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Ep.37 Building a Thriving Cut Flower Business With Katy King of Hidden Springs Flowers image

Ep.37 Building a Thriving Cut Flower Business With Katy King of Hidden Springs Flowers

S1 E37 · The Backyard Bouquet
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In this episode of the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, we are joined by Katy King, of Hidden Springs Flowers in central Pennsylvania. Katy shares the inspiring journey of transforming a century-old family farm into a thriving cut flower business. She and her husband Jim started Hidden Springs in 2018, turning a simple backyard veggie patch into two acres of stunning seasonal cut flowers. Katy discusses the challenges and joys of balancing her roles as a farmer, entrepreneur, educator, and mother.

Tune in to learn about the farm's history, dating back to Jim's great-grandparents, and how Katy's passion for gardening and business led her to flower farming. She details the evolution of their business model, from selling to florists to focusing on retail and subscription bouquets. Katy also shares insights into her planting schedule, the importance of making the business fit around her life, and her strategies for managing the farm with minimal help.

Additionally, Katy talks about her passion for educating others in the floral industry, particularly on the business side of flower farming. She offers tips on using social media effectively and discusses her online course designed to help aspiring flower farmers.

Listen now to hear the full conversation and gain valuable insights from Katy King's journey with Hidden Springs Flowers.

In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

00:03:36 - History of Hidden Springs Flower Farm
00:05:23 - Transition from Vegetable Farming to Flower Farming
00:09:58 - First Flower Sales and Pop-Up Markets
00:19:44 - Adjusting Business Model for Family Life
00:29:53 - Current Flower Varieties Grown
00:31:05 - Year-Round Business Operations
00:32:31 - Selling Subscriptions During Holidays
00:34:15 - Starting Flowers from Plugs
00:40:03 - Passion for Educating Others
00:43:02 - Using TikTok for Business
00:45:58 - Importance of Storytelling in Business
00:46:36 - Online Flower Farm Course: In The Weeds

Learn More About Hidden Springs Flowers:

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Transcript

Introduction to Backyard Bouquet Podcast

00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet podcast, where stories bloom from local flower fields and home gardens. I'm your host, Jennifer Galitzia of the Flowering Farmhouse.

Jennifer's Journey to Flower Farming

00:00:12
Speaker
I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon. Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers. From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
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.

Inspiration from Amy Porterfield on Digital Courses

00:00:54
Speaker
Hey there, flower lovers. Have you ever thought about turning your gardening expertise or any passion into a digital course? Imagine being able to share what you love and make an impact while earning money from something you've already mastered.
00:01:10
Speaker
Well, my mentor, Amy Porterfield, is here to help you make that dream a reality with her course confident bootcamp. It kicks off on September 11th with a welcome party. And in this bootcamp, Amy will help you figure out exactly what to teach, how to grow an audience that's ready to learn from you, and how to show up confidently online.
00:01:32
Speaker
Whether you're new to digital courses or have been thinking about it for a while, this bootcamp is packed with practical tools to help you nurture your course idea from seed to bloom. And the best part, it's only $47 to join, which is an absolute steal for what you'll get.
00:01:49
Speaker
But don't wait too long. Just like in the garden, timing is everything, spaces are limited, and the bootcamp is starting soon. Head over to today's show notes for the link to save your spot and let's grow something amazing together.
00:02:07
Speaker
Welcome back to the Backyard Bouquet podcast, where we celebrate the stories of the individuals behind the blooms.

Katie King's Path to Flower Farming

00:02:14
Speaker
Today, I'm delighted to introduce you to Katie King, co-founder of Hidden Springs Flower Farm, a vibrant cut flower farm blossoming on a century-old family farm nestled in the heart of central Pennsylvania. Hidden Springs is a testament to the enduring beauty of nature and the passion of those who cultivate it.
00:02:34
Speaker
Katie, alongside her husband Jim, launched Hidden Springs in the fall of 2018. With no formal training but a profound love for gardening, they transformed a simple backyard veggie patch into two acres of stunning seasonal cut flowers. Their farm is a place where every day is blossoming with flowers, inspired by the nostalgic charm of a grandmother's backyard garden. But there's more to Katie's world than just flowers.
00:03:01
Speaker
As a dedicated mother, she masterfully balances her role as a farmer, entrepreneur, educator, and parent. The farm isn't just their business, it's their family's legacy and home, enriched with deep roots that date back to Jim's great-grandparents.

Family History and Connection to the Land

00:03:17
Speaker
Join us today as we delve into the flourishing life of Hidden Springs, exploring how Katie and Jim nurture both their blooms and family with love, dedication, and a touch of historical charm. Katie, it's such a pleasure to have you on the show today. Welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to chat with you. So you are living and growing flowers on a multi-generational farm or a family legacy farm? Yes. So Jim's grandparents moved to the farm here in the 30s. Wow. And um kind of started to fix the place up. From what I've heard, Jim's great grandfather was really into gardening. So we are um sure that he is responsible for planting the first patch of peonies that I have still to work with today. And then Jim's grandmother,
00:04:13
Speaker
um his daughter and her husband moved here a little bit later and Jim's grandfather was a farmer. So he actually farmed the land all around us until he was no longer able to do so.
00:04:29
Speaker
And um there's no one continuing but fit the farming in the family now. I mean, now we're doing flowers. ah But we're lucky to kind of still be here in this space. but Jim and I moved to the farm in 2012, just before we got married.

Living on the Farm and Its Surroundings

00:04:45
Speaker
We had our wedding reception here um and just have loved being out on a farm without really having to do um a lot of the farm work that goes along with it. But we are surrounded by corn and soybean fields, and it's just a beautiful slice of heaven. So did Jim's grandparents farm corn, or what was the property previously used for? Yes, corn, soybeans. Okay. And how many acres are on your farm?
00:05:13
Speaker
This farm is 110 acres total. So we're surrounded by quite a lot of field. So are you leasing out the rest of your property for farmland? Yep. So there's a farmer that's um farming the fields now. So right now we've got soybeans in the front and corn in the back and they rotate you know annually. um So it's it's fun. We get to be part of it, but not really kind of doing that the hard, hard farm work that goes along with it.
00:05:42
Speaker
well I'd say you still do hard farm work. Do you have two acres of flowers? Yes. So um I sort of took over two acres that's right beside our house, kind of by our house and the barn that I'm in now. um And that's where we grow the flowers.
00:05:58
Speaker
So when you first moved there in 2012, did you know you were going to plant flowers at the farm? Not at all. No, that was never part of the plan. um My degree is actually in public relations and marketing, so that's what I did for a while. I kind of bounced all over, did quite a few things. I was one of those kids that I really didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. um So when we moved here, I did start a small vegetable garden in the back of the house. My dad brought over his you know hand-pushed rototiller and helped me till up the ground. um So I expanded Jim's grandmother's, kind of she had just a little bed for tomatoes and mint. So I expanded that a little bit and grew vegetables for years. And we expanded that a couple times.
00:06:45
Speaker
um And then in 2018, I took over that space to plant flowers that fall.

Transition from Veggies to Flowers

00:06:50
Speaker
It's now back to vegetables since I have a designated space for the flowers, but that's kind of how how we got our start here. Never intending to grow flowers out here. So how did you start growing flowers? What gave you the itch?
00:07:04
Speaker
Sure. So, I mean, it was part, I love gardening, wanted to be um outside and doing something, but really for me, I i wanted to start my own business and and my husband was very much on board with that and wanted to do the same ah before we had kids and we had time to sit and just talk um for hours on end and and watch TV. We were really into Shark Tank and we would just sit and brainstorm business ideas um all the time. That was kind of one of our favorite ah
00:07:35
Speaker
subjects to talk about and came up with some really crazy ideas that would never work. We came up with some ideas that we thought could work um but didn't really make moves on them. And we had a couple that we kind of started to dip our toes into and then just but never really happened. um The summer of 2018, I actually read, I think I had borrowed a magazine from my sister. I want to say it was the Magnolia magazine and there was an article featuring Erin from Fleurette. And that was the first that I had heard about a flower farm. I mean, I think a lot of people would say they didn't you know they don't realize that this is a thing. um I certainly did not. And it's kind of a light bulb went off. Like, wow, you can grow flowers and make a you know a business doing that. um What a way to combine two things that I was kind of already doing. you know I was growing vegetables. I had some flowers growing.
00:08:30
Speaker
um I wasn't really focused on them. But um yeah, that that idea hit quick. And I just went all in, researched as much as I could. That was probably early August. And by September, I had ripped out my tomato plants that were still producing. Oh my goodness. Totally ripped them out, ripped out the vegetables. um And I had read about some flowers that I could plant in the fall and have ready for spring. And I just, I don't do anything half-hearted. I just go all in.
00:09:00
Speaker
So I ordered anemone and ranunculus corms. We built our first low tunnels back there. I mean, I'm talking like a 20 foot patch of garden that I was using. I think I had three or four like 10 foot rows within that. um And I started some Snapdragon seeds and poppies and bells of Ireland and just went for it. um That's kind of where it all started.
00:09:30
Speaker
Amazing. What growing zone are you? We're 6B, so we get pretty cold. The winters, you know, we'll have a long stretch of time where we are below freezing or about freezing. We'll get snow, lots and lots of wind where we are. We're kind of in a very open space. Obviously we're surrounded by fields, so we get a ton of wind. um And then we get very hot too. We've had a lot of 95 to 100 degree days this summer, so we see it all.
00:09:58
Speaker
It sounds similar to me. We're 100 degrees today and it's so hot. It's brutal. So that's awesome that even in 6B you were able to sow all of those seeds in the fall or in August and September when you ripped out your vegetable garden. That's incredible. Did they all come and bloom that next season?

First Flower Sales and Business Model Development

00:10:18
Speaker
They did, yeah. We were just kind of in shock, i and I can remember my very first anemone. It was the first thing that I cut. It was a purple anemone blue, but they look purple. um And it was the day that my ah nephew was born, and it was there was snow on the ground. I have a picture of it. We had lifted up the tunnel, and there was our first anemone that I cut. and Yeah, it they came on quickly. I didn't really have any place to sell them, but we got that figured out and um very quickly realized if we're going to go for this, we can't grow everything in that space. We're going to have to expand. I was talking about ripping up
00:10:57
Speaker
Another part of the yard and my husband's like, okay, let's just slow down here a second. um You know, we do have some space in this field. The two acres that I grow on are really kind of isolated from the rest of the field by trees on one side, our yard on one side and our driveway. So it just made this perfect space.
00:11:17
Speaker
So by that spring, when I started planting summer annuals, we used about a hundred foot space out of the two acres and started planting there. And then we've just expanded on that. So you started small and have grown slowly over the years. I don't know about slowly. We definitely, we we grew fast. Yeah. So did you have an outlet to sell those flowers that you first planted?
00:11:44
Speaker
not Not at first. um i I think my my plan really was to sell the florists and designers. Maybe I'd make some bouquets and sort of see where I could go with it. But I was going to take my buckets of flowers and walk into florists and sell them.
00:12:00
Speaker
um which i did I did do a little bit of, but I had the opportunity to take bouquets. um you know I had these anemones and not much to mix them with it at the time because I didn't know about planting foliage and fillers to go along with it like I do now. um But there was a there is a ah really popular little boutique nearby that sells home goods and um I knew the owner I'm from working with her before and she invited me to come and sell some bouquets do like a pop up once a week or once every other week so i did that for a couple of weeks. I'm dead a little market that she had and from there i was able to create a bit of a following um that was when it was a little bit easier to grow on instagram i think um and facebook so i take business cards along.
00:12:48
Speaker
um I took, you know, a sign up sheet to sign up for my email list and I really, I knew that I wanted to do a subscription. I'm not sure where I had the idea to do the subscription um bouquets, but I knew that something, a way that I could sell the flowers that I grew. So I had people sign up and got my first customers for the subscription that summer. Now I was still working part time. I went back to work part time after my daughter was born in 2017. So I was working in an office two days a week.
00:13:18
Speaker
um and I was home the other three. So I was kind of balancing, growing the flowers, trying to sell them, take them to this market, and then um delivering my subscription bouquets that summer of 2019. So um that's kind of where we were that first year.
00:13:35
Speaker
So we're in 2019, and we had the idea to put up a self-serve stand. Like I said, we are in the middle of a lot of fields. So it feels really rural where we are, but we are along a big highway in our area. um So lots and lots of traffic going back and forth. And our driveway comes right onto the highway.
00:13:58
Speaker
um so We thought we have a really good opportunity to put a self-serve stand out there. That's a popular thing in our area with vegetables throughout the summer. We thought we could do the same with flowers. um so We started building that over the winter, into the early winter of 2020. My dad helped me get the shed put together. and yeah By like end of February, mid-March, we were ready to put this thing up. We were you know we we are getting it set up. and If you put the dates together, um that's about the time that everything shut down because of COVID, yes um which ended up being, I hate to say it was a blessing.

Impact of COVID-19 on Business Success

00:14:36
Speaker
Obviously, it was not a blessing, um but for our business, it was a big
00:14:41
Speaker
it It just made a huge difference because we were, um you know, in Pennsylvania, things were shut down. You had to be, you know, distant and um a farm stand was something that could keep operating because it, you know, by nature is totally self-distanced. You know, I'm not working in it. It's self-serve. So we got it set up in March and I had some anemones and then the Renunculus came.
00:15:06
Speaker
you know This was going on my second year, so I had a bit better of an idea. I had some perennials that I was pulling from, um but I'd stock the stand on like on a Saturday around 10 a.m., and by 9.45, there was a line of cars down our driveway waiting for me to bring the buckets of flowers out, and it would be sold out in about 10 minutes.
00:15:27
Speaker
Oh my gosh. it was It was crazy. I literally could not keep up with it. um I was sourcing flowers from elsewhere just trying to keep up because people wanted to take flowers and drop them on the doorsteps of family and friends and you know because no one was visiting. um so That that was kind of but got her name out there definitely. People were posting about it. um taking pictures at the stand and that sort of thing. So that was that was a huge success. And I think the timing of that was just... I think it would have been... It it continues to be a popular thing, but I i think that timing just really like kicked it into high gear. Definitely informed a lot of what I planted that year. I planted a ton more than I would have otherwise to keep up.
00:16:15
Speaker
probably like within a couple of weeks of that, um I had had this idea of turning a little corner of our barn into a retail shop. I actually had a dream about this like years before that our barn was a flower shop, which at the time made no sense. This was like 2014. Like I said, no background in flowers. There was no reason I would be opening a flower shop in the barn, but I had this dream. I told Jim about it and he's kind of like, all right, go back to sleep.
00:16:43
Speaker
We don't know anything about flowers. We're not opening a flower shop. um As it turns out, we did. um So we we took this corner of the barn. um One of our friends is a really talented contractor. He wasn't able to do a whole lot of work because he wasn't going into people's homes, you know, the spring of 2020.
00:17:03
Speaker
um But our barn, again, really distant place for him to be able to work and um kind of get that put together. And by June, he had finished um the flower shop as it is now. um It's really tiny. But again, that just sort of continued to build momentum for my business. I continued the subscriptions um and it's just continued to grow.
00:17:27
Speaker
That's incredible. So your business model, do you still sell to florists? No, I do not. that's That stopped after um the first year. And what made you decide not to continue selling to florists?
00:17:40
Speaker
At the time, I have to say the florists locally have come around quite a bit, but in the summer of 2019, they just weren't super interested in what I was growing. Some of them were, but you know I think to their credit, a lot of them are using you know working off of a wire service and they have some really specific designs that they need to follow. They need to have gerber daisies They need to have sunflowers, um they need to have roses, but a lot of things that I don't grow and they couldn't use the flowers that I was growing as I'm sure a lot of flower farmers find. um I did have some success with the smaller independent designers that are doing weddings and everything. So I did a little bit of that, but I found that I was i was selling out um
00:18:25
Speaker
on my own selling retail and the profit margins were just a lot better. um And I was having more fun doing it that way, making bouquets, teaching myself how to make arrangements and and just running the retail side of things. So I just didn't really pursue the wholesale stream anymore. Okay. And what about your CSA? Do you still do a CSA? I do. Yes. Yes. so um I guess this was our sixth season. However that works out, yeah, but that has continued to grow. I think I had maybe 10 subscribers, 10 members the first year. um The highest has been
00:19:04
Speaker
I don't know how many you know people it was over the course of the year, but as of last year, every single week, I was i capped it at 50 bouquets. That was as many as I could make in a day. yeah So but you know I kind of designated the first half of my week to subscriptions and the second half to retail. My shop is only open ah Friday, Saturday. It was Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
00:19:26
Speaker
So I was making all 50 bouquets in one day by myself. Cutting on Monday, bouquet making Tuesday, they went out on Wednesday. So I backed off a little bit. um and Just kind of starting to change a little bit how I want to do things. So how are you doing things now? So this year I tried a spring subscription. So Anemone and Renunculus and the spring flowers, they're my favorite. They're my favorite to work with. They're my favorite to grow. um I just was a little bit nervous about They're very dependent on the weather. um I couldn't set dates as well as I could in the summer. you know With the summer season, I say it starts the first Wednesday of June and goes through the second week of September. um So I just wasn't sure how to make that work. But I put it out there um to customers and said, look, the dates are subject to change. If you're flexible but you want the very first of the spring flowers, um
00:20:22
Speaker
Sign up and they did so I started small um took my own advice for once um and only offered 10 spots this year and now I feel more comfortable next year adding more spring spots and I think next year I'm going to try doing kind of a fall.
00:20:38
Speaker
um late summer into fall like Dahlia kind of share and I'm thinking about cutting out my summer subscription at least for next year I am pregnant I will have a congratulations you know thank you I will have a very small um baby next summer in addition to um at that time will be an eight year old and a four year old so I just I need to be cognizant of my time and we like to travel in the summer I want to take them to the playground and the library so Just try to always kind of make the business work with my life, not always make my life work around the business. Oh, I like how you said that. That is such a great reminder. Can we talk a little bit about that on how you make your... Let's see if I can say it as well as you just said it. Can you repeat that again for us? Yeah, sure. I think I said, um you know, my my priority is to make the business fit around my life and not make my life fit around the business.

Balancing Family and Business

00:21:35
Speaker
How do you do that? That's a good question. um But it is something that we really try to do. In the past, i have you know we love to travel, like I said. So we take we go on two trips every summer, and that is just non-negotiable. So in the past, i have um hired I have had some really great employees, and they kind of took things over for that week that I was gone.
00:22:02
Speaker
um This year, I just blocked off the week and said there are no subscriptions that week. um I closed the shop, which was big. I don't really close for anything. I think it's really important to have regular hours that my customers can depend on. But I said, look, this is our our summer vacation. We will not be open this week and we will not be open this week.
00:22:22
Speaker
um So just kind of being flexible or or kind of working our schedule around um things that I know are coming. And then also, you know it's hard to not let the business become our life because it is here at home. you know i'm I'm in my workshop now, but it's 100 yards from my front door. um My kids are always running in and out. like it's hard to It's hard to step away from it. but um I really am trying to do a better job of that, you know putting my phone down, um not checking emails, setting like business hours for myself when I'm willing to respond to business questions on email or phone.
00:23:03
Speaker
um And then just making it very clear that when customers come in my kids might be running around too they might be you know having lunch on the tables behind me they might be um playing with flowers right behind me at the work table but they're always around and part of it so.
00:23:21
Speaker
I don't know if that answers the question exactly, but just kind of letting our life kind of weave its way throughout the business. I love that. I think that what you said about blocking out time and making things non-negotiable is so important because it's so easy to get lost in the business because it is right there. And I think probably 90% if not more of flower farmers farm on the land that they live on. So I mean, there's times where I'll look outside and I can go, oh my goodness, there's a snapped Dahlia branch at seven o'clock at night. And I'm like, I'll go fix that. And then two hours go by and I've just been away from my family because I, my brain just went to five different other things to take care of. And it's really hard sometimes to shut that off when you're so very close.
00:24:07
Speaker
So I love that. And the fact that you can take a vacation, I know my daughter and I, we planned a short vacation. I didn't do a summer CSA this year. I did and did a spring and I'm doing a late summer, early fall Dalia CSA. um But I wanted to take my daughter down to California to see my parents this summer for a week. And it was the first time we have ever done that. and And she's so used to, I feel so bad. She's that child that doesn't get to take summer trips because We're in harvest, so I think that's so awesome that you just literally block that out and make it a non-negotiable. I think rejuvenates my passion for the business too, especially in the summer. you know We're all burned out by by July, definitely by August you know and taking that time away. um you know Yes, this summer I came back and there were flowers that were well past
00:25:01
Speaker
peak point and I had to cut a lot back and just, it's always a bit of a weedy mess if I don't have someone here working on it, but I came back definitely refreshed and ready to get back at it. That's awesome. So do you have help this year on the farm?
00:25:17
Speaker
A little bit. So I, this year, high I have to um two employees that help me run the shop um on Fridays and Saturdays. And I have a driver. ah She just works a handful of hours a week to help me deliver my subscription bouquets. And then new this year, I do have someone helping me with sort of admin a little bit, um you know responding to voicemails and emails, kind of our general account.
00:25:45
Speaker
um which is such a mental load off for me because that is the stuff that I just drag my feet and just do not enjoy. I love the business side of it, but kind of the that answering the phone, I'm a bit of an introvert, like talking on the phone is not always my thing. So having someone else take care of that and fielding really um important questions to me has been huge.
00:26:11
Speaker
That's awesome. So you have two helpers in the retail shop. Do you have any help out in the field? Not right now. My husband, I have myself and my husband, which was not the wisest decision. For the past, I think I hired, I think the summer of 2020 was the first that I hired help in the field. And every summer since then, until now, so for what, four summers, three summers,
00:26:40
Speaker
I did have at least two people helping me out in the field, you know, weeding, harvesting, planting. I don't know. i just i The thought of hiring and and someone new seasonally, training them to do the stuff. I'm sure you can relate to this. I think probably any flower farmer could relate to this. No one does it as fast as you can. No one does it kind of, you know, efficiently as as you can. It's your field. It's your flowers. It's your business. yeah And I just would get a bit frustrated with, you know,
00:27:16
Speaker
maybe I wasn't the best boss either in saying, look, we need to get this weeded and we need to get done with it and set a time. I didn't want ah didn't want to like be the mean person kind of pushing someone along pulling weeds, but I had just had enough of it. um Not that I didn't have good people working for me, but and was you know it I'm usually hiring high school or college students who aren't around after year one. So the thought of training someone new was just a bit daunting, but I definitely um need that help. So next year I will be going back to getting help in the field. Hopefully I can find someone who um wants to stick around, you know, after the school year starts. It's so hard. I had two amazing part-time helpers last year. And I was only able to offer part-time help because that's all that I needed. And they were both offered full-time positions with salaries and benefits. So
00:28:11
Speaker
you have to be happy when those things happen. and When I had to clear my field, they came back and helped me um and are just really great people. But I didn't have them this year and since I downsized, I made the decision not to hire any help because I was like, I think it'll take me more time to train than just for the amount of work I need help with. But now in hindsight, I look at the field and all the weeds that I have to deal with at the end of the season, I'm going,
00:28:34
Speaker
I would have just hired someone. I probably would have had those extra hours to get away from the farm a few more times this summer. Exactly, exactly. My husband's been saying the same thing. He said it from from the beginning of the season, what are you doing? What do you mean you're not hiring someone? And yeah, I had i had sort of, we probably scaled back a little bit this year too, but not enough that I don't need help. So we'll get back there.
00:29:01
Speaker
And our kiddos aren't quite old enough to really fill that void yet. No, not at all. Do your kids like to help you out in the field? I wouldn't say help. they They're OK with being out there. um Annie likes to, my daughter is seven. she's She loves to run around it and pick the flowers. And she's always coming up with, you know, she's playing fairies or playing make believe out there.
00:29:25
Speaker
um Willie is about to be four and he has one of those like Power Wheel John Deere Gators. So he likes to drive along with me. I had him hauling ah eucalyptus last week. Adorable. You know, a little bundle in the back. But other than that, I would not say there's any help going on. There's just activity. But they're building on an appreciation for nature. Yes, for sure. Awesome. So what are you growing this year?
00:29:54
Speaker
Let's see, right now I've got dahlias out there. um So I grow summer annuals, obviously. So I'm growing dahlias. I've got zinnias. I did not really do sunflowers again this year. I'm almost like sort of on the fence with sunflowers. um I had a lot of lizianne this year. I was really happy with my liziannes. Choices and just when they bloomed, they really filled a ah gap for me this summer. um Lots of selosia.
00:30:21
Speaker
ah I have perennials in that I'll cut from. um I'm big into spring flowers, like I said, so I always have anemone, ranunculus, peonies. I don't really do many tulips. I have daffodils, some perennial like native plants that are great foliage and fillers.
00:30:41
Speaker
um Yeah, the dahlias will take us through usually until like mid-October when we get frost. I think I had one year that they made it to just about to Halloween when we got our frost, that the the killing frost that really took them out. um And then we'll have a couple of months before the anemones start. Do you take a break in the wintertime?
00:31:05
Speaker
Not really. the shop is My shop is open year-round. I do source from a floral wholesaler throughout the year. When I made the decision to open the shop, um you know this is a business and I wanted to to really treat it that way. so um you know I'll do Christmas wreaths using fresh evergreens that are around ah for the holidays. I've done potted bulbs like amaryllis and paper whites.
00:31:29
Speaker
And then, like I said, I'll order from either a wholesaler that we have here locally or some of the American-grown kind of, I don't know if you want to call them wholesalers too, but the programs where you can get the floral source, where you can get flowers in throughout the winter months. The challenge is that the big, I'm sure for most flower farmers, the big flower holidays are not really during our growing season.
00:31:59
Speaker
Valentine's Day, um Easter, and really Mother's Day is like right on the right on the cusp of flower season. um So it helps when I have spring plants in for Mother's Day. but um Anyway, yeah, I do stay open year round. So there isn't much of a break. This past year, we did take the month of January off. I closed the shop. That was new. um And it was a really nice chance for me to focus on some other projects that I had in mind that I've really seen to fruition this year and have really started to grow.
00:32:31
Speaker
I like that you mentioned the holidays, because that is always such a struggle. Grew some tulips. I'm not growing any tulips this next year. I'm taking a break, but my tulips, I don't force them, so they don't really bloom until April. So I usually miss Easter. So we've already got Valentine's Day that we've missed for local flowers, Easter, and then Mother's Day, like you said, usually the tulips are done and my peonies aren't quite blooming.
00:32:58
Speaker
We need to change these national holidays to summer time. Totally agree. Otherwise, we need to start making dried flowers more popular. That or I have found that my subscriptions, I sell the bulk of my subscriptions at Christmas and again at Mother's Day.
00:33:15
Speaker
So you start selling your next year subscriptions at Christmas time. Yeah, a little bit before that I typically so my program will wrap up I think next week is my last week and I'll usually send an email out within a a week or two to current members and offer them.
00:33:31
Speaker
um i've only I think I've only upped the the price once in that whole time. But basically, I promise, lock in at this year's rate, you know grab your space because in the past, I have had to cut off dates. um So kind of that always gets a good handful back in. And then, yeah, my my sort of public marketing goes live right before um like Small Business Saturday. I usually run a promotion, like buy a subscription, get a week free, or something like that. And then, yeah, I saw a lot and a lot at Christmas and then a bunch more at Mother's Day. That's brilliant. That's such a great idea. So you can not only know that you have some of your subscriptions sold, but you have some income when you can't be selling flowers. That's the key to it because, you know, I'm ordering my seeds, mostly plugs at this point, and those bills need to be paid. You know, the invoices for the plugs seem to be paid when I ordered them. So
00:34:27
Speaker
Yeah, having that revenue up front helps me to fund the next season. Totally. So do you, you just mentioned plugs. Is that how you start most of your flowers in the field? At this point, yes. As you know, seed starting is a whole, could be a whole job in itself. Absolutely. When I started out, I did start all of my seeds the first probably two years. But I am,
00:34:54
Speaker
very bad at watering any indoor plants. um So as you know, you forget to water seeds seedlings like one day and you can lose everything. So I had some failures um and it's hard to you know go anywhere. We we usually go um travel a little bit in the spring and and to have those racks of seeds that need to be ready to go, um you know late April is tricky. So yes, I have started ordering plugs and now I'd say,
00:35:24
Speaker
95% of what I plant is the ordered transplants plugs. It sounds very wise for your business especially since you said you block out this time because that's one of my biggest struggles is like you my husband has a job that he's in the water sports industry which is big here in Hood River And so he's in basically a harvest season just like us. So we're busy, both of us, from April until November. So November through March is when we like to travel. But I'm always like, okay, can I go somewhere? If I do, I need someone to come water these trays.
00:36:02
Speaker
And then sometimes if someone forgets a day, you come back and you have a whole grow light that's wilted over and they're like, I just forgot once. And you're like, once just killed them. I know. I just, it's hard to depend on someone for that. So yeah.
00:36:18
Speaker
I think I might have to give a few more plugs to try this year. I've usually just done Lizzianthus plugs. um Yeah, for sure. Well, they are one that I haven't even attempted to grow. I've just heard how. I know that they will not make it here with me. So they're in they're in safer hands if someone else grows them. But yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, next next week my plug should be arriving. um so you know I get four or five boxes of trays and within a week to 10 days, they're in the ground and that's a lot easier for me to manage. So we're chatting in September right now. What are you planting this September? um Let's see. Snapdragons go in in the fall. um Snapdragons, Foxglove, Bells of Ireland. I had to pull up my seed starting schedule. Rubeckia, Sweetwilliam,
00:37:10
Speaker
keep looking in this direction, that's where my field is. I can kind of visualize the rose in my head. I do um just a handful by seed. I put larkspur in, ah direct cell, larkspur, nigella, and um bachelor's buttons. I will direct cell, but everything else goes in, plugs. The bulk of that is snapdragons. I plant a lot of snapdragons. I'm trying to scale back a little bit because, as I mentioned, I'm trying to change my business model a little bit and they will bloom around the time that I kind of want to be taking a little bit of a break. so racha yeah So do you have to cover any of those in the wintertime? Yep. So basically everything that I just mentioned will go under Agribon, like ah the the light floating row cover with um a very lightweight hoop. So I will take those off when it snows and let the snow insulate. Otherwise the snow would crush them. So everything will get covered when it's warm. I'll uncover them for a little bit.
00:38:08
Speaker
um But basically, they stay covered from late October through maybe March. And then along with those plugs that are arriving, I will plant the bulk of my anemone and ranunculus quorums go under low tunnels. So they are a little bit different. They're made out of a a greenhouse plastic and a heavier conduit, the electrical conduit. Yes. So we bend those hoops and um and they go out. so The hardy annuals will go in the ground by mid-September for me here in 6B, and then I shoot to have the corms, anemone and ranunculus, under those tunnels by early to mid-October. And then those tunnels basically stay closed um all winter. If we do get some warm days, I'll uncover them because they can get really toasty. They're not heated at all, but just the solar heat from
00:39:01
Speaker
you know the sun and the ground, they can get really hot and steamy. I don't know if you grow um under the low tunnels at all, but you kind of need to watch because they can get fried really quick. I have been guilty of frying them. yeah There was one day that it was, it was like 40 degrees in the morning and I was like, I'm not going to open it up yet. And I got busy and I forgot. And then all of a sudden I'm like, it's 70 degrees in March outside today. And I go out and I have a thermometer under them and it was 140 degrees under them. I didn't lose as many as I thought I would, but it was definitely, I ah pull up the sides and there's like steam coming out. I'm so sorry. Yeah.
00:39:39
Speaker
So yes, I have a hard, well this last year I i didn't do many spring flowers because we were in transition and I just knew that I didn't have the bandwidth to handle those. yeah So besides growing flowers, you also have a passion for educating others, is that correct?

Teaching Flower Farming Online

00:39:57
Speaker
I do, yes. So how do you teach others in the floral industry?
00:40:03
Speaker
Yeah, so I found, I would say my passion is it with the floral business really, the business of growing cut flowers. um I don't claim to be an expert at telling you how to start seeds or, you know, I'll give you some pointers, but um I don't consider myself like the plant expert or the flower expert. What I really thrive on and what gets me going is the business side. um My but background I mentioned is in public relations and marketing. I spent quite a few years working for the local chamber of commerce and was just really inspired by all of the small businesses I worked with and I credit that with kind of planting that seed in me to start my own business. So that's what I get excited about, you know how to start a business.
00:40:48
Speaker
um sales channels for cut flowers, where to how to kind of find your market and set yourself apart and you know set up a subscription, how to um put yourself out there on social media, how to build a website, an email list. I could just like it i could go on and on and on. and um I just get really excited about it. And I found that when I talked about that stuff on Instagram or on TikTok, that's what resonated with people. I get so many questions.
00:41:16
Speaker
And I mentioned i I don't love responding to emails or calls, but when it's about their business, I just, oh, I could talk to them forever. I just love answering those questions and just gives me so many ideas for content or a blog post or an email that I could send out. So I found myself really kind of getting into that and, um kind of heading in that direction and just being pulled to share more. So as I mentioned this past January, I kind of took a break from the shop, um which was great because we got some snow. I would have had to close anyway. And I buckled down and created kind of a business of flower farming course online and
00:41:56
Speaker
um Just really put some resources together that I thought would be valuable as someone starting out what I would have loved to have seen. you know I share my seed starting schedule. Again, not because I'm an expert on how to do that, but just because seeing that document in front of me that someone else has figured out You know, its it's just very helpful. I share, you know, email templates and, you know, how to build a website. um So yeah, that's been something new that I've been doing this year. I share a lot on Instagram, a lot on TikTok, which I'm almost like in Paris to say at my age that I'm on TikTok, but it's been fun. I'm on flower talk, I guess. And I have made quite a few connections there and um yeah. What is flower talk?
00:42:43
Speaker
I think it's just the the hashtag Flower Talk. Oh, on TikTok. That shows you how much I know about TikTok. You know, I'm not on there doing some kind of funny dance. You will never catch me dancing on any sort of um social media, anything. um But yeah, I do talk about flowers and growing cut flowers.
00:43:02
Speaker
If I can ask a side question here, yeah I have not been able to figure out TikTok. To me, it feels like a dancing platform and I don't dance. How does a flower farmer build traction on TikTok? So I thought, and I think this applies to basically any social media. um I thought about what was I consuming because it did take, you know, i I downloaded TikTok, you know, maybe a year before I actually started using it and I didn't get it either. You know, I thought this is not me. I'm 37. This is not what I'm doing.
00:43:37
Speaker
Um, but as I watched it and then it starts to figure out what you want to watch and, you know, starts to feed you more of the algorithm starts to feed you whatever. And I liked watching like a day in the life of this person, a day in the life of this person. What's this person eating? What's this person wearing? What's this person doing at their job?
00:43:54
Speaker
So I did A Day in the Life of a Flower Farmer, and that's my series. So that's kind of my regular post. I try to do one once a week. It doesn't end up going that well. um you know So I do it when I have time. um But I just record my day. um And I think that resonates with a lot of people who are doing now what I used to be doing, sitting at a desk, and they kind of want to make a change. So I just share what my day looks like. And sometimes it's out in the field, you know covered in mud. and doing some really hard work. And on days like today, it's running my flower shop. um So that's how I sort of got going there on TikTok. I love that that you took the time to observe and realize what it is that you are consuming.
00:44:43
Speaker
because I don't think I've ever done that with TikTok. I just, I kind of would show up in post and I probably haven't been on in over six months because I was like, it just doesn't make sense. I'm like, I'm not going to dance. And all it was feeding me was dancing videos and crazy stuff. So that's good advice. I'm going to have to go check yours out now.
00:44:59
Speaker
Well, that I found too, and again, this applies very much to Instagram also. I was originally posting with the intent to sell something, you know, like here's the bouquet that I have out today, you know, come buy it. um People don't wanna see that. That's not what I wanna see either. um So it's the interesting stuff that, you know, I really, I had a very established business Instagram. So TikTok was totally new. I really did not intend it to be part of my business persona. So those first couple videos were just, you know, here's my life. I am a flower farmer. And I think that's what made a difference. And now I really treat my Instagram similarly. You know, I don't post a whole lot about what's going on in the shop or what I have for sale. You know, I'll do that my stories. I'll do that a lot on Facebook where my local community is. um
00:45:49
Speaker
But you know just sharing, making a story. People want to people want to watch and and hear your story more so than they want to be sold to. I think that's so important. I think that's one thing that I always love. And part of why I created the podcast is because everyone has such a unique story and it's what makes you, you, and your business what it is.

Using Social Media for Storytelling

00:46:11
Speaker
So I think that's excellent advice. I love hearing stories and I always find everyone's so fascinating because everyone's connection to flowers is different the way they run their business is different. But I think we can learn so much from one another as well, which brings me back to your online teachings.
00:46:30
Speaker
Do you teach through a platform? how to How do you teach your flower school? Sure. So I wanted it again to be a bit different, not not how to grow flowers, not not flower specific. I do cover flowers, but I really wanted it to be different than your average online course. I've taken some, they've been so helpful, but I wanted this to really be more personalized while also knowing that I didn't have the bandwidth to take one-on-one sort of talk to everyone individually. So I kind of melded a little bit of both.
00:47:07
Speaker
m I created a course, so that's self-paced. Should back up a little bit. The first one that I did in January was four weeks. So I opened it up, allowed people in, and we did it live together for four weeks. um I had basically a week's worth of content for four weeks in a row. We'd have a live call every week where I would answer their questions based on that week's topic.
00:47:31
Speaker
All of the downloads you know and resources that I made available were in each week. They could go back and rewatch it, um but we kind of worked through it together. I did that twice, one in January to February, and then one um like March-ish.
00:47:47
Speaker
And the feedback that I was getting was that not everyone had the time to sit down and get through each week at a time. So the self-paced aspect was really important. So what I've done is made it, my course is able to be downloaded at any time. um So you can sign up and you're part of it. You get the content immediately. um And you can just go onto my website and you know watch the videos, access the downloads. You can refer back and you know go over it as many times as you want to.
00:48:17
Speaker
But then there is also the live component. So I call it the group chat. It's a private sort of Facebook group where anyone who is in the course kind of has access. I answer their questions. We brainstorm. It's great to have other people commenting um and, you know, providing feedback. And then I do have a live call.
00:48:35
Speaker
um The idea is once a month, so anyone who's joined gets an invitation to my Zoom and then they can submit questions ahead of time or um you know log on live and then I record it for people who aren't available um when the call is going on. So I've kind of tried to blend, you know,
00:48:55
Speaker
blend it all together and create something a little bit different. Like I said, it's it's really focused on the business of cut flowers and not so much on the growing. So who is your course for?
00:49:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's for you know someone who wants to create you know and a new source of income for their family, create a side hustle, create an entirely new career path. like I have someone who um maybe has a little bit of gardening experience. I think that would definitely be a plus, although I do provide resources or recommendations if someone's brand new to the whole thing. We can we can get you there. um But it would be good for someone who's started to grow a little bit, but now really wants to create a business um out of it. Awesome.
00:49:42
Speaker
So your course is, it's self-paced, it's always available, or is it only available certain times of the year? So yeah, I have made it available year-round, so you can log on at any time. And why I did that, I kind of went back and forth, but So many of the people who, it's it's all been all women, so so many of the women that have taken the course and did it in January, February have come back and said, you know, once it got to be June, I went back to this this session and and that's been so helpful. So it really made a lot of sense to make it available and you can just, once you have access to it, you can access it anytime and refer to what um but you're doing
00:50:24
Speaker
Refer to the lesson that applies to what you're doing at that time. um Yeah, so then the tricky part of that was figuring out the live calls because obviously with the first two groups, I only invited those those women to the call. um But I've decided to just kind of let it open because again, the women that took went through the course in January, February are now having questions about Oh, well, this is happening with my subscription program. So now what do I do? Or how how do I get prepared to resell again? And can we go over that again? So I've just, again, i I like to talk to people. I love to talk about this stuff. It didn't make sense to kind of cut them off. So it's just kind of open on a rolling basis. And I just consider this not really a class, but like a community that I'm building of um ah flower people.
00:51:13
Speaker
Awesome. I have a dahlia patch community where we talk all things dahlias. ok And it's so great. Yes, we'd love to have you. It's so great to just have a community, especially when you're new at something like becoming a flower farmer. It's a lot different than what people think it's going to be. It's not just cutting a bunch of beautiful flowers. Most of the time I'm covered in mud or my hands are dirty or I'm pulling. It's it's literally like you're in the weeds some days.
00:51:41
Speaker
um And that is the name of my course in the weeds. Is it really? It is. yeah Oh, I love that. That's so perfect. um So I think it's great to have a community of people that can support you along the way. What do you think separates your course from other flower farming courses?

Community Support in Flower Farming

00:52:00
Speaker
I think it is that bit of live component and access. you know The courses that I have done, um I haven't really felt that. you know It was download and follow at your own pace, and when you're done, you're done. um Not really the ability to ask questions. or um So I think that interaction. um I've heard a lot of people, again, the community word I come back to, um but so many of the testimonials that I've received refer to the community and having that support from other growers. you know They might just be popping on to the Facebook group and saying,
00:52:34
Speaker
Hey, I finally got around to designing a logo. What do you think of these three? Can we talk about them? You know, it's that kind of stuff. And sometimes it's something is eating my plants. like What do I do about it? So like you said, having those people to bounce ideas off up and talk to, I think that's what sets it apart um from others. Thank you for sharing that.
00:52:58
Speaker
We have talked about a lot of different things today. Is there anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to share with our audience today? I don't think so. I think we've covered quite a bit of it. You know, we talked about starting the fact that I didn't start small. And and now when people ask, how do I get started? I say, maybe don't do exactly what I did. Do start small. um Don't think you have to do everything all at once. And don't think you have to do everything going forward. Like you said, um you've stopped growing tulips. Same here. and you know that I've cut out so many things, and therefore I'm able to get really focused on what works for me, what works for my business, and that sets it apart, I think. um yes
00:53:43
Speaker
you know i think I'm not trying to, and would i I never want to put any other farm down. So I'm not saying that what I'm doing is better, but there are there are lots of flower growers popping up in my area, which I think is awesome. So many of them also are my former customers that have, some have taken my course, some have just kind of asked me for tips. I've shared DahliaTubers with them. I love it. I think there is nothing better than more flowers. I don't see it as competition, but I think it's important to set yourself apart. So I said, I don't grow sunflowers.
00:54:14
Speaker
every, you know, most people do. And I think that makes mine different. I grew a lot of Lizzianthus this year and i I think it's important to not see Not see that as a limitation, but as an opportunity to be different and to do something different and to make yourself and your business memorable. I love that. i That goes back to telling your story and making it about you because people buy flowers from a person that they relate to.

Connecting Through Personal Stories

00:54:43
Speaker
Like I have had the same CSA subscribers for five years now.
00:54:48
Speaker
And I love it. I mean, I know their families. I've watched kids grow up. I've seen grandchildren be born. And they've watched my daughter, she comes along on deliveries with me when she's not in school. you love it And they've watched her grow up over five years. I mean, she was five years old when I started delivering these bouquets. And they're invested in you and your farm. um And I think they invest in your farm because of who you are and what you have to offer. So I think that's beautiful advice. Totally agree.
00:55:17
Speaker
Katie, I've enjoyed speaking with you so much today. For those that are just discovering you today, where can they find you offline? Sure. So I am pretty much everywhere at Hidden Springs Flowers on Instagram, on TikTok. My website is also hiddenspringsflowers.com. Like I said, I have a blog, um, that I'm trying to make more of an effort at keeping up with, but that's where I am. Um, and I'd love to connect. Obviously I love to chat, especially as it pertains to flower business. And is that where your course is also located is on your website?
00:55:50
Speaker
Yes, on my website. Yep, Head and Springs Flowers. Awesome. Well, in our show notes, we will include links to all of those. And if you could send me some photos of your farm, we'll also include some photos with today's show notes so people can see your beautiful farm and that barn and your retail store space. So I'm excited for people to be able to see those. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. It's been an absolute delight getting to chat with you. And I look forward to following your journey and seeing how your story unfolds next year with the third little one on the farm. Yeah, we'll see. yeah Thank you so much for having me. It's been so fun talking that hour flew by. It really did. Well, thank you, Katie. I'd love to leave the door open so you could come back again sometime. Awesome. Sounds great. I'd love to. Thanks. You have a great day. You too. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
00:56:46
Speaker
Just a quick reminder, flower friends, if you've been thinking about creating your own digital course, time's running out to join Amy Porterfield's course confident bootcamp. It starts on September 11th and trust me, you don't want to miss this chance to finally grow that course idea into something incredible. For just $47, you'll get all the tools you'll need to get clear on your course, attract your audience and confidently show up online. But act fast, doors are closing soon. Head to today's show notes for the link and grab your spot before it's too late.
00:57:23
Speaker
Thank you Flower Friends for joining us on another episode of the Backyard Bouquet. I hope you've enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable gardening insights we've shared today. Whether you're cultivating your own backyard blooms or supporting your local flower farmer, you're contributing to the local flower movement, and we're so happy to have you growing with us.
00:57:45
Speaker
If you'd like to stay connected and continue this blossoming journey with local flowers, don't forget to subscribe to the Backyard Bouquet podcast. I'd be so grateful if you would take a moment to leave us a review of this episode. And finally, please share this episode with your garden friends. Until next time, keep growing, keep blooming, and remember that every bouquet starts right here in the backyard.