of downs and challenges that we've gone through and just because we're big doesn't mean it's you know happy sunny days every day and it's super easy it's we got here because we worked super super hard and having the right people in the right seat. My dad built an amazing team. I love everyone I work with. And that is so important if you want to grow your business is having people that you can trust and rely on.
Madison Milgard: And one of our company values is get shit done and they get shit done. And you need that to grow your business.
Jennifer Gulizia: I read the book who not how a couple years ago and it just hit home on that having the right people doing the right jobs will help you figure out the how it's not how you're going get there it's who's going to get there with you.
Madison Milgard: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: So I love what you said about the people. Looking ahead, what are your hopes for CF greens and for the cut flower industry in the US for the next five to 10 years?
Madison Milgard: I really hope that as an industry in the next five to 10 years that we're really able to come together and grow the floral industry as a whole. And so and and instead of just saying that broad thing, like an example or solution of that and then something that we're big proponents of is if we were to increase you know the revenue for the entire floral industry, no matter where you are and what you grow or if you're a wholesaler or logistics,
Madison Milgard: is if we we're able to get behind another holiday for everyone to get around so it's not just valentine's day and it's not just christmas and one of those that is you know a huge holiday in europe is woman's day and you know celebrating women around the world and that that holiday is bigger for them than valentine's day and in the us some some people talk about it but it's not really used in the consumer product space and and people don't really push it here but
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, wow.
Jennifer Gulizia: wow
Madison Milgard: I think that getting behind a movement like that where we all together benefit from it would be huge for the floral industry. um And then I think organizations like Sustainable, just getting behind the right organizations that align with our values of pushing sustainability and American grown and being a community together that supports each other and educates each other.
Madison Milgard: Um, that's what I would hope to see in the next few years. And and for us is just continuing to grow our product line and and bring that joy to customers. And, you know, one of our slogans is innovating through mother nature. So we're always working with our products and working with our properties to to innovate and bring new things to the marketplace that bring ah smile to someone's day.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. Now, International Women's Day, isn't that in May?
Madison Milgard: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Which would be such a better time than Valentine's Day for so many of us growers.
Madison Milgard: I know.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that idea.
Madison Milgard: Yes, it would be.
Jennifer Gulizia: We have to make that happen because they could we could all of a sudden have peonies. We could have ranunculus, tulips, daffodils.
Madison Milgard: Oh, March 8th, March 8th.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, March 8th.
Madison Milgard: I think there's two, there's two, but yeah, it's March 8th.
Jennifer Gulizia: the
Jennifer Gulizia: March. I knew it started with an M.
Madison Milgard: So it's still at a hard, hard time.
Jennifer Gulizia: It's a little bit better than Valentine's Day.
Madison Milgard: see
Jennifer Gulizia: Some of those early tulips are, yeah, we need, it we need a summer holiday.
Madison Milgard: Yeah. Yeah. For us too. Yes. Don't know. We totally need a summer summer. I mean, we could all make one up together too. I think would also benefit us.
Jennifer Gulizia: yeah
Madison Milgard: Self-care day. That's one that that flower feeling got behind and that there's great timing for self-care today because there's a international one and then a national one. ah And that's an amazing holiday because flowers are self-care.
Madison Milgard: So
Jennifer Gulizia: Totally. They feed the soul.
Madison Milgard: yes, they do.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that idea. Well, we need to find a holiday to make for September when dahlias are at their peak so that everyone can move their dahlias.
Madison Milgard: Yep. I agree, yes. but Besides weddings, I guess, but probably not as many in Oregon during the summer. during the summer
Jennifer Gulizia: we yeah yeah We have a lot of weddings, but I mean, other than that around here, there's not, I mean, there's anniversary parties, which are because of weddings and
Madison Milgard: Yeah. We've always wanted to get behind back to school because back to school, imagine if you were encouraging kids to bring flowers to their teachers to thank them and to start the the school year.
Jennifer Gulizia: yes
Madison Milgard: so we've always thought that was a really cute idea, which would be great for August and September products.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes, there's grandparents appreciation. Maybe we need more grandparents getting flowers.
Madison Milgard: It was yesterday.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes, we need more grandparents getting flowers.
Madison Milgard: do.
Madison Milgard: yes we do
Jennifer Gulizia: So, well, Madison, this has been really fun chatting with you. Is there anything I haven't asked you today that you want to share with our listeners?
Madison Milgard: No, I think we covered a lot of fun topics, but I would say, yeah, just follow along. I mean, we are always open to talking with anyone and helping other growers too, and and to be there for, you know, advice and to learn from each other. So whether if, whether it's reaching out for a collaboration or they just want to connect and, and, and have some advice on growing a business, we are always open to talking and,
Madison Milgard: You know, we share a lot across our different social media platforms, which is a great way to kind of see new stuff that we're working on and doing. So that's also a way to see what's going on.
Jennifer Gulizia: Awesome. Well, tell our listeners, where can they find you and CF Greens?
Madison Milgard: Find the product or me?
Jennifer Gulizia: um Connect with you. So online, what is your website?
Madison Milgard: Yes, they can always connect. So it's cfgreens.com. um So they can connect on there. They can also reach out over Instagram, which is also cfgreens. um It's a little bit easier to say than continental floral greens for all those different titles. And then they're also free to reach out to me, which is just madisonmilgard at cfgreens.com too.
Jennifer Gulizia: Perfect. And we will include links to all of those in today's show notes. This has been so inspiring and so fun to learn about what large scale, truly large scale flower farming in the U.S. looks like.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I love your ideas of just growing the industry as a whole and the collaboration piece. So Madison, thank you so much for your time today and good luck with the holiday season.
Madison Milgard: Thank you, Jennifer. You too. And thank you so much for having me on.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thanks for joining us. Bye-bye.
Madison Milgard: Bye.
