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Ep.7: Connecting with Nature and Giving Back with Flower Farmer Misha Gillingham
2.4k Plays2 years ago
In this episode of the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, we are joined by Misha Gillingham of Farmluxe. Misha shares her journey to becoming a flower farmer and the profound impact of blooms on ones overall well-being.
Misha discusses her first introduction to gardening when she bought a farm in Washington seven years ago. She was inspired by the existing garden on the property and the joy of harvesting fresh food with her family. This experience sparked her passion for gardening and led her to expand her garden into a full-blown flower farm.
Misha emphasizes the importance of starting with a practice garden and taking the time to learn and experiment before diving into larger-scale farming. She encourages listeners to be patient and not rush the process, as gardening is a continuous learning experience.
The conversation also touches on the challenges Misha faced when transitioning to her new farm, Sky Dance on San Juan Island. The property presents unique obstacles such as a north-facing slope and rocky soil. However, Misha's determination and creativity has allowed her to overcome these challenges and create a beautiful garden.
Misha shares her passion for connecting with local farmers and giving back to the community. She discusses her experience donating surplus food and flowers to the food bank and other organizations. Misha also reveals her future plans to establish a community garden on her farm, providing a space for people to learn and grow their own food.
This episode offers valuable insights and inspiration for both seasoned gardeners and those curious about the connection between flowers, gardening, and well-being. Misha's wisdom and passion for nature and giving back shine through, making this a truly uplifting and informative conversation.
In this episode:
- 00:01:59 - Introduction to Misha of Farmluxe
- 00:06:36 - Misha's first farm
- 00:19:44 - Challenges and requirements in finding a new farm
- 00:23:01 - Challenges of building a garden on a slope with
- 00:25:06 - Design elements & tips for incorporating arches & trellises
- 00:29:41 - Misha's five-year plan for her new flower farm
- 00:37:46 - Misha's garden club and online courses
- 00:40:58 - Gardening & flower farming tips for beginners
- 00:44:02 - Importance of supporting local and organic farming
- 00:55:09 - Final words and encouragement to start gardening and flower farming
Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2024/01/30/episode-7-misha-gillingham-farmluxe/
Learn more:
- Check out Farmluxe Online: https://farmluxe.com/
- Join: Club Farmluxe
- Follow On Social: https://www.instagram.com/farmluxe/
- Buy Misha's Book: Blooms & Dreams
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Transcript
Introduction to Backyard Bouquet
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet podcast, where stories bloom from local flower fields and home gardens. I'm your host, Jennifer Galitzia of the Flowering Farmhouse. I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon. Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers. From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
00:00:32
Speaker
The backyard bouquet is your fertile ground for heartwarming tales and expert cut flower growing advice. All right flower friends, grab your gardening gloves, garden snips, or your favorite vase because it's time to let your backyard bloom.
Meet Misha Gillingham
00:00:56
Speaker
Today we have the pleasure of chatting with my friend Misha Gillingham of Farmlux. Misha is a published writer, flower and vegetable farmer, garden designer, show host, photographer, wife, and mother. She inspires others through creativity, nature, and wellness. Misha is the author of the inspiring book, Blooms and Dreams, and is the creator of Club Farmlux, a digital haven for those aspiring to embrace a lifestyle
00:01:24
Speaker
inspired by gardens, flowers, and nature. Join us today as we explore Misha's passion for connecting with local farmers, cultivating flowers, and the profound impact of blooms on our overall well-being. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or someone curious about the profound connection between flowers and wellness, Misha's wisdom is sure to inspire and uplift you. Without further delay, please join me in welcoming Misha to the Backyard Bouquet. Hello, my friend.
00:01:53
Speaker
Hi, thank you for having me. Oh my goodness, thank you so much for joining us today. I'm so looking forward to this conversation and I know our listeners are going to gain so much valuable insight from you today. If you don't mind, would you introduce yourself and give a little bit of your background into flower farming and gardening so our listeners know a little bit more about you?
Accidental Gardening Journey
00:02:18
Speaker
Sure, gosh, it's hard to know where to start because there's such a long story, but I'll try to condense it down. I guess my first introduction to gardening began when we bought a farm in Washington. This was about seven years ago, so I had no experience gardening prior to this and there was a garden. We moved in to our farm in August
00:02:46
Speaker
And there was a garden that someone had done all the work for. And I was just, I got to come in and harvest all the fruits of someone else's labor. And it was so rewarding for us to be able to go out as a family and harvest food and eat it every night together. And I was hooked. Like there was no way after that, like I was not going to continue on with this garden, but that was never my plan.
00:03:10
Speaker
Going into farm life. It was more to be surrounded in nature and have a more peaceful place to be we came from California near LA and Life was very chaotic and we were having health issues within our family. I had cancer My daughter was suffering from some serious mental health issues and we thought okay Let's rethink everything and and so that the goal was to be within nature. I've always had a love affair with nature and
00:03:40
Speaker
The garden was an accident, but once I did it, I dove in and it's been amazing.
00:03:48
Speaker
Um, I always say seven years doesn't sound that long, but the way I dove in and the amount of time I spend gardening, I feel like I have 20 years of experience under my belt because I've grown everything under the sun. And I spend about like in the summer, I'm outside from when it's light to when it's dark. So literally when the sun rises at like four 30 in the morning till at 10 PM once it's set. So it's like.
00:04:13
Speaker
that the amount of hours I'm in the garden because I'm so passionate about it have just made me feel like I've been gardening my whole life.
00:04:24
Speaker
It's amazing how time flies when you're out in the garden. You don't even realize that it goes from morning to night. Backtracking, you said you've only been gardening for seven years, so you were living in California. Your family decided that you wanted to slow down, so you decided to move. For those listening who aren't familiar, where did you move to?
Moving to Bainbridge Island
00:04:46
Speaker
So I moved to Bainbridge Island. It's a island in Washington that's outside of Seattle. It's a quick 30-minute ferry ride. And we absolutely loved Bainbridge Island. We're not there anymore. We actually sold that farm and started a new farm. And now we are in a chain of islands near the border of Canada. So we're on the U.S. side right by the border.
00:05:13
Speaker
We really like the remoteness. Like I don't, I didn't know this about myself until I kept moving further away from the city, but I'm not a city girl. I love nature and where we are now on San Juan Island, we're like surrounded by so much raw nature and not as many people and no traffic, no streetlights. It's just a, it's a different lifestyle and it really feels more true to, um,
00:05:41
Speaker
what my husband and I were hoping for.
Life at Skydance Farm
00:05:44
Speaker
So now we have this farm called Skydance, and we're on Salmon Island. We're on top of a mountain. So it sort of feels like our farm is like a flower island because we've covered the area that's actually exposed to the sun with flowers.
00:06:03
Speaker
And then we have ocean and mountain views in the background. And it really just feels like this little mountainside paradise and we want to be here for forever.
00:06:15
Speaker
It sounds absolutely amazing and the pictures I've seen on social media just look absolutely magical. So backtracking to your first farm, you mentioned that there was already a garden there. Is that what led you to buying that property or was the garden kind of an accident that came with the property?
Garden Expansion Strategies
00:06:36
Speaker
The garden was unintended and it was small. So it was not the garden that
00:06:44
Speaker
I ended with at that property. It was a small garden, but it produced very well. And it was an accident. I spent, you know, like I said, we harvested the food and I was like, this is amazing and I need this in my life. So I spent the next year
00:07:04
Speaker
using the whole thing as a practice garden. So I literally just grew everything in the ground. I didn't spend a penny on anything other than seeds. There was already like overhead sprinkler irrigation. So I just wanted to learn and I just wanted to experiment and I didn't want to have any pressure on me because I had no idea what I was doing.
00:07:26
Speaker
But I do think that seeing the garden when we moved in thriving in its amazing August state gave me the confidence I needed to move forward because I could see how all the plants were staked and I could see what things were growing so I knew what to plant. If I didn't have that, I don't think I would have had the confidence to even start or even have the idea to do it.
00:07:51
Speaker
I really have to thank the previous owners for getting me into gardening. And my husband a little bit too, because he suggested, you know, why don't you start growing some flowers? And I was like, I've never considered that before. So like, this was all, you know, it found me, I didn't find it. And then, you know, after I had my year of practice gardening, I was again, like, this is my thing. Like, I wish I had found this earlier in life. You know, I'm 41 now. So,
00:08:20
Speaker
I wasn't young when I found gardening. And I wish I'd been doing it my whole life. Anyway, I knew that I wanted to expand and so then I started designing a new garden and really growing it bigger and kind of turned into a full-blown flower farm, but not the version you're used to seeing. I never really grew a bunch of things in rows. It was more like in raised beds and companion planting
00:08:50
Speaker
So slightly different than the typical flower farm that you're used to seeing. I guess it was my own spin on it, per se. Yeah, and then after that, just every year, adding to it a little bit. And now I'm in the process of doing it all over again at this new farm. So you moved in in the middle of summer. The garden was already growing and thriving, producing an abundance of vegetables. And then your husband encouraged you to also start growing flowers.
00:09:19
Speaker
which thinking back that that was only seven years ago. And for those listening, if you have not checked out Misha's social media, her garden is not a small garden. It became a huge full fledged flower farm with an abundance of vegetables and flowers. How did you grow it from
00:09:41
Speaker
when you received it to what it was when you left it. I mean, it obviously was a process to grow it up. And then on top of that, as you started growing it and you had this abundance, I'd love to hear where did you take those fruits and vegetables? What did you do with all of that? Yeah, okay. There's a few questions in there. So I'll start with the first one, how I grew the garden.
Community Contributions
00:10:05
Speaker
I guess I've always looked at, and I don't know why, because I didn't have experience, but I always looked at it as like a five year plan, and it's something you add to over time, and that's actually something that I teach in my garden design course now, is like a garden is not, like you don't have to go into it and have everything set perfectly in year one. You should actually spend year one practicing. And then you can add face things in year by year. So I started with the bones. I knew I wanted a lot of raised beds.
00:10:34
Speaker
And then from there, I thought, okay, now I can get like the following year after the beds were in, like the bones of the garden. I thought now I can get, you know, fun with designs and vertical growing and just added things in. I didn't have my greenhouse until year three of that garden. So year four of being on the property.
00:10:54
Speaker
I, you know, you don't have to have everything all at once. It's a process. And I love to tell people that because I think people get intimidated because they think, Oh, well, like, I don't have the ability to add in all these things at once. And you don't have to. That's the beauty of a garden is like, it's something you build upon over time.
00:11:13
Speaker
So I personally love design. And so I had really, I had a lot of fun with adding certain aspects to the garden and growing it into, which I would say it was about an acre garden of planting area by the time I was done with it. We were on 10 acres, but we had pastures and animals and a bunch of other things. And when, and all of this, I guess we'll answer your other questions. So one, when I started,
00:11:41
Speaker
expanding my garden, I was like, oh my gosh, I have this huge surplus of food and flowers. But I didn't feel ready to start selling my flowers or food. And I wasn't sure that was the route I wanted to go down.
00:11:58
Speaker
I I wasn't really confident and I knew I was having good luck Well, which I thought was good luck at growing things but I wasn't sure I would be able to produce like that every year and so I was like well I'm just gonna have fun with it and and I feel very blessed to be in a position where I was able to just do that because I know that you know, a lot of people aren't in that position and
00:12:20
Speaker
I have to thank my husband because he has a very good career and at the time I wasn't working because my Daughters were going through well one of my daughters was going through a very serious mental health struggle and I just needed to be home and so I At the time I was not working. I was able to work in the garden and
00:12:42
Speaker
Anyway, we had this huge surplus and I wasn't going to sell it and I thought, gosh, you know, this is bringing me so much joy. Maybe I can start donating this to the community. Everyone deserves to have fresh organic food. And I also wanted people to know how delicious the food was.
00:13:00
Speaker
that came from the garden versus the grocery store. I wanted to share it, like it was bringing me so much joy. I wanted to like share it and I wanted to, you know, really same with the flowers, like so much joy. And so I started having little harvesting parties, I guess you could say with my friends on the island and with my daughters and my husband, we would harvest the food.
00:13:25
Speaker
And then we would take it over to the food bank. So we had a nice little set up with the Bainbridge Island food bank where we'd bring them all these beautiful fruits and veggies mostly during the summer because that's when everything's coming in and lots of flowers and bouquets and just became a regular weekly thing. And that
00:13:47
Speaker
was just, it brought so much joy and it was such a fun activity to be able to do with everyone and everyone felt good doing it and the people receiving the flowers were happy.
00:13:57
Speaker
It was probably one of my favorite parts about the garden and that property. And it's something that I'm trying to add in here at the new property. I've been donating the flowers already. The veggies, I haven't had as much of a surplus. So I'm planning on adding that in once I expand my garden here. But just being able to give, especially something that brings me so much joy and like share it with the community was,
00:14:26
Speaker
Uh, just so rewarding. I love that. Thank you. I asked you a complex question with several layers and you did awesome answering. Thank you. Um, I love, there was a couple of things that you said that really stood out. And I think that a lot of listeners can really relate to. I love that your first year you spent learning.
00:14:47
Speaker
you didn't set any expectations that you were going to sell X amount of flowers. I think a lot of people jump into flower farming. They maybe have a little bit of experience with gardening and they think, I'm going to start a flower farm. I'm going to sell all these flowers. But in reality, you don't know how much you're going to produce. You don't know what's going to happen. And just having that experience
00:15:09
Speaker
to really get your hands dirty and know what it's all about and how you're going to feel about it. Some people may decide it's not for them and others like you, you realized how much joy it brings you. I love that you spent a year really learning it. And then my favorite part of what you just said is that it brought you so much joy that you wanted to share it with others.
00:15:31
Speaker
And the fact that you shared it with your food bank and your community is so inspiring. And I think that that's something that a lot of people could be doing, especially in that first year when they're growing and they're not really sure what to do with it.
00:15:46
Speaker
Can you tell us how did you go about doing that? Did you just show up to your food bank and say, hey, I have all of this? Or for those listening that have a surplus, how can they share their flowers or their garden harvest? Yeah, that is such a good question. And actually people ask me that a lot. So many places have food banks.
00:16:06
Speaker
You may not know that they're there, but most places do. It's usually on their website, they will say that they either accept financial donations, they'll accept food. A lot of times they'll take flowers too even though they don't say anything about it because that's not really a necessity. Well, I think it's a necessity. I think everyone should have beautiful fresh flowers.
00:16:30
Speaker
you can just go to the website, get the information, contact them. And there's also ways, if you don't have a food bank, you can also, if you're looking to donate or give, you can also go to local, I know COVID regulations may have changed this a little bit, so definitely worth checking out first, but you can go to local hospitals. You can go to elderly homes. Usually they'll take floral donations.
00:17:00
Speaker
And then also you can talk to people in your community. There are usually fundraisers and events that could definitely use flowers or food donations for the events that they're putting on. So there's definitely different ways to get involved and give to the community that don't just involve a food bank, but events and other types of fundraisers can definitely use these types of donations as well.
00:17:28
Speaker
I love that idea I've given to nursing homes in the past and I've never, I've been asked to donate to fundraisers, but I've never thought about the idea of reaching out to fundraisers or you could go to a local school.
Engaging Local Businesses
00:17:42
Speaker
There's so many places now that you said that my head is spinning that there's all of these places in our communities that could certainly benefit from our flowers. So thank you so much for sharing that. Those are great suggestions.
00:17:55
Speaker
One other thing that just popped into my mind that when I first moved to this new island, I didn't know anybody and I didn't have events or fundraisers, because we're a small island, that I was really set up with to give to. So my assistant and I just put together a bunch of okay's and just went into local businesses and dropped them off. And so, you know, there's always ways you can brighten people's days. And it's just, you know, about reaching out to your community and
00:18:25
Speaker
and seeing where there's need.
00:18:28
Speaker
Oh, I love that. That is such a wonderful idea of going to the businesses and just dropping off a bouquet. It's really hard when you're starting out for people to know who you are and that you grow these amazing flowers and your flowers aren't going to necessarily sell themselves. So that's such a smart idea. So let's talk about this new home and venture of yours. So you were, how many years did you spend at your first farm?
00:18:57
Speaker
I think by the time we left, it was five and a half-ish, five and a half years. So how long have you been at your new flower island? So we've been here a year and a half. Yeah, a year and a half. So we're just coming up on our second garden season. Okay. And so
00:19:20
Speaker
Your first farm was called, did you have a name for your first farm? Evergreenacres. It was already the name of the farm. And the new farm is called Skydance, which was already the name of this property too. So we didn't rename anything. Gotcha. And so how did you happen to decide to leave your old farm and move to Skydance?
00:19:45
Speaker
very long story and it was kind of a snowball of a bunch of different things happening at once. Some of them just personal family things that were going on with our daughters where we wanted to move them to somewhere else. And then my husband is very into boating and the islands where we are now it's like
00:20:12
Speaker
one of the most beautiful places for boating, I mean, in the US. So for him, that was a big plus. For me, the nature, the hiking, the moving further away from the city. During COVID, Seattle, where we were close to before, it kind of went downhill a little bit. It didn't feel as safe. And we really didn't want to utilize the access to the city anymore.
00:20:39
Speaker
So there wasn't really anything holding us in that area except for the property that we had and loved, and of course the community on Bainbridge Island that we loved. But we ultimately decided it was best to move forward. If I got into all the details on that, we'd be talking for three days. So that's probably the quickest way that I can sum it up is just,
00:21:09
Speaker
For multiple reasons, it worked better for every member of our family. Sure. Did the property, did Skydance Farms find you or did you find it? I think that some of our listeners who are joining us today are perhaps looking for their own land and thinking, I need a space where I can grow my own garden. Is there anything or any requirements that you had when you were looking for
00:21:37
Speaker
your new home that might be beneficial for someone else to consider as they're trying to find a spot where they can cultivate a garden or a farm?
Selecting and Designing Garden Land
00:21:47
Speaker
Yes. There are definitely things that I would not recommend doing as a beginner that I took on some major challenges with this new property, but I felt that I was up to the challenge.
00:22:02
Speaker
But originally when searching for land, I was looking for something that had a large sunny area That was the number one most important thing. Obviously without Sun we can't grow.
00:22:15
Speaker
I was looking for a place that had, I was hoping to find something east facing because I've noticed that the way the sun moves over the land or over the garden, I like having my flowers facing east because they don't get the harsh afternoon sun. They get some nice shade, but they get all the morning rays.
00:22:39
Speaker
So I was looking for that. I didn't find it. I am north facing, which is the most difficult direction to be facing with the garden. It's the least amount of sun, but because we're on top of a mountain and it doesn't matter, like it's sun full day. Um, but you know, access to water, all these things are so important with the garden soil. You definitely should look into the soil situation.
00:23:05
Speaker
I found out after we moved that there is no soil here. It's literally all rock. There's maybe an inch of soil and moss and then rock underneath. We had to bring all of our soil in, which had I known that
00:23:23
Speaker
It might have changed my decision process. I mean, I'm happy now we worked around it. But definitely something to think about when you're looking for land. If you, you know, it's hard to get things to drain.
00:23:37
Speaker
if you have rock and we are on a slope. So usually that's a challenge, but it actually helps in this situation because it will drain. If we were on flat land and it was just rock, the water wouldn't go anywhere. So I guess in this setting, the slope helps us.
00:23:55
Speaker
even though it's more difficult because we have to build retaining walls. There's so many challenges here. But definitely when you're looking for a piece of land, look for that sunshine, check out the soil situation, see how far down the soil goes because you could have a foot of soil and then rock.
00:24:16
Speaker
You could even go so far as to test the soil if you don't want to have to bring in a bunch of new soil. So all things to look for. And then I guess it just depends on what you want the land to do. I also wanted to be able to have animals, so I wanted to make sure there was
00:24:32
Speaker
a sunny spot where I could have my goats. I'm hoping to build a chicken coop at some point. So I think definitely knowing your goals beforehand and making sure that there's ample space for each of those things is really important. Those are some great tips. Thank you. And oh my goodness, I'm sorry to hear about bringing in the soil. I know how hard it is to get soil here in Hood River. So I can't imagine bringing soil to an island.
00:25:02
Speaker
Did they have to bring it by boat? Yep, it had to come over on the ferry. Oh my goodness.
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah, luckily there is a ferry that comes to the island. So things can get here. It's not like it has to fly. But that would be a challenge. Yeah, it's been a challenge. And then just building a deer fence so that my flowers don't all get eaten or my vegetables. We had to drill into the rock to set each post. So it's like whatever my budget, whatever I thought my budget was going to be at a time set by three. So it's definitely worth
00:25:38
Speaker
knowing what you're getting into before you buy the property. Do some research, spend some time there, ask if you can drill down or dig down into the soil, you know, make sure it's going to work for you. That's so important because soil makes such a difference. Oh, and it's expensive. It's just, you know, doesn't help the budget if you've got to bring all the soil in. Since you don't have great soil naturally on your property,
00:26:07
Speaker
Are you planting directly into the ground? Are you doing raised beds? How are you designing this flower garden? Good question. I have had to build everything up from the ground. So everything is in raised beds and some of them are large, like patches, like my Dahlias, for example, are in a very large raised bed. Um,
00:26:30
Speaker
And then I have, I've used natural stone because I'm trying to use things that are already here on the island that are locally sourced or come from my land. And I'm using stone to build up the beds without any grout or anything. I'm just stacking the stone. It's kind of a cool look. I've never really seen it before. You can't walk on the stone or it will, you know, topple over, but you can,
00:26:58
Speaker
It holds the soil in just fine, and it's natural stone that comes from the island, so I feel like it's in the right place. But yes, everything is built up from the ground. It has been extremely... I gave myself so many challenges when I decided to build a garden here, but I'm enjoying the challenge. And your garden is on a slope as well, is that correct? Massive.
00:27:24
Speaker
Yes. So how tall are your raised beds? I'm just trying to get a visual here. Yeah. Are they waist high, knee high? Like how do you determine how high to build your raised beds? So it depends on what I'm growing in them. I like to have some varying heights just for like visual aspects like in layer and that all that stuff. Some of them are, most of them are about two feet, a foot and a half to two feet high.
00:27:51
Speaker
Some of them a little higher depending on the landscape. Sometimes I have to build up higher just to be able to keep the soil in and if it's on a slope the bottom will have to be higher than the top. So there I would say the average bed is two feet high. Some of them are not even a foot because they're just things that don't need that don't have deep roots that don't need much soil to grow like the wildflowers for example. I just
00:28:21
Speaker
layered a few inches of soil actually and scattered the seeds and they did fine. And how wide are your beds? Do they vary also? Yeah, so here they vary a ton because I had to design, not only are we sloped, nothing is level, nothing is flat. It's all hilly landscape and I had to design them based on
00:28:44
Speaker
what the landscape was doing. So some of them are six feet wide, which is like not recommended for trying to, if you're doing like farming, because you can't really get in there to work as well. I mean, I just, I just climb in the beds to work. I usually recommend like a four foot bed to for ease of working, but I,
00:29:06
Speaker
It fit the area and I'm trying to maximize my growing space. So I have some six foot beds, I've got some four foot beds, nothing smaller than four feet.
00:29:17
Speaker
Okay. Four feet is a good width. Most of my rows are 48 inches wide so that I can reach across it and not have to crawl in and step on flowers. Mine's commercial, so I need to maximize every inch I can as well for harvesting flowers. So you're entering year two. Do you have a five-year plan?
00:29:38
Speaker
for this flower farm as well? Oh, yes, I do. I have so many things that I'm trying to roll out here. We only have the bones in right now. So I'm in that phase that I was at the first farm where I just have the beds in.
00:29:56
Speaker
This winter, well right now actually we're starting to build some arbors and trellises for climbing plants. I'd like to add a greenhouse. I'm hoping to add a chicken coop, more seating areas, lots of design elements, arches.
00:30:12
Speaker
some steps, more pathways and an orchard. The list is long, but you know, I'll just do it as I can. It doesn't have to all happen right now. If I've learned anything from gardening, it's patience and to hold out for that delayed gratification, not to try and do it all at once. Because when you, when you hold out, it just, the result is so much better. So I'm not in a hurry.
00:30:38
Speaker
I love that. I think gardening certainly teaches us patience. You want to hurry things and Mother Nature just takes her time and things always seem to happen at the right moment, even if we don't realize it until later. So your last farm had gorgeous trellises and arches and you mentioned you're adding them again.
00:31:00
Speaker
For our listeners that want to add some design elements to their garden, do you have any tips that people could use to incorporate arches and trellises and arbors into their own gardens?
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, I guess there are many tips I could add because I have an entire course on this. But when it comes to vertical growing, you can usually just add an arbor or arch in between two beds. So if you want that look of sort of framing a walkway or framing a view, adding in an arch is a beautiful way to do that. And you can just build it
00:31:42
Speaker
from one bed to another. So you don't really have to do a ton of construction. The ones that I'm building right now, I'm using wooden branches that have come from the land and we're just building them natural to match the environment. So we're not even doing any like, we're not doing anything major. We're literally just screwing together branches. And I wish I could show photos. They're not built yet.
00:32:06
Speaker
But yeah, I would just say when you're going to add something like that, you want to frame the view. So you want to put it where you're going to draw people in. So if you want someone to come into your garden and walk down a walkway, a good way to direct them down that walkway is to add an arch there. It adds a vertical element, draws your eye in, and then tells you this is the way to go.
00:32:30
Speaker
So as far as placement, I always put it where I think there needs to be a focal point of sorts. And then also like arbors and pergolas and things that are a little larger. I put those over seating areas so that there's like a shaded area in the summer here. It's so hot and there's no shade. So that's my reason for putting in the larger structures is just to create a nice place where we can do flower arranging.
00:32:59
Speaker
And for the workshops that I do here in the summer, I've got 20 to 30 people coming out and we need to have somewhere that has shade for them to arrange flowers. Right now we have a beautiful deck with amazing views, but it's hot. So yeah, so I'm putting the arbors in to create some shade, some comfortable spaces for people.
00:33:26
Speaker
I love that. So it sounds like your design elements are very intentional and well thought out. It's not just, oh, let's put an arch here, but this is going to bring your eye in here. This is going to serve a purpose in the garden. Yes. So I actually made the mistake. The only reason why I am now more intentional about it is because I made a mistake and built one in the wrong place. So at the last farm, I started with some rebar arches that were supposed to be squash tunnels.
00:33:56
Speaker
And I built them from bed to bed, like I was saying I do, so that plants could grow from the bed right up the arch and over to the other side. And after I built them, I knew right away that I'd made a mistake. They were blocking the view. They were literally making it so that my eye couldn't look where I wanted it to. It made my eye stop.
00:34:22
Speaker
And it was cutting off the view that I was trying to highlight. And I immediately was like, this isn't going to work. So luckily it was just rebar and I took them off. And then once we built the nice wood ones, I knew these need to be bigger. They can't block the view and they need to be facing the other direction.
00:34:41
Speaker
That's great advice. I think for me, I'm definitely guilty of just going in. I'm like, oh, I have this. I'm going to put this here. But thank you. This will make me be more intentional in my garden of where I place things and thinking about where do I want someone's eye to go. I mean, I have a Mount Hood view, so I want to direct people to the mountain view and not just
00:35:01
Speaker
looking at my pile of compost or... Yeah, it's tricky because you want to frame the view, not block it. So it's like, how do you put this structure up so that it's framing and not blocking? It has to be a little bigger than you imagine. So anytime someone is trying to put an arch and I always say, make it a little bigger than you think, you don't want to cut off the line of sight.
00:35:25
Speaker
That's great advice. Do you have any favorite flowers or vegetables that you like to grow on trellises and arbors? Oh, on trellises and arbors. Okay. I love to grow scarlet runner beans on arbors and trellises because they grow so fast and they really give you that full look. I like things to be filled in and grained.
00:35:46
Speaker
And those run, they grow so fast and they produce little flowers and the beans are delicious. They look like magic beans. They're like purple and pink. So I love growing those. I just think everything about them is magical. I love
00:36:02
Speaker
clematis as a climbing flower for years to get established, but it is one of, it is my favorite climbing flower. There are so many varieties and they're so gorgeous. I'm like in love with clematis. Do you have a favorite variety of clematis? Well, I grew a lot of Josephine. It's a pink, like multi-layered version.
00:36:28
Speaker
And it's beautiful. I like Midori. There's a bunch and there's honestly, there's so many and they're all so unique. It's hard to believe they're all the same kind of flower. I have only one. I don't even know what it's called. I bought it on clearance at Costco.
00:36:45
Speaker
almost six years ago when we moved into this house. And I was like, oh, it was less than $10. I'm like, if it makes it great, it has thrived. And it just comes back bigger and better every single year. And it's just stunning. And I've started using the vines and centerpiece arrangements. And I just love how they trellis down and cascade. And when the petals fall off, the seed pods are gorgeous. I really enjoy them as well. Yeah, I love it. I feel like that's one of those flowers where you really have to
00:37:15
Speaker
be willing to wait for it to, the first year it's not going to do well. Actually the first year, almost every time that I've done climatitis, it kind of withers and wilts and it's like, it's very underwhelming. Then the next year it's a little better. And then that third year you're like, whoa, this is so pretty. And then give it, you know, every year after that, and it's even more beautiful and big. So it's one you have to have patience with.
00:37:39
Speaker
I love that. Patience, that's such a good word for the garden.
Overcoming Farm Challenges
00:37:43
Speaker
Can you think of any challenges that you have faced as you have created either your first garden or now this one at Skydance Farms and how did you overcome that challenge? Well, like I said here at Skydance, the challenges are vast. I think that at our first farm,
00:38:06
Speaker
my challenges were just learning. Like I just needed to experiment and it was, I needed to fail and try again. And that was all trial and error. As far as the growing space, it was, it was perfect. Like it was East facing flat, full sun, great drainage, great soil, like everything you could want. So I had all of that in my favor starting out.
00:38:29
Speaker
Moving to the garden we're at now, we're on a north facing massive steep slope with no soil that's all rock below. So, I mean, the challenges are just, I mean, it's daily where I'm trying to figure out what to do. We, you know, we have, we're in nature on a mountain. We've got pests. We have moles that are digging up the soil that I did bring in and making a big old mess with it.
00:38:57
Speaker
Um, luckily we have Eagles, like a lot of them. So, uh, things don't last that long. Like the, the moles don't last too long and the rats don't last too long, uh, because there's Eagles circling the property. But I mean, there's always going to be a challenge in every garden, some more than others. And I think it's kind of fun using, you know, my brain to try and figure out how to,
00:39:25
Speaker
solve these problems. And my motto is always, okay, what is happening in nature? So I always try to mimic what's happening in nature to make it successful. So I don't use pesticides. I don't use fertilizers. I just use natural organic materials. I do companion planting. So I'm just trying to create a diverse ecosystem. And I do feel like
00:39:54
Speaker
It's helped a lot with just trying to, you know, I'm trying to make all this soil here healthy. It's, I brought it in, but it's still not perfect, you know? And so I'm just, I'm trying everything I can to create a diverse little ecosystem and keep all the plants happy.
00:40:16
Speaker
I love that you said you are trying to mimic nature instead of fighting nature. I think so many people and so much of society right now just says, oh, here's this solution or here's this, go spray this and you'll take care of it. But you're fighting nature when you do that versus learning how to coexist with your environment. And you mentioned the bald eagles taking care of the moles. Here I have a dog that takes care of the moles for me.
00:40:43
Speaker
I'll be out in the garden. Next thing I know, there's a mole laying at my feet and it's like, here you go, mom. Good job. And I don't trap them, but my dog definitely helps keep them out of the field. Do you have any tips for someone who is wanting to transition from more of the traditional turning to pesticides and sprays to wanting to become more conscientious and living
00:41:12
Speaker
in harmony with nature, per se? Yeah, I mean, again, it is trying to mimic nature, but that stuff terrifies me. I don't want chemicals in my food. I don't want fertilizers, chemical fertilizers that are depleting the soil in the long run.
00:41:32
Speaker
It's not natural. I always ask myself, what is the long-term result of doing something to nature that is not supposed to be done, that wouldn't naturally happen?
00:41:46
Speaker
I think because I think like that, my solutions are always, well, let's see, how would nature solve this? And we also have three dogs, three German Shepherds, which is really helpful in keeping certain pests away.
00:42:04
Speaker
Also, I think it's really important to create a habitat for wildlife in your area. So plant pollinator friendly plants and invite the bees and the butterflies and pollinators to come in. And you can create birdhouses and invite birds in that can be beneficial to the garden. There's actually so many critters that are beneficial to the garden that people don't know about.
00:42:30
Speaker
And so I think just creating creating habitats for these critters is really helpful. I read a book recently called We Are The Ark and it talked about leaving a portion of your land completely untouched, not fenced, just let it be remove any invasive plants or weeds.
00:42:54
Speaker
sorry, not weeds, remove any invasive plants, and then let the weeds and let everything that's natural and native to the area grow
00:43:03
Speaker
And it said you can leave little like piles of logs and sticks and just create a habitat for the native ecosystem to come in and thrive. That's going to help your garden. If you have the beneficial insects and you have the birds, that's actually going to be beneficial in the long run. So while it may take longer for it to get established and get going, it's going to result in an overall better happier plants.
00:43:34
Speaker
That's great advice. Thank you for sharing. And I'm going to have to look into that book. You said it's called, we are the arc. Yeah, we are the arc. Thank you. You mentioned ARK. Perfect. I'll link to that in the show notes. You mentioned that you enjoy planting
00:43:51
Speaker
or that you purposely plant for the beneficials. Can you give us a few plants that you add to your garden that help the beneficials? Sure. Well, no matter where you are, native plants are going to be the most useful for the ecosystem. And I think there's a lot of confusion around how do you know what's native to your area, because this is different depending on where you live.
00:44:21
Speaker
And I think a good place to start would be your local nursery. Usually they have a native plants section. There are several websites that you can look up native plants based on your zip code. Some of them are based on how to create a good habitat for birds, like what to plant for birds. Some of them are for butterflies. So I think research is definitely
00:44:49
Speaker
something that's important. I plant, I just try to keep my plantings as diverse as possible so that I can try to, I don't plant all natives. I definitely plant, you know, lots of things that aren't native. I don't plant anything that's invasive. And I just try to keep a large variety of different things planted to invite those species in.
00:45:17
Speaker
There are certain herbs that you can plant too. I forgot to talk about this. That will repel a lot of pests. So scented plants, for example, things like cilantro and dill and
00:45:35
Speaker
mint or strongly scented herbs or flowers that have strong scents, they usually will repel certain pests. And so if you plant those next to the plants that the pests are attracted to, it can help. I guess science doesn't know if it's confusing the scent for the pest to find it or if it's just masking it, but somehow it seems to help. I've had great luck with companion planting in my garden,
00:46:07
Speaker
So, as far as specific plants, it just depends on what pests I'm dealing with and what I'm trying to keep out, and then that will determine what I'm trying to invite in. So, if I'm trying to keep aphids out, I want to have ladybugs come in, you know, or there's so many different
00:46:27
Speaker
I'm actually working on a video for my course about this now, about the different pests and what are different remedies you can do to bring in the insect that will help get rid of those pests.
00:46:41
Speaker
Ooh, you are creating a course. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Garden Design Course Launch
00:46:46
Speaker
Yeah, so it's a garden design course, but it really incorporates everything, all of my methods for gardening. So while it's focused on garden design and aesthetics, it also covers all of the other things like soil health and companion planting and organic pest control.
00:47:04
Speaker
Um, it's really about how I try to make it all work organically here. And so, um, yeah, it's through my, my, my garden club membership and I am doing courses year round so that when the garden design course is finished, we will be moving on to a different course after that.
00:47:25
Speaker
Okay. Where can people find your course and your content? So this is at farmlocks.tv and it is a garden club so people can join and we have hundreds of tutorials, gardening tutorials. We have the whole garden design course and then we also have a forum so the members can
00:47:48
Speaker
communicate with each other, connect with each other. We do in-person meetups and events around the world where we tour gardens. It's really a lifestyle thing. It's for people that want to have gardening and nature as their lifestyle and meet like-minded people. So yeah, we also do garden tours around the world, all sorts of different content, but it's been really nice for me to
00:48:16
Speaker
be able to connect with like-minded people and hoping the members feel the same way. That sounds amazing.
Future Plans for Skydance Farm
00:48:26
Speaker
So is that the future of your farm right now as you are building out this course? Or what is in store in the next few years? You're on your two of your five-year plan. What can we look forward to from you? Through the Garden Club, people can come to workshops here on the farm,
00:48:45
Speaker
We do free events for members and we do flower arranging, we do garden parties. And so I really like having the farm as a place for us to all meet up. But also I have events that the public can join too. So we do workshops and garden parties that anyone can come to. Those I charge a fee for, but if you're a member of the garden club, they are free. The future of the farm,
00:49:14
Speaker
It kind of just reveals itself to me as it goes, but I really do want to get back to where I'm donating a lot of food to the community, to where we're doing lots of fun floral arranging events, and it's also just a place for me to create the tutorial content for the show.
00:49:35
Speaker
I love that. So you are creating almost an educational garden in a sense so that you can use it to teach as well. Is that correct? Yes. And actually it goes, you know, for the digital world, yes. And it goes a little further than that. Um, my, one of my goals that I'm hoping to phase in within the next two years is there's a section of my garden that I'm not, it's not in use right now, but it still gets full sun right now. It's just natural land.
00:50:05
Speaker
And I am hoping to turn this into a community garden so that people from the island can come up, they can learn how to grow their own food, and then if they don't have a space to grow, they can grow there. And this is sort of like a free, I guess you'd say charity project that I'm interested in doing. I really feel like everyone should have access to healthy food, organic, healthy produce. And so that's something that is on my radar that I'm trying to plan out right now.
00:50:34
Speaker
It's going to take, it might take a year or two for me to get going. It's got to build that whole new section of the garden. And then I got to get the word out that I'm doing this and then find members of the community who are interested, but definitely something that I'm hoping to do in the near future. That sounds like an amazing goal and plan. And I really hope that it comes together for you. I'm sure your community is also rooting for you and thinking how wonderful that would be.
00:51:01
Speaker
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting either a cut flower garden or a cut flower farm this year? I would say to definitely start with a practice garden unless you already know what you're doing.
00:51:21
Speaker
There is so much to learn and so much to know, and it can be expensive to set the infrastructure in place. I think it's really important to learn what you can grow in your zone, how it grows,
00:51:38
Speaker
how much to water it, how to prune things, just all the aspects before you go ahead and spend money on getting everything, you know, you're basically before putting in your dream setup, just do something simple and practice and learn. I don't think that growing things is a process. I don't think it should be rushed and I really don't think it can be rushed. If, you know, if you go and you spend all this money and you set up something major,
00:52:08
Speaker
you might have some really expensive mistakes because you didn't try growing there first. And you may have grown great in a different location, but every space is so different. So I would definitely say starting with a practice garden, don't put any pressure on yourself to make it look good. Just practice and learn. I think it's so important.
00:52:30
Speaker
I love that. And they can also learn from you through your online community. Yes, that too. I do have one more question for you because I know that you are someone who really values giving back to your community through both your
00:52:47
Speaker
organic vegetables and your flowers and you believe that everyone should have access to that.
The Benefits of Local Produce
00:52:53
Speaker
For those listening that are thinking about changing over to local or organic, how does buying local benefit consumers and their community? I think it's so important to support the local community, your local farmers.
00:53:12
Speaker
And I also think that the food's gonna taste better. The flowers are gonna last longer. You're getting it local. They're fresher. It's better for the environment. Nothing's being flown. And you're getting seasonal stuff because it's what's growing right now.
00:53:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think in every way it's better to support local, to buy local, and it's beneficial not only for the person you're purchasing from, but for you as well. You want something fresher that lasts longer, that tastes better.
00:53:47
Speaker
Absolutely. Thank you for that. I love that you give back locally and then you also support local. I'm thinking back to how you were mentioning you're using the bricks locally and really supporting what's already there and available to you versus bringing stuff in as you're growing out your new farm.
00:54:05
Speaker
As we are wrapping up today, I know that my listeners have gained so much valuable insight from you today. For those who are wanting to find out more about you or check out your book or subscribe to your gardening club, how can they find you? So you can find me on Instagram at Farmlux and I try to respond to all of my messages. So if you have any questions or want to reach out, please feel free to say hello.
00:54:36
Speaker
You can find me on my Garden Club, farmlux.tv, or my website, farmlux.com. So any of those options offer a contact option. And yeah, I always love meeting new people with similar values. So feel free to say hello.
00:54:55
Speaker
Excellent. And I will provide links to all of those in our show notes today so our listeners can easily find you. Before we wrap up today, is there anything that you would like to leave our listeners with? I guess I just want to say that if you're lacking the confidence or you think that
00:55:15
Speaker
gardening is going to be too difficult or growing flowers is going to require too much time, but you still are interested in doing it. I would say just start where you are with what you have. So you don't have to even have a garden. You can start in containers. Just start somewhere so that you can get that confidence that you need to move forward. I think that a lot of people think that they need to have like everything in place in this big garden, but you don't.
00:55:43
Speaker
You can start anywhere. You can start growing indoors by a window. So if you want to get started, don't be too intimidated to get going.
00:55:54
Speaker
I love that advice. Just get going and get started. That's excellent. Thank you. That's wonderful. I know that I have learned so much from our conversation today, and I'm sure that our listeners have too. Thank you so much for taking your time to join us today. And I would love to invite you back in the future. I think we would all be so excited to hear updates on Skydance and how you are growing it out.
00:56:22
Speaker
especially as you're starting to do flower workshops and opening up the farm. So if we could, we'd love to keep the door open to have you back on the podcast again at a later date. Absolutely. Let's do it. Thank you. Thank you, Misha. Thanks so much for joining us today. We'll talk to you again soon. Happy gardening. Thank you.
00:56:46
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.
00:57:07
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.