Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep.16: Blooming in the Cold: How to Grow a Vibrant Cut Flower Garden in Zone 2B
2.2k Plays1 year ago
Madeline Cooper left behind city life when she traded in her stilettos for muck boots to flower farm in zone 2b. She’s now the soul behind Fraiche Flower Farm in Alberta, Canada. Madeline’s journey from fashionable glam to the gritty charm of flower farming reveals a world where pink blooms and sweet peas flourish under her nurturing care.
In this episode, Madeline recounts her move to Alberta and how her initial hobby of gardening blossomed into a thriving, organic flower farm. She shares her transition from high heels to garden boots, embracing the rural life with a spirit that infuses her farm with joy and community connection.
Listen to this episode to gain insights into the challenges of cold-climate gardening, including tips on growing ‘cool flowers,’ overwintering techniques, and the value of perennials. Madeline’s innovative approach, from her detailed research to practical pest management, exemplifies her dedication to sustainable farming.
Madeline’s story is not just inspiring but also a practical guide for anyone looking to navigate the complexities of flower farming in harsh climates.
Join us as Madeline Cooper from Fraiche Flower Farm shares her flower farming journey on the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, offering a glimpse into the life of a woman who transformed her passion for flowers into a beacon of beauty and resilience in the world of cut flower farming.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
00:02:25 - Madeline's Journey to Flower Farming
00:04:10 - Adjusting to a New Climate
00:06:04 - Land Utilization and Challenges
00:08:04 - Growing Flowers In A Short Growing Season in Zone 2B
00:10:39 - Overwintering Flowers in Zone 2B
00:13:27 - Madeline's Peony Collection
00:14:52 - Importing Plants to Canada
00:16:29 - Protecting Roses Over Winter
00:18:34 - Growing Cool Flowers Like Sweet Peas
00:20:09 - Impact of Drought on the Farm
00:21:13 - Pulse Watering Technique
00:22:48 - Sweet Peas and Pink Flowers
00:28:57 - Breeding Cosmos
00:31:20 - The Story Behind Fresh Flower Farm's Name
00:39:17 - Using High Brix Molasses
00:41:58 - Hosting Events on the Farm
00:43:04 - Integrating Other Passions with Flower Farming
Learn more about Madeline Cooper and Fraiche Flower Farm:
- Visit Fraiche Flower Farm: www.fraicheflowerfarm.com/
- Follow Fraiche Flower Farm on Instagram: www.instagram.com/fraicheflowerfarm
***Rate, Review, & Follow The Backyard Bouquet***
If you enjoyed this episode, will you please consider leaving the podcast a review? Your review helps make the podcast more discoverable to others and allows me to continue creating more episodes. I'd love to know what you enjoyed most about the episode.
New episodes every Tuesday to help keep your garden blooming!
JOIN THE BACKYARD BOUQUET COMMUNITY ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cutflowergardening
Sign up for my newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/nlw4wua8s3
Recommended
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 Flower Farming Journey
00:00:12
Speaker
I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon. Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers. From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
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.
Introducing Madeline Cooper
00:00:55
Speaker
Hi flower friends, welcome back to another episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Today we have the pleasure of chatting with the fabulous Madeline Cooper from Fresh Flower Farm.
Madeline's Transition to Flower Farming
00:01:08
Speaker
Madeline's cozy flower farm is located in Alberta, Canada, where she turns her love for pink blooms and sweet peas into a flower lover's dream, all while keeping it organic and beautiful. And get this, she's growing tons of flowers in zone 2B,
00:01:24
Speaker
That's right. She's here today to tell us how even in colder growing zones, you can grow a cut flower garden full of life and color. Madeline's not just about flowers. She's a festive soul, dubbed the Queen of Christmas, and she's got a flair for the fancy. These days, she's more likely to rock rubber boots than stilettos. Today, Madeline's here to share her journey from glam to garden and to convince us all that we've got what it takes to add a little more beauty to the world.
00:01:53
Speaker
So let's dive in and get the dirt on how she does it all. Please join me in welcoming Madeline to the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Hi Madeline, thanks for joining us today. Hi, thank you for having me. Oh, I'm so excited to chat with you. Madeline, your journey to becoming a flower farmer in Alberta, Canada is certainly inspiring. Can you share with us what sparked your passion to become a flower farmer and how you made the transition to creating fresh flower farm in the scenic Tola Bee Lake?
00:02:25
Speaker
Yes. So I'm originally from Washington state. I moved to Alberta in 2018 to be with my Canadian husband. And I thought it would be, growing flowers would be something to give me something to do because I knew absolutely no one when I moved here. And I was giving flowers to people in the community that I was, as I was meeting them that summer,
00:02:51
Speaker
And my husband said, well, if you really like doing this, why don't you make it a business? And so that's kind of how it was born was I wanted to be able to meet more people, especially at my age. Yes. So harder to meet people. And I just thought, why not give it a shot? What else do I have to lose? I'm bored out of my mind up here so far. Um, and.
00:03:18
Speaker
That was pretty much where it began was that wanting to meet people and get some friends and do something that brought me joy.
Gardening Challenges in Alberta
00:03:29
Speaker
So prior to moving to Canada, did you grow flowers?
00:03:34
Speaker
Some, I had quite an extensive hydrangea collection, about 40 plants, which was extensive to me. The property, we were just in the suburbs, and it was so heavily shaded with all those big, beautiful evergreen trees that not a whole lot grew there.
00:03:57
Speaker
But I had always been in love with flowers, going to Pike Place Market during the seasons and picking up bouquets with a friend. And they've just always been a big part of my life.
00:04:10
Speaker
So you were in the Seattle area prior to moving to Canada. Yes. Hydrangeas grow very well in the Pacific Northwest, especially up in the Seattle area. You're right. That shaded area, my aunt and uncle, I'll always remember that their garden had some of the most beautiful. It still does. They have the most massive hydrangea bushes all over their property. I struggle to grow them here because I have no shade on my property. And so I have a few, but not as many as I would like to have.
00:04:39
Speaker
That's me too. Having to find ones that are hardy to my zone, which there are not many, and having to even go up a little higher in zones and then learning about how to care for them over winter so they will make it because they're just so gorgeous. They really are. So how many years ago did you move to Canada?
00:05:05
Speaker
I have now been here since February 2018. So just six years ago. Okay. Yeah. So fairly recently, but enough time to really get your hands in the dirt and learn a lot. You started your farm about the same time I did. I started in 2018 as well. So I started in 2020, but yeah.
00:05:29
Speaker
Okay. So you moved in 2018 and you started growing flowers just to give away to meet people. Yes. Once we purchased our home here, we actually lived with my husband's parents while we looked for a house. And once we moved here, that was, yes, it was, I wanted a big vegetable garden. This was my first experience having an acreage. So
00:05:55
Speaker
I wanted to grow all the things. How much acreage do you have? We have 12 acres. Oh, wow. Do you utilize all 12 acres for flowers? No, we don't. Um, we have horses, so they use a lot of, a lot of the acreage. And we're also, we sit on a lake. So not Tillaby Lake though, oddly enough. Um, and we don't have a lot of flat ground here.
00:06:21
Speaker
It's very rolling hills. So that has also been a learning curve with growing and finding the spots where there won't be too much runoff and whatnot. So how much space on your land would you say is dedicated to growing flowers? I'd say probably an acre, acre and a half. That's a good size. You can grow a lot of flowers on an acre. Yes.
00:06:49
Speaker
So when you first started on this property, you acquired this property in 2018? November 2018. November 2018. So that first spring, how did you decide what you wanted to plant in your garden there? We were just
00:07:10
Speaker
looking for what was already here like what was popping up and I hated all of it. The previous owner planted a lot of yellow and orange and those just are not are not my colors so a lot of things got ripped out that first spring and I donated them to people in the community or family.
00:07:31
Speaker
And I didn't really grow anything that first year. It was more just kind of getting our bearings of where things were. And the snow doesn't typically fully melt here until the end of April. Sometimes we even get snow in early May. So it's not a lot of time to fix landscaping and things when you're first learning.
00:07:58
Speaker
What is on your property? So you have a pretty short growing season where you live? Yes. Typically our last frost is around May 24th, but I have been fooled before
Adapting to Alberta's Short Growing Season
00:08:13
Speaker
and had a hard frost on May 30th. So very late to start and then
00:08:24
Speaker
our first frost is that like August 30th to September 4th. Oh, wow. So very, very short, around 100 days, which makes it tricky. I've had to really learn how far I can push the limits with cool flowers and having frost cloth. And it's been a very big learning curve, but so much fun to experiment.
00:08:49
Speaker
I bet that's been a big learning curve because I'm guessing that you were probably a zone 8B in the Seattle area. So you dropped six growing zones when you moved up to Canada. That's not just going from one growing zone. That's pretty substantial. So how cold does it get in the wintertime? The coldest I've recorded here is minus 54 Fahrenheit. Wow.
00:09:20
Speaker
I had to do a double take to see if I was hearing you right there. We got down to negative two this winter. The wind chill was colder than that, but that killed so many of my plants because we don't normally get that cold. We actually just got updated to a zone 8B where my property is, and we were previously a 7B.
00:09:43
Speaker
And at times I wondered if we were 6B. So I always kind of give and take a little bit on the growing zones. And for anyone who's listening, who's not familiar with the USDA hardiness map, it is a guide. Your growing zone tells you the coldest your area typically can get. And then you can use your growing zone to also find out when your last average frost date and first frost date
00:10:08
Speaker
for the season-ending frost will be. So you went from probably having 120 plus, if not 150 days of a season to less than 100. So it sounds like you've mastered the art of growing flowers in Zone 2B, which for many of us, myself included, would find daunting. Can you share some tips for others who would like to succeed in growing flowers in a similar growing environment?
00:10:39
Speaker
Yes. So I highly recommend researching the type of flowers that you're wanting to plant. A lot of them are labeled as cool flowers. So there is a book, Lisa Mason Ziegler, Cool Flowers, I believe it's called. Wonderful book. It was great for me my first year. So I would know what I could plant here and how far I could push those limits.
00:11:07
Speaker
I would say just do your research on those things because there's so many beautiful cool flowers out there, sweet peas being one of them that love that cool start and cold temperatures. And just experiment. It's always going to be a learning experience whether even if you're a seasoned grower.
00:11:30
Speaker
you're always learning something new every year. We are always, always learning as flower farmers and gardeners. I feel like the garden is always giving back more and teaching us more than we could ever give it. So tell us for cool flowers, what have you found that you can overwinter and zone to be?
00:11:51
Speaker
Oddly, last year I overwintered Rudbeckia. Oh, wow. Yes, which is not supposed to be. I believe that's a tender perennial, zone 9. And I'm not sure how that happened, but it all came back this last spring. So that was interesting. I overwinter Yarrow, which is a beautiful perennial. I have tried to focus on adding more and more perennials.
00:12:21
Speaker
just because our growing zone is or just because our growing zone is such a short season. Peonies, if you can add peonies they love the cold and I have started quite the peony patch here. I've been interested in adding unique card defined varieties just because it's fun to have something different.
00:12:47
Speaker
How many peonies do you grow? I have about 200 right now. And what are some of those fun and unique varieties that you're growing? I have King's Day, Pastel Elegance. I love Pastel Elegance. Isn't it gorgeous? Vanilla Schnapps I got this year I ordered. They haven't come yet. They'll come in October. They are
00:13:12
Speaker
Like I believe they start with majesty. So it's like majesty's heart, majesty's scepter, I believe. And they are very unique and just lovely. I have not heard of a couple of those. Yes. There's a grower here in Canada and her name is Louise and she owns Unicorn Blooms. So she tries to get hard to find varieties
00:13:40
Speaker
at wholesale pricing for flower farmers here in Canada. And she gets all these peonies from Groot Groot Peonies, which I believe is in the Netherlands. Amazing selection for us growers here in Canada. She works really hard on that to give us some beautiful things because it's hard getting things in Canada compared to how easy and accessible things are in the US.
00:14:06
Speaker
I imagine so.
Challenges and Successes in Plant Material Importation
00:14:07
Speaker
I know because I sell Dahlia tubers and seeds, I often have people reaching out from Canada asking if I can ship. And as a small grower, it's just cost prohibited to get the licensing and fees to legally ship anything up to Canada. And I'm sure the same is for you to ship to the US. Yes, I've never even tried. Mostly I am searching out farms that will ship to Canada or
00:14:36
Speaker
I have even once purchased in the US while I was home and did all the paperwork myself to get things across the border. And that was quite a challenge, I will tell you, but it was worth it for some of the varieties that I was able to get.
00:14:52
Speaker
I think that some of our listeners might be interested in knowing about that process if you don't mind sharing because I do probably weekly this time of year have someone reach out for me saying, I live in Canada, but I'm going to be back in Washington or I'm going to be in New York for a week. Can you ship to my New York address or my, I actually just shipped a seat order to a New York hotel yesterday so the person can bring seats back to Canada.
00:15:18
Speaker
What was the process you had to go through to bring those seeds or tubers or plant material back into Canada? So it sometimes will differ, but you will need to get a phytosanitary certificate. And there is another certificate that you need. And I can't remember what it is exactly called off the top of my head. I apologize. And then you have to, wherever you're going to be crossing,
00:15:44
Speaker
you have to make sure that there will be somebody there to inspect and you have to schedule an appointment. So it's not like you can just pull up to the border and say, hey, I have these plants. We inspect them because there isn't always somebody there. And depending on what crossing it is, they may not even offer that service. So you have to really do some research and look into that. But it is doable. It does cost money. I don't remember the exact numbers, but even to have them inspected, there's a fee.
00:16:14
Speaker
Sure, they have to pay for those services somehow. Yes. So the certificates that you mentioned, did you have to reach out to the US Department of Agriculture or was it a Canadian certificate that you had to get? So it's a American certificate, I believe, for the FIDO. And then the other certificate that I'm talking about that I cannot remember, that is for the Canadian side.
00:16:42
Speaker
And gosh, I'm really sorry that I can't remember what it's called. That's okay. Maybe we can include it in the show notes. You can get back to me and we'll include the name of the other certificate in the show notes. So those that are trying to cross the border with plants can look up the information. Okay. That sounds good. Perfect.
00:17:02
Speaker
So you mentioned that you grow some perennials in your growing zone. It was interesting that you mentioned the rutabecia. I love rutabecia. I always succession sow more. I start a little bit more each season so that I have an early season and a later season crop of it because I'm always getting powdery mildew on it. But it does say on the pack, it's usually that it's a nine and up tender perennial.
00:17:30
Speaker
I maybe lose one or two out of hundreds of plants every year. I'm a seven to an eight growing zone. I just love that it comes back year after year. I'm not sure if it drops the seeds and the seeds come back or the plant because it dies back to the ground and then it sends up more. I think it's just sending up new shoots. I'm going on year three and four with my plants and they're all coming back again.
00:17:57
Speaker
It's so amazing. It's so great. Yes, perennials equal less work. If I would have realized that earlier on, I would have invested in even more perennials. However, moving a farm like I just recently did, I would not recommend a ton of perennials if you don't have a long-term lease or a permanent home for your plants because uprooting perennials is not an easy job, especially peonies. So
00:18:25
Speaker
Tell us about non-perennial, so the annual flowers that you can grow as cool flowers in your growing zone.
00:18:34
Speaker
There are quite a few and lots of them. If you aren't somebody that has a setup to start them indoors early, there's so many that you can direct seed. I have a lot that I have dedicated patches for because they just reseed and grow fine. Dara and like the Ammi, the Queen Anne's Lace. Even I've had, this sounds crazy, but I've had sweet peas fall to the ground and then
00:19:04
Speaker
emerge the next spring, which I found wild the first time I noticed that. Cosmos will self seed. Larkspur. Wow. Yeah, so many things. I will say that probably Larkspur is one of my favorite ones that will self seed and come back. They like that cold snap and just get more and more beautiful.
00:19:30
Speaker
I keep mine in my freezer, the larkspur seeds, but I always have such a hard time germinating them. And I finally just said, you know what? I'm just going to sprinkle them out. And I sprinkled them in a plot. And now they come back year after year, like you said.
00:19:45
Speaker
And I'm like, this is so much easier. I spent so much time trying to put them in trays and grow them, but it's because they're a cool flower and they don't like the heat that they need that cold stratification.
Impact of Drought on Farming
00:19:56
Speaker
So being outside and covered under the snow, they're probably so happy and they're ready to bloom as soon as that melts off. Yes. So your snow doesn't melt until the end of April.
00:20:09
Speaker
Depending on the year, this year has been quite rough for us here. We're usually under about three to four feet of snow by the time spring rolls around, but we're heading into, this is going to be our fourth year of drought, and we only got about six inches of snow this year. Wow. Yes. It's been very, very dry.
00:20:32
Speaker
So we currently have no snow, which is unheard of for March 22nd. Wow. So yes, we were pre-recording this before this airs in April. What is the temperature if you don't have any snow?
00:20:47
Speaker
Today it's 12 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't, it's so funny. I've lived here for six years, but I refuse to convert to Celsius. So I usually have to look it up. It is minus nine Celsius here today.
00:21:05
Speaker
So your plants have no snow coverage. So you really have to grow plants that are tolerant to the cold where you are. I do. And if I know that it's something like, for example, I have some climbing roses that are zone four and those get heavily insulated before winter comes. So they'll survive because they wouldn't otherwise.
00:21:31
Speaker
In episode 14 of the Backyard Bouquet podcast, we recently heard from Ben Hanna of Heirloom Roses, and he talked about roses that are meant for different growing zones. One thing we didn't touch on that you just mentioned was protecting your roses over winter. How do you insulate your roses over the wintertime? So I mulch them heavily.
00:21:55
Speaker
fairly high, several inches. And then I take a tomato cage and I turn it upside down. So the points that normally go on the ground are up. So it's kind of like a little teepee and I stuff it full of straw as I can get it in there. And then I use, I have a frost cloth that is, it gives 10 degrees protection.
00:22:20
Speaker
And so I wrap multiple, multiple layers around the whole TP and clip it up at the tops and the sides and, um, use landscape staples and put that in the ground so it doesn't blow off in the winter. And that has been, that's allowed me to have zone four roses in a to be setting. Wow. That is some serious dedication. How many roses do you grow?
00:22:48
Speaker
I only have about 12 right now. That is ever-growing. I have several coming this spring. They're just addicting. They're so beautiful and they smell amazing. They do. I'm up to 47, which is not very many for a flower farmer, but I just haven't had the space for more. But I was trying to think, trying to cover 47 like you two would take a lot of time and manpower.
00:23:15
Speaker
It would be an all day project at least, yes. Oh, absolutely. But that's such a great idea. I have some roses that are more protected than others. And we got, like I mentioned earlier, we got down to negative two this last year, which really is unheard of for us because our zone
00:23:32
Speaker
I guess could drop to zero, but if we drop below 10, it's pretty historic for us. So that is great advice. That's something that I should be better about because my roses had a lot of damage. I lost a lot of hydrangeas this last year. The climate change is definitely impacting us. So you mentioned that you're on your fourth year of a drought. How is that impacting your farm?
00:23:58
Speaker
It's been very tough. We are, like I said, we are on a lake and we do have dugouts that are right above lake. And so we've had to pump up water from those dugouts so we can use them to water because last year
00:24:16
Speaker
I honestly couldn't even tell you we maybe had one good rain. It was terrible. And it does show in the flowers, no matter how much we pump water up to water things, there's just nothing like rainwater.
00:24:32
Speaker
So it has been a challenge in that aspect of getting all of the equipment to be able to pump, because it's also uphill, about 300 yards that we're having to pump all that water up. Are you pumping from a well? We're pumping from a dugout, which is, it's like a mini, I guess a mini lake. They're manmade, typically.
00:24:57
Speaker
And that's how the original owners got the water up to the house here was in this dugout. So we had to install the pumps and all of the lines to get it to go uphill. And yeah, it's inexpensive and very challenging for just my husband and I to do ourselves to get that work done. And then you last year.
00:25:25
Speaker
We have beavers that are on that dugout and they chewed through all of the lines that we... Oh no, they were thirsty. Yes. So we had to redo all of that and I'm sure that when we go there this spring, we'll have to do it again, those little buggers.
00:25:40
Speaker
Well, that sounds very challenging having to deal with not only a drought, but pumping water uphill and also dealing with those beavers that are thirsty and chewing a hole in your pipes. Have you tried pulse watering at all?
00:25:56
Speaker
No, I have not. I heard about pulse watering last year from Jenny Love on her podcast, The No-Till Flower Farmers. And it is an idea that instead of doing heavy watering once a day, you water multiple times a day. So I used to water for one hour at a time. I have drip irrigation. And so each of my stations would run for an hour a day.
00:26:24
Speaker
Now I switched over because none of my plans were growing super well and I tried going to five times a day. So I would do depending on my drip lines because some of my drip lines are every four inch spacing and some of them are every six inch.
00:26:40
Speaker
there are preperforated holes on the drip lines. And so I have different drip lines for different areas. So depending on how close the drip lines were together, I had a monitor to see how saturated the soil was getting. And later in the season, I actually reduced it to three waterings a day, but some stations got five minutes at a time, some got up to 15. One section where the water doesn't flow quite as well got 20 minutes.
00:27:05
Speaker
The idea is that it ran five different times a day, but these short waterings, instead of the water running really deep, it stayed shallow on the surface, so the roots had time to absorb the water. I had the biggest and best plants that I have ever grown, and that was my fifth season. I'm going into my sixth season this year.
00:27:28
Speaker
And it made such a difference, especially in my dahlias. By the end of the season, I actually had to reduce down to three times a day with watering the dahlias because the soil was starting to get too wet and we didn't have any rain.
00:27:41
Speaker
either last summer. So we rely on our irrigation, but it was incredible. It was a night and day difference for me. And so I will definitely be doing the pulse watering and it can save quite a bit of water, especially if you're in a drought area. So something to maybe try out this year. Yeah, that's amazing. I am going to look into that because that would be extremely helpful. I assume you have things on timers. I do. Yes. Do you have drip lines or how are your setup?
00:28:10
Speaker
I have drip line only in the sweet pea patch right now. Everything else gets hand done.
00:28:16
Speaker
Oh, wow. Yeah. Do you move the lines through the field or are you overhead watering? No, just with a hose nozzle going through the rows up and down. And then one patch that we have up on the hill, we don't have any irrigation up there at all. So that gets taken in buckets in the tractor bucket and I'm hand watering things up there.
00:28:43
Speaker
wow, that is a true labor of love. It really is. And someday I hope that we can have everything implemented, but you know, it takes the work to get things done and the finances, right? So yes. Well, you've mentioned sweet peas a couple of times.
Madeline's Sweet Pea Connection
00:29:00
Speaker
And I hear that sweet peas and especially pink flowers are your specialties. Can you share what drew you to these
00:29:09
Speaker
special blooms. And do you have any secrets for growing sweet peas? Well, for sweet peas, they have always been a really big part of my life. My mom would always grow them along every fence line wherever we lived. We moved around a lot when I was a kid.
00:29:27
Speaker
but she always would grow sweet peas up our fence and then she would put them in the tiniest little vases and put them all around her house. Like I'd always have one in my bedroom. It's just such a special memory for me that she did that. Like we didn't have a whole lot, but she never made us feel like we didn't. And that was one of the ways by having those flowers, like what an indulgence for a single mom, you know, to have these beautiful flowers. So,
00:29:58
Speaker
In that aspect, that's how they're very special to me. My mom has been a very big, big part of my life. She's still kicking it. She's 82. And so when I'm out there in that sweet pea patch, all I think about is my mom and she's far away. So it's just a good place for me to think of her and my life with her.
00:30:28
Speaker
pink flowers. I am absolutely obsessed with pink as you can see by things on my website. I am definitely a little 12 year old girl, a heart when it comes to pink things. So I've kind of made it my mission to search the world for flowers that come in pink. Does it come in pink? That is
00:30:55
Speaker
what I'm looking for now to grow for seed. I can share these with gardeners and other flower farmers. It's a winter hobby, I would say, sitting online, Googling everywhere, anything I can find if something comes in pink and trying my hardest to get my hands on it. Do you have a favorite pink flower?
00:31:20
Speaker
I'd say cosmos. I love cosmos. I'm actually working on breeding. So cosmos breeding. And so I would say cosmos are probably one of my, aside from sweet peas, those are my number one. But yeah, cosmos. I did not know that about you. Okay. Now I'm fascinated because you're talking about breeding. How do you breed cosmos?
00:31:46
Speaker
So it started out where I planted a few different pinks and I saved the seed from everything the following year and I grew it out. And I was so fascinated with the different shapes and coloring that I got from those that first year. And so then I started selling it as a mix. I think I called it
00:32:12
Speaker
the Fresh Fairy Tail Cosmos mix because it was all different petal shapes, some that I had never seen before. And so that got me into isolating specific ones and then hand pollinating those and then saving the seed from those. So this year I'll be doing the same with the ones that I had isolated and hand pollinated. I'll be growing those out again, isolated with netting.
00:32:38
Speaker
to see how they come back this year. And I'm just moving along. There's two that I have that I haven't seen before. And I'm hoping that they aren't something that's been out there before. But it's really hard to know. I mean, you can Google pictures of them. And there's so many. But so far, from what I found, these two have not been seen. So down the road, I am hoping I'll be able to release these into the world.
00:33:08
Speaker
That's amazing. So you have to isolate them to get them to come back true to seed or true to form. Otherwise you'll get a new variety out of them. Yes. Interesting. Okay. Can we go back to sweet peas? Yes. When do you start your sweet peas? I start mine very early. Uh, not typical when somebody else would in this zone. I start them on Valentine's day.
00:33:39
Speaker
And the only reason for that date is because my friend, that's when she starts hers and she lives in the Pacific Northwest. And so I'm like, well, I'm going to start mine then too. And which is silly at the time it was silly because
00:33:55
Speaker
such a different zone. There's there's really no reason other than that's when she did. So that's what I'm going to try. And I've had many trial and errors over the years, but I found if I start them that early and I start them cool. Our garage, we have a heated garage. It runs about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 10 Celsius. Get them to germinate there, and then I immediately move them into a heated
00:34:23
Speaker
greenhouse. So it's just ambient heat. We were lucky when we purchased this house, there's a attached greenhouse to the garage. So it gets the ambient heat from the garage.
00:34:33
Speaker
Oh, nice. Yes. So it never dips below freezing unless it's like minus 54. Then there's no way to keep that from happening. But so once they germinate, I immediately put them in there and they do drop lower at night and it just creates these lovely, bushy, hardy plants. I've never had to pinch them since I've started doing that. So start them early.
00:35:00
Speaker
But here I honestly would tell anybody that's just a home gardener to wait until April when the soil can be worked and direct sow them because you will still get lovely plants and they'll be acclimated to the weather and you won't have to pinch those either and just grow them that way. It's the easiest way. I personally am too much of a control freak to do that. I want to make sure I don't have any empty spots so I don't direct seed anything.
00:35:30
Speaker
How many sweet peas are you growing? This year, 5,000. Oh, wow. That's a lot. Yes, but it's a goal to have even more. I'm nowhere near the sweet pea green, Marin, but it's a goal. It's a lofty goal, but it's a goal.
00:35:49
Speaker
I had a chance to see Marin's sweet pea patch last summer. I think she has 30,000. Oh my goodness. It was incredible. She's truly the sweet pea queen. Yes, she is.
00:36:05
Speaker
You sow on February 14th, but in your growing zone you recommend people start in April. Obviously, if you're in a warmer growing zone, you need to start them a lot sooner because they are a cool flower. How warm do you get in the summertime?
00:36:23
Speaker
We typically hover in the seventies, but we do have days that are in the eighties. And sometimes it'll get even a little bit hotter, like a day or two in the nineties. I'm sorry for anybody listening from Canada. I don't know the exact Celsius for those. Um, yeah, so not super warm, which.
00:36:45
Speaker
is again a great thing for those sweet peas to be able to bloom longer. I usually start getting blooms the first week of June. And when I wasn't collecting for seed and I was constantly cutting, I would have them until past our frost. So, but now- That's amazing. Past your frost. Yes.
00:37:05
Speaker
I'm lucky to have them past June here because, well, several years ago we hit 118 in June and that was a record high and it just killed my sweet peas.
Tips for Growing Sweet Peas
00:37:19
Speaker
This year I'm only doing about 20 feet of sweet peas. I used to do about 200 feet.
00:37:24
Speaker
and I didn't even have a thousand plants. So way less than you and Marin, but I love the smell of them. But because of our heat, we have such a short growing season for sweet peas that I just, I can't give them a lot of space. And we have so much wind that my stems are so short in comparison.
00:37:46
Speaker
I never would have thought that the wind would make that happen. That's interesting. Yes. Well, I assume it could be the heat too. Um, but I, I mean, I'm lucky when I get longer than 12 inch stems on my sweet peas, but the smell I just, I instead, because I don't get the long stems, I'll just cut from the vine to increase the stem length, but the smell makes up for it. It's so heavenly. It sure is. What tips do you have for someone growing sweet peas in a cooler growing zone?
00:38:18
Speaker
Definitely like I said, just direct sew them. It's just really less hassle because they can be kind of divas when you start them early, making sure temperatures are right. And just make sure you're feeding them, watering them. I've always read they don't like wet feet, but they also don't like to be
00:38:43
Speaker
hot and dry. So making sure they have ample water and push the limits. Maybe you can try direct sewing them in the fall and having them sprout up in the spring because like we've said, they love the cool start. And I really don't think you can mess them up when you direct sew them. So not so many tips, so to speak, other than just I say, go for it. Every garden should have them.
00:39:13
Speaker
Do you tie yours up or how do you trellis yours? So I do tie in the beginning. I use Hortonova netting and I do tie as they're growing when they're small. And then when they get to be too big, we just corral them with twine, like a heavy twine, because there's too many to go in hand, do every single one when they get big.
00:39:36
Speaker
And that works great for us. I do have my patch. I'm thankful and lucky that I have them in a spot where they're quite sheltered from a lot of wind. So that makes it much easier to keep them from getting a little bit crazy. Do you ever have any problems with pests on your sweet peas? Yes.
00:39:59
Speaker
So the big pass being deer around here. Oh, they eat sweet peas. Yes. I don't have any deer. So I'm not familiar with those kinds of situations. I had people ask me all the time and I'm like, well, I am pretty protected in a neighborhood. So, so how do you keep the deer away from your sweet peas? So last year was the first year that we put up a 10 foot rebar and put a bird netting around the whole entire parameter of the
00:40:27
Speaker
patch because I had gone in one day the year prior. And I was like, something is eating these sweet peas, which was fine. It was like an extra pinch, no problem. And then I was out there one day being very quiet. And here I see this beautiful little dough and her baby. And I'm like, aha, it was you. So that's what made me decide to put up all the netting to keep them out. It's a bit of a pain.
00:40:56
Speaker
but then I don't have to worry about anything getting destroyed. So that's my biggest one. The other is aphids. They are insane here in August. And thankfully at that point I'm at seed pod stage usually. So I don't have to worry too much about them destroying anything, but they like, they just fall off. They're so bad.
00:41:24
Speaker
This year, though, I'm going to try something else. I've been really working on the bricks number for
Pest and Soil Management Strategies
00:41:30
Speaker
plants. Yes. And another friend said to me that even if you don't have your bricks number up enough to deter the aphids, if you do a molasses foliar spray, that will keep them off of your plants. So that's what I'm going to try this year with the dahlias and the sweet peas.
00:41:53
Speaker
is a molasses foliar spray to help with that. It is incredible. I have been doing the high-bricks molasses. Going to, again, give a shout out to Jenny Love on the No-Till Flower Farmers podcast. I heard her talk about the bricks levels several years ago, and I started asking orchardists in the area and wine growers because we have a lot of orchards and vineyards, and one of the vineyards said
00:42:23
Speaker
Well, no, we don't really have any pets problems. And I asked her, I said,
00:42:26
Speaker
I asked her about bricks and she said, oh, well our bricks levels are, I think, I forget the exact number, but they were high. And I was like, that's exactly it. I just have to raise the bricks levels on my plants. And for those listening that are not familiar, high bricks molasses is a plant version of molasses. Just like if you're making gingerbread cookies, it kind of smells like you're making gingerbread cookies when you spray your plants. But what it does is it changes the sugar levels
00:42:53
Speaker
in your plants. And the idea is as your sugar levels increase in the plant, it becomes less desirable to certain bugs and pests. So it's not going to stop them from ever taking a bite, but what's going to happen in my understanding, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a bug expert, but as an aphid will bite your plant as the bricks levels increase, it's not going to have a desirable taste to them. So they're going to move on to something else.
00:43:21
Speaker
And as you keep increasing it, for me, I really got into this because I have a terrible problem with grasshoppers on my dahlias. And they were devouring my dahlias a couple of years ago. So I really had to be diligent on increasing my bricks levels. I finally got my bricks levels high enough that the grasshoppers started leaving my plants alone. And that was amazing. And so I spray high bricks molasses every two weeks in my garden.
00:43:49
Speaker
So I love that you mentioned that because it has been a game changer. I don't use any chemicals in my garden. Me either. And do you...
00:43:58
Speaker
just use it in like a backpack sprayer. Is that how you're doing it? I do. So I have a 10 gallon home brewing solution and I don't have my mix in front of me. I have people reach out all the time. I shared a video on Instagram and in the caption it lists my ingredients that I use. And I will say that if you go and look it up, remember that you do need a soil test. A soil test will tell you what your
00:44:25
Speaker
yard or your soil is lacking or needing. So my mix might not be what you need in your garden. But for me, I use a fish and kelp granule that I mix in with compost. I use the molasses. I use a microrisy
00:44:46
Speaker
in it, which I've heard mixed people say, oh, you should or you shouldn't do that. So it works for me. So I'm going to keep doing it. But it's kind of that experiment that you mentioned you got to do what works for you. And then I use calcium in my mix also. And it has made a tremendous difference in the strength of my Dahlia and Ranunculus stems where
00:45:08
Speaker
I would have stems breaking on the ranunculus or because I can get 40 mile hour wind gusts here, I need really, really strong Dahlia stems. So I add that calcium, but literally I don't, oh, and I will add worm compost, liquid worm compost also into mine. And sometimes I'll use worm granules if I have them to brew it. And so I brew it for 24 hours and then I put it in my backpack sprayer and then I spray it
00:45:38
Speaker
throughout the field and I do that once every, well, I'd like to say I do it once every two weeks. That is the goal, is to spray. Early season, I'm really consistent. And then as things just start to get busier, my consistency wanes, but in an ideal world, I would do that every two weeks.
00:45:55
Speaker
That sounds very similar to what I have done. Yeah, I didn't realize for a foliar feed, I had just been using it in the dirt as like a soak when I water. And so this will be the first year that I'll be using it as a spray, like a foliar spray. And I'm excited to see the results.
00:46:15
Speaker
I think you'll be really pleased. You'll have to let us know how it goes because it definitely has made a difference because I at first struggled terribly with aphids on mine. I am trying and I'm curious if you do this. I have not tried this before because I have had to downsize this year. Everything is getting very condensed in my spaces. I put calendula as a trap next to my sweet peas. Do you have any experience doing that?
00:46:45
Speaker
Not with that, but I do like to plant spring onions like green onions around the sweet pea patch. This year I actually put my garlic patch in with the sweet peas. So hopefully that will help as well. Interesting. I should try that. Yeah. I know they don't like anything from the onion garlic family. So good to know. Maybe I'll add that because I, I have not gotten my onion starts yet this year.
Madeline's Business and Community Engagement
00:47:13
Speaker
So your business name is Fresh Flower Farm, but it's not spelled F-R-E-S-H. You have the French spelling of fresh. Can you tell us about how you came up with the name for your business?
00:47:30
Speaker
Yes, so I have been infatuated with France since I was a little girl. In fourth grade, the high school kids came and taught our fourth grade class a little bit of French and about France, and it just has always stuck with me. I took French all through high school. I took it for three years in college. Even though I didn't finish my degree, I finished my French.
00:47:57
Speaker
And I have just always been fascinated with the culture, the language, everything about it. So when I was thinking up names, I thought that that would be my little nod to my love for French to have that. Plus I love alliterations where people, you know, where it's three of the same letter that something starts with. So I thought that that was perfect. I love it. That's a great name for your business. Have you been to France?
00:48:27
Speaker
I have not. We are planning on going in 2026 as our 10th wedding anniversary. And it's also the year that I turn 50 and my husband turns 40. So we thought we would do like a monumental birthday number and anniversary trip.
00:48:49
Speaker
And then I'm supposed to go in 2027 with some friends, so I'm going to likely get to go twice, which is incredible and exciting. That sounds amazing. You probably get to travel in the off season is my guess. Yes, always off season. I've learned over the last six years that it's really hard to travel and leave the farm basically from February through October, sometimes even November.
00:49:19
Speaker
Yes. Well, especially for you, your season is just so long. Yes. I do have a little little she's 16, a little farmhand that she will come and she helps me. I pay her. And so this year, now that she's able to drive, it will free me up a little bit, especially for taking quick trips back home because I can teach her to do these things. And she just lives down the road from me. So that will be nice to have that for the first time.
00:49:47
Speaker
That's awesome. I have had part-time help the last few summers and I have needed to leave town a few times in the summer for a three or four day weekend. And it's really nice knowing that there's someone capable of keeping everything alive. The first time I left town, it was when we had that 118 degree heat wave three years ago.
00:50:09
Speaker
And I was so nervous being gone. And there was no way I could have left if I didn't have help keeping the water going. Because what happened was we're on what's called a farmer's irrigation. So our irrigation lines have to be cleaned every single day during that time of year because they clog so quickly because of the snow runoff and the debris and sediment in the water. So there's multiple levels of irrigation filters, but
00:50:36
Speaker
They clog so fast on drip irrigation, which if you're listening to this and you have drip irrigation, this just popped in my mind and I'm sure it'll be helpful for some people. If you have the same lines, make sure you flush them out at the beginning of the season. I had not done that until last year and there was so much sediment in my lines that I had such better irrigation pressure.
00:51:00
Speaker
and flow to my plants after cleaning them out. So little side note there. You have shared on your website and also through social media that not only do you have a passion for flowers, but you love cooking, baking, festive decorating, and especially Christmas. How do these passions intertwine with your life as a flower farmer?
00:51:25
Speaker
For the cooking and baking in particular, I do host small events here on the farm during the summer. I've done dessert with dahlias and I've done bubbles and blooms, so like mimosas with a you pick. And that part gives me the
00:51:47
Speaker
being able to entertain, because I love to entertain and host other people. And it gives me the ability to bake for other people, which I also love. My husband is gone 10 to 12 days at a time. So I don't get to do a lot of that anymore. And so this gives me a way to include that in with the flowers. And same with Christmas. I stopped doing them this year, but I was doing
00:52:17
Speaker
wreath making classes here in our home during Christmas time. And so that was a way to invite people to our home and celebrate the season with music and festive drinks and treats and then work on a beautiful wreath for your home. And I really enjoyed that. That was probably one of my favorite events that I no longer offer, but that I did in the beginning.
00:52:40
Speaker
I love all three of those and such fun names, bubbles and blooms, dessert and dahlias. What did you call your Christmas one? I had two. I had one that was just a regular like holiday wreath workshop. And then I believe I called, I had an elevated one that was
00:53:03
Speaker
Gosh, I can't remember. I think it was fairy tale Christmas or something like that. And it was over the top with cookies and treats. And you got more ingredients for making your wreaths, like more specialty things for that one. That one was probably my most fun.
00:53:25
Speaker
It was just, yeah. I love workshop ideas and bringing people to the farm or getting people involved with flowers and intermixing them with events, which kind of brings me back to the beginning of our conversation. You mentioned that before you started your flower farm, you met people by growing flowers and giving them to them. How did you distribute your flowers to people in your community?
00:53:53
Speaker
So every Wednesday, the farmwives around here, not just the farmwives, but it's mostly the farmer's wives, they do a ladies coffee on Wednesday afternoons at our agricultural center that we have. Believe it or not, we have an agricultural center here. That's all we have. There's nothing else, but it gets well used. And so they would meet every Wednesday.
00:54:19
Speaker
And one of my neighbors that lives about a mile down the road, she invited me once to meet people. And that was kind of where I first started meeting people. And so as my season went, I would bring flowers and just bring them and set them on the table. Please take them. And everybody loved that. And it made me feel good to be able to give to people. I'm definitely a giver. I love
00:54:48
Speaker
love being able to do things like that.
00:54:51
Speaker
So it started with that. And now I give dahlia tubers, I give seed, just whatever I'm I'm feeling. And because I want other people to be able to grow and have those beautiful things in their gardens, because it's such it's all about memories for me, I believe. It's mostly just memories. You're growing it. There's a moment where your grandchild or your child and you were out in the garden smelling things or cutting them.
00:55:21
Speaker
And you come back to those year after year, those memories that you're creating with people. And I think that's the biggest, the biggest important part for me is for people to create those lasting memories of time with their loved ones. That's really beautiful. You said that very well. So as you transitioned to
00:55:45
Speaker
from giving away your flowers to becoming a flower farmer. I'm sure the fact that you had already let people see how beautiful your flowers were and they had an experience and a memory with your flowers, that probably helped as you started out your business. And we're, do you have a CSA subscription? How do you sell your flowers now?
00:56:06
Speaker
So things are going to be different for the 2024 growing season, but I will go back with how it was. I did sell a subscription for local people that could just come and pick up or I would deliver on our Wednesday coffee days. And then I opened up to you picks.
00:56:24
Speaker
Which was hard, which was hard. I'm not going to lie. We are so far away from anything that I was only getting about 10 people a time. But I found that I liked that better. I had been to other you picks where there was like 40 people and I just it just didn't feel as personal to me. So having it be a small event like that, I really enjoyed because I got to talk to each person and just make them feel like they were a girlfriend, not
00:56:53
Speaker
not here to give me their money. You know what I mean? It just had a better feel. And then I did one summer, there's a market that they sell things from other makers and growers around in our area. And I did have my flowers there one summer.
00:57:15
Speaker
But now moving forward, I am only going to be doing specialty events, like I'd said, the dessert and dahlias. And I've moved mostly to seed production. That's kind of where my heart is, is the seed production and the breeding of the cosmos. I shouldn't say that's somewhere my heart is, because I do love the people aspect of it. So that's why I'm keeping some of the events. But I just really enjoy
00:57:43
Speaker
the seed part of it and the breeding.
Future Episodes and Following Madeline
00:57:46
Speaker
So if people live in Canada, they can buy your seeds and dahlia tubers. Is that correct?
00:57:54
Speaker
Yes, so the seeds, I do a sweet peas sale in October. And then in January, I do all the other seeds and then whatever sweet peas are left from October. Sometimes I just will divide it. So the people that want to fall sow and then some in January. And then this year is my first year. I'm selling dia cuttings, not tubers this year. I was a little bit scared to do tubers because people are so mean.
00:58:25
Speaker
and picky about what their tubers look like. You know, I've been on all these Facebook groups and I see how angry people get because it's wrinkled or it's small. And I just couldn't add that negativity to my life right now. So I chose to do rooted cuttings. I've been doing those on my own for the last few years and I'm decent at it. Really good actually, but I don't want to
00:58:50
Speaker
you know, pump myself up too much. So that's what I'm doing this year, just to get my feet wet and see how it goes. And then next year, my goal is to offer both do tubers and the rooted cuttings. Mostly, though, rooted cuttings, because some varieties that I have are really hard to get here in Canada. And it was a way I could sell 50 tubers or I could sell 300 rooted cuttings, right, to get them into more hands. So that was
00:59:17
Speaker
kind of the main reason behind that aside from the tuber, the way they look. And in your growing zone, I'd imagine that cuttings probably give your customers a head start because they normally need 120 days to get a dahlia tuber formation. So if they already have a cutting, they have a head start to get their flowers growing and the tuber is forming. Is that correct?
00:59:42
Speaker
that is correct and they also tend to bloom sooner like quite a bit sooner so that's always a nice perk because i feel like here we're waiting until mid august a lot of times for blooms and then two weeks later they're gone so it definitely is a way to get them out sooner to enjoy
01:00:02
Speaker
Well, our conversation has literally just flown by. I'm looking at the clock and I can't believe we've already been chatting so long and you just opened up another can of worms with the Dahlia tubers and Dahlia cuttings. So I might have to have you back on for another episode so we could chat about cuttings and tubers. And I love that you brought up the Dahlia tubers because by the time this airs, my tuber sale will be over.
01:00:28
Speaker
But I have about 500 tubers this year that I'm holding back for my sale because I was looking at them last night. They're small. Some of them have a little bit of wrinkles and imperfections. If I had my old field, I would plant them in the space.
01:00:43
Speaker
but I don't have space for them this year because I have such a smaller space. I'm growing on less than half an acre total this year where I had an acre, almost almost an acre and a half last year of space to grow on. So I'm substantially scaling back, but it's like 500 tubers that could be going out there that have perfect eyes are totally viable. But I'm fearful that someone will say it's too small. And by small I'm talking about it's bigger than my thumb. I have a rule of thumb that I don't send anything out that isn't
01:01:14
Speaker
I'm trying to think what would be a good size. The necks have to be at least as big as a pencil, but I mean I have things that I have grown and sprouted that are so small because size doesn't matter and sometimes actually those smaller ones
01:01:28
Speaker
can grow faster because they don't have to put all their energy into keeping the tuber alive so they can get the sprout going and send out other shoots. So it could be a really great conversation for a later podcast episode if you'd be willing to come back on and chat again. Yes, I would love to.
01:01:45
Speaker
Great, we'll have to get that on the calendar and in the books. In the meantime though, for those that would like to follow your journey in Growing Flowers and Zone 2B, or if they're in Canada and would like to buy seeds or tubers from you, how can people find you?
01:02:03
Speaker
So we are on Instagram and it is just at fresh flower farm. Uh, but you have to note the spelling F R A I C H E and same with our website. It would be fresh flower farm.com. Excellent. I will include links to both of those and our show notes today. And before we say goodbye to our listeners, is there any parting advice you would like to give today?
01:02:31
Speaker
I would say if you are just starting out, whether you're growing in your home garden or if you're wanting to become a flower farmer, just start small. You don't have to grow a hundred things your first time. Start small, give yourself grace. There's always going to be a learning curve no matter who you are. And just have fun. Even if you're just growing to put a bouquet on your kitchen table or your dining room table every week. Just have a good time and enjoy it.
01:03:00
Speaker
That is such a great reminder. Just have fun and enjoy it. Such an important part of the process. When we lose the joy, it doesn't become fun anymore. Thank you for those wise words. Well, Madeline, it has been such an honor to chat with you today. And I'll look forward to welcoming you back on the podcast in the near future to talk dahlias next time. In the meantime, happy gardening.
01:03:26
Speaker
Thank you so much. It was wonderful to be here. Thank you. We'll talk soon. 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.
01:03:54
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.