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This is the 300th consecutive episode of your weekly podcast about American flowers and the people who grow and design with them. It’s all about making a conscious choice and I invite you to join the conversation and the creative community as we discuss the vital topics of saving our domestic flower farms and supporting a floral industry that relies on a safe, seasonal and local supply of flowers and foliage.

I have a very special guest to help me celebrate our 300th episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Yes, for 300 consecutive weeks, ever since the first episode aired on July 23, 2013, I’ve brought you original programming about local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and the people who grow and design with them.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is different. My audio storytelling is inclusive and welcoming to you, and I hope you picture it the way I do: we’re all sitting together in a beautiful field of flowers or curled up around the fireplace sipping mugs of tea. It is a community gathering place for voices, insights, ideas and encouragement, bringing you nearly six years of meaningful and informative content — delivered through your ear-buds. The Seattle Times just called this podcast “a lively platform for voices in the local-flowers movement throughout the country, which will have you craving blossoms and blooms.”

Each week, you join my engaging conversations with flower farmers, floral designers, cut floral and plant experts, authors, entrepreneurs and innovators in the Slow Flowers Community.

And I thank YOU for joining me! For our 300th episode, I’m so pleased to welcome Teresa Sabankaya of the Bonny Doon Garden Co., based in Santa Cruz, CA. Teresa is a past guest of this podcast, but it has been quite a while since you’ve heard from her here — more than four years, actually, since we recorded our conversation back in April 2015 when I visited her shop, studio and garden.

A lot has happened with Teresa who I call a Slow Flowers Pioneer! Like me, you may have first met this passionate artist in the pages of Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart’s 2007 book about the Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers.

And while so many people say they want to write a book, Teresa’s book idea has actually become a beautiful reality. Her new endeavor, The Posy Book, will be published in one week by The Countryman Press, a division of W.W. Norton & Co., and we have the exclusive first peek inside its pages with today’s conversation with Teresa. I’m so excited to welcome her here — and be sure to listen scroll to the bottom of this post — where you’ll find the details on how you can enter a random drawing to win a copy of this special book.

The Posy Book’s tagline is “Garden-Inspired Bouquets that Tell a Story,” and in its 255 pages, you will find Teresa’s floral recipes for more than 20 flower arrangements, along with the message each flower communicates — yellow roses convey friendship; silver-leaf geranium articulates admiration, for example. There are step-by-step instructions, ideas for seasonal variations and a modern floral dictionary with hundreds of entries.

After hearing from Teresa Sabankaya, you’ll also believe that whatever the sentiment, say it with a posy. Check out Teresa’s New Language of Flowers Dictionary, online.

Here’s how to find and follow Teresa:

Teresa Sabankaya on Facebook

Teresa Sabankaya on Twitter

Teresa Sabankaya on Instagram where you can search by #theposybook and #sentimentinflowers

ENTER TO WIN THE POSY BOOK!

Thank you so much for joining me today! To enter your name in our drawing for a free copy of The Posy Book, you’ll need to do two things. First, visit Teresasabankaya.com, where you will find Teresa’s New Language of Flowers Dictionary — and look up the meaning of your favorite botanical element — flower, herb, tree or shrub. Then, post your thoughts about that flower and its meaning in the comment section below.

We will draw a name from the comments that appear by midnight Pacific time on Saturday, May 4th and announce the winner in next week’s show. Thank you to Teresa’s publisher The Countryman Press. This giveaway is limited to US and Canadian entrants.

Our theme for 2019 – Fifty States of Slow Flowers – continues today, with Stacy Schmidt of Narrow Trail Farm in Baldwin City, Kansas. Stacy writes this on Narrow Trail’s web site:

Narrow Trail Farm is a small family farm committed to bringing you the best sustainably grown, specialty cut flowers, vegetables, fruit, honey, and small batch handcrafted goods. Our farm is located between Baldwin City and the historic Vinland Valley on the original Santa Fe trail. We are committed to using only organic and sustainable growing practices and clean solar energy to offer you the healthiest products while protecting the environment. As we discuss, you can find Narrow Trail Farm at the Baldwin City farmers’ market and the Lawrence, Kansas farmers’ market, or at their own farm store Monday and Wednesday 4-8pm May through October or by appointment.

Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’m so pleased to share the stories and voices of Teresa and Stacy — and I am continually inspired be the incredible people who are making our world a better place through flowers and farming. As I seek new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you, it’s my wish that today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

I thought of the Slow Flowers Movement while reading an article last weekend written by New York Times food editor Sam Sifton, acknowledging the James Beard Foundation’s media awards for 2019 that named the NYT publication of the year. Sam wrote this: “Our goal is simple: We seek to help people understand the world through food.” That sentence gave me chills, because it is exactly what I want to convey about our work — helping people understand the world through flowers. Pretty inspiring!

As I teased at the top of the episode, today we’re launching a special ticket-promotion for attendees of the upcoming Slow Flowers Summit — which takes place two months from today, actually, on July 1st and 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota.

One of the top reasons our attendees love the Slow Flowers Summit is the opportunity to mix-and-mingle with other kindred spirits. So we want to make it easy for you to experience the Summit and bring along your BFF, partner, colleague or team member with our Plus-One Ticket Promotion!

For a limited time — today through May 15th only — when you register for the Slow Flowers Summit, you can add a guest for $275! This applies to anyone who has already registered, as well as new ticket-buyers.

We’ll meet you in St. Paul-Minnesota, aka the Twin Cities, on July 1-2, 2019 for the best and most inspiring floral mind-meld around! Join an amazing community of progressive designers, farmer-florists, flower farmers and leaders in the sustainable floral marketplace. 

You can find the Plus One promo option by following the Register link at slowflowerssummit.com.

I look forward to connecting with you at the Slow Flowers Summit July 1st and 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as at the bonus pre-summit event — Dinner on the Farm taking place Sunday, June 30th.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

I want to send a special shout-out this week to Aaron Stierle of Solitude Springs Farm & Vineyard in Fairbanks, Alaska — he contributed to the Podcast as well as joined Slow Flowers — all in one week. Aaron wrote: “Hi Debra, Love your podcasts! They’ve inspired me to take my farm to a new level by adding specialty cut flowers in addition to the peonies I grow for the Arctic Alaska Peonies cooperative.”

Well, that’s pretty cool! THANK YOU, Aaron, and welcome to the community! 

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community

Welcome back to returning sponsor Arctic Alaska Peonies for 2019 and the timing couldn’t be better. Arctic Alaska Peonies is a cooperative of family farms in the heart of Alaska working together to grow and distribute fresh, stunning, high-quality peony varieties during the months of July and August when the normal growing season is complete. Arctic Alaska Peonies operates three pack houses supplying peonies throughout the United States and Canada. Visit them today at arcticalaskapeonies.com

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org.

Our final Sponsor thanks today goes to Longfield Gardens. Longfield Gardens provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Visit them at longfield-gardens.com and join the spring flower photo contest going on now through May 24th. Share a photo of what’s blooming in your garden, post to Facebook or Instagram, and you might win a $50 dollar gift card from Longfield Gardens!  

1. Take a photo of something that’s currently blooming in your garden. Show us one flower, 100 flowers or a bouquet — you decide.

2. Post your photo on Instagram and tag it with #LongfieldBlooms. On Facebook, leave it as a comment under our weekly post.

3. Include the flower type (and variety if you know it), the date the photo was taken and where you are located.

We will select and re-share one winning photo each week from now through May 24. Good Luck!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:
Heartland Flyer; Skyway; Betty Dear; Gaena; Perspirationby Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

I have a delicious treat for you! The Slow Flowers Summit is just 10 weeks away, on July 1st and 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota — so I’ll be featuring all the Summit details, people, places and flowers in the coming weeks. There’s lots in store for you at our 3rd annual Summit, dubbed a Ted Talk for Flower Lovers, and I’m so eager to share our incredible program and special events with you.

Today, we have a preview of our bonus event, Slow Flowers Dinner on the Farm, which is scheduled for Sunday, June 30th at Green Earth Growers in Prior Lake, Minnesota. BONUS: Listen to our January 16, 2019 episode with Jenny and Jolea of Green Earth Growers.

This is an incredible dining experience designed to please all of your senses. You’ll also get to meet our Summit speakers who will be there to mix and mingle with all attendees. It’s separately ticketed at a fabulous rate of $100 per person.

Our guests today are Monica Walch, founder and director of Dinner on the Farm, a Minnesota-based organization known for its roaming culinary events. Monica is joined by Christine Hoffman of Twin Cities Flower Exchange and Foxglove Market, co-host of the Slow Flowers Summit.

I’m so grateful that Christine introduced me to Monica in the early stages of Summit planning. Her suggestion that we include a flower farm dinner option for Summit attendees exceeded all my dreams and expectations for building community and showcasing regional agriculture.

I simply could not envision how to pull off a dinner not knowing the local foodie scene, but fortunately for me Christine and her husband Steve Sollien are a big part of Dinner on the Farm’s event production team and their relationship with Monica opened the right doors. You’ll hear more about that collaboration in our conversation today.

Here’s a bit more about Monica Walch, founder of Dinner on the Farm:

It all began on an organic dairy farm in Southeastern Minnesota, where Monica Walch grew up as one of four sisters. Spring and summer were spent picking berries, wildflowers, and names for the new kittens. Fall and winter found the girls bottle-feeding calves and building snow forts with purple-stained fingers from plucking pickled beets straight from the jar. Every evening ended with a home-cooked supper together, as a family…a celebration of the love and hard work that went into growing the ingredients for the meal.

When Monica moved away from the farm as a young adult, she chose to hold fast to her roots in the midst of the city. She spent time at markets and restaurants, helping the chefs and buyers connect to farmers in the area. At the same time, Monica was coordinating a nationwide marketing campaign to bring awareness to organic foods. It was then that she realized that connecting these two worlds could produce a whole lot of positive change in the way people think about food.

Monica believes that eating sustainably-grown, fresh food is a pleasure that deserves to be celebrated. And creating unique events designed to celebrate local food and farms has always been her work.

Dinner on the Farm produces unique events designed to celebrate local farms, with al fresco  dining, farm tours, locally-brewed beverages and live music.

Oh, and with Christine Hoffman involved, you can be sure that local and seasonal flowers are part of the mix. As the Twin Cities first exclusively local and chemical-free florist, Christine is a slow flowers advocate striving to form a strong community of sustainable flower farmers, small business owners, and folks who care about supporting these mindful endeavors. By providing a local, sustainable option to traditional flowers, putting a premium on collaboration, and reaching out to the community, she has fostered significant change in the local floral marketplace.

Hear our past Slow Flowers Podcast episodes featuring Christine Hoffman here:

Episode 193, May 13, 2015

Episode 290, March 29, 2017

There’s more to your experience: on Sunday, June 30th, the afternoon begins with two flower farm visits for attendees as a free, self-guided visits. The first stop is at Rachael and Jon Ackerman’s Blue Sky Flower Farm. You can hear Rachael’s story on Slow Flowers Podcast Episode 378 here.

The farm tour moves next to Green Earth Growers, owned by Jenny Hotz and Jolea Gress. After the tours wind-down, dinner festivities begin, so you’ll want to grab your ticket to stay for an incredible Dinner on the Farm experience featuring flowers and produce grown on-site. All the details are available here.

Now is the time for you to commit to joining me and the Slow Flowers Community, people who are part of the progressive floral marketplace, to connect at the Slow Flowers Summit July 1st and 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as at the bonus Dinner on the Farm taking place Sunday, June 30th.

I also wanted to note a reminder that we forgot to mention during the interview with Monica. The Slow Flowers Dinner on the Farm is an adult-only event.

Our theme for 2019 – Fifty States of Slow Flowers – continues today, with farmer-florist Martha Pineda of Dubuque, Iowa-based Martha’s Gardens,

Martha writes this on her web site:

At Martha’s Gardens, we are committed to growing sustainable flowers, free of pesticides and chemicals. Within the flower community, you’ll often hear this referred to as the “slow flowers” or the “grown not flown” movement.  As a small business committed to using the resources available, we subscribe to this mindset. In keeping with this, when it’s necessary to supplement our flower stock with other partner growers, we are mindful to use American growers only.  We believe that reduction of the carbon footprint is the responsible choice.

Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’m so pleased to share the stories and voices of Monica, Christine and Martha — I am continually inspired be the incredible people who are making our world a better place through flowers and farming. As I seek new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you, it’s my wish that today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

We’ve spoken a lot about the Slow Flowers Summit, coming up soon on July 1 & 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota. More than half of the registration slots have been grabbed, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to join with Slow Flowers thinkers and doers in person.

One of our past year’s speakers dubbed the Summit a “floral mind meld,” and I love that concept. Come and be a part of the incredible and uplifting experience! You can make your way to slowflowerssummit.com to learn all about the many opportunities to join us — from flower farm tours and dinner on a flower farm to business and branding presentations to interactive and inspiring design sessions . . . all designed to serve you! Subscribe to Summit news and updates at slowflowerssummit.com.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.

NW Green Panels. Based in Madras, Oregon, NW Green Panels designs and constructs a wide array of wood-framed greenhouses offering versatility, style and durability. Their greenhouses are 100% Oregon-made using twin-wall polycarbonate manufactured in Wisconsin, making NW Green Panel structures a great value for your backyard. The 8×8 foot Modern Slant greenhouse has become the essential hub of my cutting garden — check out photos of my greenhouse or visit nwgreenpanels.com to see more.

The Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

This week marks the 8th Anniversary of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market — what an achievement! I’d love you to hear more about this intrepid hub connecting flower farmers with floral designers. Here is a link to my 2017 interview with Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm and Vivian Larson of Everyday Flowers, two of the founding farmers of that enterprise. Happy 8th Birthday to the growers, leadership and staff!!

Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

This is a big week for Syndicate’s USA-made mechanics – the pillow and egg product line affectionately called Holly x Syndicate! The reusable armatures for floral designing are featured in Martha Stewart Living’s current issue and that’s a good thing. Congratulations, Syndicate and Holly Chapple for the recognition. Here’s how you can order your own Holly Pillow – and related products.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 450,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. Thank you all!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:
The Basket; Betty Dear; Gaena; Perspiration by Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ 

Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

I’m delighted to introduce you to my featured guest today: Jennifer Jewell, creator and host of Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden.

Cultivating Place plays a significant role in the audio space, not just on North State Public Radio in Chico, California, the show’s home base, but everywhere through the power of Podcasting. I know many of our Slow Flowers Podcast listeners have already discovered Jennifer and this wonderful one-hour weekly program — in fact, Jennifer and I are frequently drawn to the same guests and topics.

Cultivating Place is an incredible platform for dialogue with people for whom nature and gardening is a central, essential act. Jennifer is passionate about conversations that often include the simple question: What is your garden practice?

Here is more about Cultivating Place. The program’s premise is that gardens are more than collections of plants.

Gardens and Gardeners are intersectional spaces and agents for positive change in our world. Together, we center gardens and gardeners as paradigm shifters improving our relationships to and impacts on the more-than-human natural environment, on the larger culture(s), and on our communal and individual health and well-being.

Through thoughtful conversations with growers, gardeners, naturalists, scientists, artists and thinkers, Cultivating Place illustrates the many ways in which gardens and gardening are integral to our natural and cultural literacy – on par with Art, Science, Literature, Music, Religion. Gardens encourage a direct relationship with the dynamic processes of the plants, animals, soils, seasons, and climatic factors that come to bear on a garden, providing a unique, and uniquely beautiful, bridge connecting us to our larger environments — culturally and botanically. With 38% of US households engaging in gardening – we are many, and especially together, we make a difference in this world. These conversations celebrate how all these interconnections support the places we cultivate, nourish our bodies, and feed our spirits.

Here is more about Jennifer Jewell:

Host of the national award-winning, weekly public radio program and podcast, Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History & the Human Impulse to Garden, Jennifer Jewell is a gardener, garden writer, and gardening educator and advocate.

Particularly interested in the intersections between gardens, the native plant environments around them, and human culture, she is the daughter of garden and floral designing mother and a wildlife biologist father. Jennifer has been writing about gardening professionally since 1998, and her work has appeared in Gardens Illustrated, House & Garden, Natural Home, Old House Journal, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, and Pacific Horticulture. She worked as Native Plant Garden Curator for Gateway Science Museum on the campus of California State University, Chico, and lives and gardens in Butte County, California.

Jennifer’s first book about extraordinary women changing the world with plants, is due out in early 2020 from Timber Press. I’m so honored that she asked me to be part of this project as one of the women profiled — and in the coming months, I’ll have more details to share with you. She is currently at work on her second book highlighting wild gardens of the west and their relationship to the natural beauty of their places, with photographer Caitlin Atkinson. 

I’m so pleased to share my conversation with Jennifer today. Here are some of her social links for you to follow:

Cultivating Place on Facebook

Cultivating Place on Instagram

Listen to my guest appearance on Cultivating Place (July 2016)

You can find and follow Jennifer Jewell and subscribe to her program Cultivating Place at cultivatingplace.org or follow these links below:

• On this website on your computer or phone
• Using your iPhone on Apple Podcasts
• Using the Spotify [tk] or Soundcloud apps on any device

Our theme for 2019 – Fifty States of Slow Flowers – continues today, with Amy Beausir of Indiana-based Molly & Myrtle, an Indianapolis “urban flower farm”  & design studio filled with curated wedding supplies to help couples “go green.”

Amy started out about 8 yrs ago as a farmer’s market vendor selling cut flowers surrounded by garden foliage; now everything she grows supplies her weekly business. Establishing relationships with small & large business owners comes naturally to Amy, a former marketing director at the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. When she personally delivers weekly flowers it’s a weekly highlight to catch up with customers, including a 13-room boutique hotel, an all-organic restaurant, artisan icy pop shop, an international brand retail store, and a senior living facility. Molly & Myrtle’s bread & blooms so to speak are weddings, in addition to workshops, special events & philanthropy.

Amy shared her “back story”:

“I was born in the small town of Cary, Illinois, and my childhood provided an idyllic environment for a kid and priceless experiences stored away have given me channels of  inspiration for a grown up designer. The glacial region supplied rich black dirt, and on our property, manure from a Hertz family Kentucky Derby winning race horse and then Curtiss Farms prize bulls made our family garden flourish.

“A special neighbor named Louise was a conservationist ahead of her time. Louise and a few helpers built a wildflower trail down the hill from us off Turkey Run Rd.  Louise carefully marked the solomon’s seal, trillium, trout lilies, and dozens of other specimens that lined the forested trail that finished at the beginning of a group of natural spring fed  trout ponds. I learned how to make watercress sandwiches & candied violets from foraging “small servings” from the woods & wildflower trail. 

“To this day I have a keen eye, hand, nose and ear for all the beauty of nature whether it be a veined leaf, bird or bloom. In our gardens I often say ‘hello gorgeous’ when I discover a spectacular flower or ‘good morning’ to a bird or bee that zooms out of a flower as I’m walking thru. In your Slow Flowers book you use the description of ‘natural form & character’  and ‘how a vase can be a little garden.’ What a great way of explaining what gardeners & flower farmers experience with our up close relationship with the myriad of things we cultivate, nurture and harvest.   One of my very first jobs as a teenager was working for Ellen at our town’s flower shop, Cary Floral Gardens.”

Favorite things in the gardens:  lavender, ferns and hosta

Favorite short season crop from outside Indiana:  mock orange and quince

Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’m so pleased to share the stories and voices of Jennifer Jewell and Amy Beausir — they’re both contributing exciting chapters to the Slow Flowers story and I hope you find and follow them!

Thank you so much for joining me on this Slow Flowers journey as I seek new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you. I hope today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

The Slow Flowers Summit is coming up soon — on July 1 & 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota. More than half of the registration slots have been grabbed, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to join with Slow Flowers thinkers and doers in person.

One of our past year’s speakers dubbed the Summit a “floral mind meld,” and I love that concept. Come and be a part of the incredible and uplifting experience! You can make your way to slowflowerssummit.com to learn all about the many opportunities to join us — from flower farm tours and dinner on a flower farm to business and branding presentations to interactive and inspiring design sessions . . . all designed to serve you! Subscribe to Summit news and updates at slowflowerssummit.com.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

THANK YOU, SPONSORS!

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.

The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Check them out at johnnysseeds.com.

Longfield Gardens provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Visit them at longfield-gardens.com

You’re invited to be part of Longfield Gardens’ “Spring Flower Photo Contest,” now through May 24th. Share a photo of what’s blooming in your garden, post to Facebook or Instagram, and you might win a $50 dollar gift card from Longfield Gardens! Here are the details:

1. Take a photo of something that’s currently blooming in your garden. Show us one flower, 100 flowers or a bouquet — you decide.

2. Post your photo on Instagram and tag it with #LongfieldBlooms. On Facebook, leave it as a comment under our weekly post.

3. Include the flower type (and variety if you know it), the date the photo was taken and where you are located.

We will select and re-share one winning photo each week from now through May 24. Good Luck!

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 444,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. Thank you all!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:
Le Marais; Rue Severine; Betty Dear; Horizon Liner; Gaena; Perspirationby Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Last week took me to Southern California and I covered a lot of ground while there, from participating early in the week at The Gathering Rose workshop produced and hosted by Danielle Hahn of Rose Story Farm and Felicia Alvarez of Menagerie Farm + Flower, both past guests of this podcast, to visiting Mayesh Wholesale Flowers (a sponsor of the Slow Flowers Podcast) and connecting with today’s guest at the Los Angeles Flower District.

I was so thrilled to spend time with Whit McClure of LA-based Whit Hazen, a studio designer who is a featured speaker of the Slow Flowers Summit coming up in July. While we are “friends” via social media and have chatted on a telephone interview for a story I wrote for Florists’ Review’s Slow Flowers Journal last December, nothing can compare with face-to-face conversation. Whit and I enjoyed a lovely breakfast and then we recorded the interview you’ll hear next.

Here’s more about Whit:  

Studio floral designer Whit McClure moved to Los Angeles three years ago and she has been designing with flowers ever since. Her introduction to flower farming and floral design is rooted in connections made through food justice and the local culinary community in Washington, D.C.

Whit spent years after college working on farms, in community gardens, and in the nonprofit world, teaching folks of all ages and walks of life how to grow their own food.  Eventually she found floral design as the perfect blend of working with plants, crafting beauty, and collaborating with others, while also pursuing her committment to social justice. Ever-inspired by nature’s abundant beauty and driven to respect and protect its resources, Whit Hazen is motivated to bring more beauty in the world for others.

Read more about Whit McClure:

Slow Flowers Summit – Speaker Q&A

December 2018 issue of Florists’ Review

Follow Whit McClure & Whit Hazen on Instagram

Thank you so much for joining me on this Slow Flowers journey as I seek new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you. I hope today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

As we mentioned, Whit McClure is the Capstone Speaker at the 3rd annual Slow Flowers Summit, which takes place on July 1st & 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota. You’ll hear from Whit about her approach to floral activism as she encourages audience members to use their artistic platform for social change. I can’t wait for you to join us there.

It’s time to grab your seat at The Slow Flowers Summit. More than half of the registration slots have been grabbed, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to join with Slow Flowers thinkers and doers in person.

One of our past year’s speakers dubbed the Summit a “floral mind meld,” and I love that concept. Come and be a part of the incredible and uplifting experience! You can make your way to slowflowerssummit.com to learn all about the many opportunities to join us — from flower farm tours and dinner on a flower farm to business and branding presentations to interactive and inspiring design sessions . . . all designed to serve you! Subscribe to Summit news and updates at slowflowerssummit.com.

Our theme for 2019 – Fifty States of Slow Flowers – continues today, with Kat Willrett of Illinois-based Willrett Flower Co.

As a farmer-florist, Kat’s wedding designs start with flowers cut fresh from her farmland where she grows organic, high end, cut flowers, on just a few acres in Northern Illinois. The farm is the heart of her business and she loves to show it off, often with a glass of wine and a walk through the field.

Find and follow Kat at these social places:

Willrett Flower Co. on Instagram

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.

NW Green Panels. Based in Madras, Oregon, NW Green Panels designs and constructs a wide array of wood-framed greenhouses offering versatility, style and durability. Their greenhouses are 100% Oregon-made using twin-wall polycarbonate manufactured in Wisconsin, making NW Green Panel structures a great value for your backyard. The 8×8 foot Modern Slant greenhouse has become the essential hub of my cutting garden — check out photos of my greenhouse or visit nwgreenpanels.com to see more.

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com

Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 438,000 times by listeners like you. We wrapped up the month of March with more than 17,000 downloads — an all-time record listenership. So excited to see our community continue to grow. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. Thank you all!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:

Betty Dear; Horizon Liner; Gaena; Perspiration
by Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Last weekend I spent 2 days in Walla Walla, Washington, located in the Southeast corner of the state, where I joined the Washington-Grown Flowers promotion team at the Washington State Farmers’ Market Association conference.

The Flower Promotion effort was funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant and is being jointly administered by the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture’s Regional Markets Program and the Washington State Farm Bureau. They invited me to co-present on my Slow Flowers Insights, as well as about local flower promotion strategies for Farmers’ Market managers — what  a great opportunity to bring local and seasonal flowers to the forefront of the farmers’ market world!

Thanks to Laura Ridenour and Laura Raymond of WSDA and to Suzanne Carson of the Farm Bureau for including me in this program, and to Emily Asmus of Welcome Table Farm, my co-presenter, who was super inspiring as a local flower farmer with great advice about seasonality and best practices for market managers who may not be as familiar with floral crops as they are with food crops.

While in Walla Walla, I also had time to visit Gholson Gardens, owned by Slow Flowers member Elaine Vandiver and her husband Mike Vandiver.

Gholson Gardens is a small, 10-acre farm located in southeastern Washington state, in the quintessential rural community of Walla Walla.  Mike and Elaine are both U.S. Army veterans turned first generation farmers.

As they share on their web site, “with no previous agricultural experience, we purchased the farm in May 2014 as a way to start anew after learning a traditional family wasn’t in the cards for us.  We didn’t have any immediate plans for the farm, which was mostly in pasture.  We simply hoped to enjoy the beautiful red barn, sweeping views of the Blue Mountains from the farmhouse porch, and maybe get some critters to complete the country scene.”

The story unfolds in my interview recorded in the farmhouse’s dining room kitchen where Elaine and I sat comfortably while Mike kept their two Greyhound rescue dogs entertained outside.

This is a very personal, inspiring story for anyone who views growing cut flowers as a new way of life, perhaps as a catalyst for all sorts of change.

For Elaine and Mike, growing flowers is the latest chapter of their agricultural lifestyle, one that began with a llama and too many adorable alpacas for me to accurately count, continued to a flower and herb garden to grow plants that produce natural dyes for the wool, skeins and garments made with the alpaca fiber, and expanded just over a year ago to become a full-fledge cut flower farm.

Elaine’s narrative on Gholson Garden’s web site continues: “Knowing that the fiber takes 2 years to bring to market [1 year for the alpacas to grow it and the better part of another year spent professionally milling, knitting and then hand dyeing], we quickly realized that growing cut flowers could be a great way to diversify the farm.  And that’s what we did!  We sowed our first seeds in late February 2018 and began field production in early May, selling them at the local farmer’s market from June through September.  We sell primarily at the Walla Walla Downtown Farmers Market and to a few local florists, but are also offering a ‘bouquet CSA’ starting in Spring 2019. You can find Gholson Gardens at the downtown Walla Walla farmers market in 2019 from May through October!”

I’m so pleased to bring you this interview for many reasons, including how encouraging it is.

Find and Follow Gholson Gardens:

Gholson Gardens on Facebook

Gholson Gardens on Instagram

Old Homestead Alpacas

My time in Walla Walla allowed me to connect with so many fabulous people in the farmers’ market community, people who are excited to bring the story of locally grown flowers to their customers across the state. I will share more in the coming months about the exciting Washington-Grown Flowers project, as I believe it can be a great template for anyone to bring to the department of agriculture and farm bureau agencies in their state. As I said, more to come, soon!

Our #fiftystatesofslowflowers series continues today with a stop in Idaho and Deadhead Cut Flowers’ Jeriann Sabin and Ralph Thurston. The couple are past guest of this podcast and you can hear our 2016 interview here, recorded on the occasion of the publication of Deadhead: The Bindweed Way to Grow Flowers.

A lot has taken place since then, including the sale of Bindweed Flower Farm to their nephew. Last year, Ralph authored All Pollen, No Petal: Behind the Flower Farming Dream, and we talk a little about its message in today’s conversation.

Killing Frost’s Jamie Rodgers will join Ralph and Jeriann for the session to provide his and Carly Jenkins’ success with organic pest and disease control.
If you’ve been dreaming of starting your own cut-flower farm or are ready to make the jump from hobby/master gardener to cut-flower farmer, we are here to help you.  Class size will be limited to ten individuals in order to give close attention to each farmer.

How was this for a bonus segment! Amazing — what a great chance to speak with Elaine Vandiver at the beginning of her flower farming journey, and to hear from Jeriann Sabin and Ralph Thurston, who are looking at some of their journey in the rear view mirror while sharing their knowledge and experience, stories and art with the rest of us.

Thank you so much for joining me on this Slow Flowers journey as I seek new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you. I hope today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

The Slow Flowers Summit is coming up soon — on July 1 & 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota. More than half of the registration slots have been grabbed, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to join with Slow Flowers thinkers and doers in person.

One of our past year’s speakers dubbed the Summit a “floral mind meld,” and I love that concept. Come and be a part of the incredible and uplifting experience! You can make your way to slowflowerssummit.com to learn all about the many opportunities to join us — from flower farm tours and dinner on a flower farm to business and branding presentations to interactive and inspiring design sessions . . . all designed to serve you! Subscribe to Summit news and updates at slowflowerssummit.com.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 433,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. Thank you all!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Check them out at johnnysseeds.com.

Longfield Gardens provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Visit them at longfield-gardens.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:
Betty Dear; Gaena; Perspirationby Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field; Acoustic Shuffle
Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

A few weeks ago, I traveled to the charming town of Burlington, Vermont, located on Lake Champlain, with beautiful views of the Adirondack Mountains in the distance.

Green Mountain Florists Supply hosted me, along with Susan McLeary of Passionflower, to teach for its spring education series. Owners Tom and Kim Jennings and their amazing staff made sure we had not only a wonderful time but a perfect environment for lecturing and teaching. The images shared here are generously provided by Green Mountain Florist Supply and Vermont-based photographer Amy Bennett. Learn more about Amy’s work here.

But let me back up and first tell you how I got there.

I believe in serendipity and connections, and this story is a perfect example of that. My trip to Burlington began in 2017 when Holly Chapple invited me to teach creative writing for florists at her 2nd Flowerstock festival.

There I met Vermont-based florist Jayson Munn, one of those quietly talented guys who gets things done, and anticipates everyone’s needs before they know them. Jayson’s presence definitely supported Holly and all the thousands of tiny moving parts of the Flowerstock machine, and yet he had time to chat and we got to know one another.

Last October, when I returned to teach at Flowerstock again, Jayson and I reconnected in person and he mentioned wanting to invite me to Vermont for the workshop series he coordinates for Green Mountain.

So it happened and the visit was a delightful experience! When I arrived at Green Mountain Florists Supply, I was warmly welcomed by Tom Jennings and the team of professionals. They set up a beautiful teaching space, where I gave a morning presentation — basically the story of Slow Flowers.

Once the other instructors, staff and students had devoured a delicious catered lunch seated among the showroom displays, Tom kicked off our afternoon with a presentation on flower sourcing behind-the-scenes. He and his team unveiled an illustrated timeline of special events and wedding flower ordering, using a 15-foot-long scroll of paper with drawings by Peter Baldor, the company’s Road Supply Sales Manager. As it turns out, Peter is also a humorist and cartoonist known as “Baldy” and I’ve added a link to his “In the Hothouse” web site in our show notes — check out his quirky, plant-focused world view through hand-drawn scenes.

Bailey Hale of nearby Ardelia Farm & Co., followed with a presentation including his story and insights about flower farming in Vermont.

As a bonus, I was invited to design with a vase-full of perfectly formed white ranunculus stems that Bailey harvested from his winter greenhouse, demonstrating a large arrangement of all-American grown floral elements.

That interlude led to our 3-1/2 hour afternoon devoted to creative writing for florists, flower farmers and farmer-florists. What a fabulous group of willing participants. I loved meeting such wonderful women, each of whom brought her unique point of view to writing about flowers, color palettes, personal stories and design. I hope to share some of their pieces in a future post, so keep an eye out for that. Suffice it to say, we had a rewarding day together.

The following day, Susan McLeary taught her distinct bouquet design techniques and floral wearables — and I was able to watch a good portion of the morning session before heading for the airport.

The visit to Vermont was not complete without me asking Tom Jennings to sit down and record an interview for this podcast. Established wholesale florists are in a unique position these days. They are juggling customer demands to bring the world of flowers to their doorstep, while also responding to increasing requests for seasonal, locally grown options. I value Tom’s perspective and I know you’ll learn from this conversation.

Here’s a little more about Green Mountain Florists Supply:

Serving floral professionals in Vermont, New York, New Hampshire and beyond, Green Mountain is Vermont’s premier provider of wholesale cut flowers and floral supplies.

The company opened its doors in 1982 in Middlesex, Vermont, under the astute leadership of Tom’s parents, Charles and Sue Jennings, who saw the need for a first-rate flower supplier in the region.  After graduating from Middlebury College, Tom joined the budding new business in 1983 and assumed ownership in 1997. Since then, Tom has continued his parents’ commitment to superior service and long-term relationships — values that still guide us today.

As a floral industry expert, Tom and his  outstanding team of floral professionals create a unique wholesale experience like no other. With locations in Middlesex and South Burlington, and scheduled delivery routes that extend throughout the three-state region, Green Mountain brings the freshest products right to customers’ doors. At the South Burlington showroom, where I taught, wholesale shoppers can choose from the latest floral supplies and home décor. Artfully arranged each season, the environment serves as an ideal setting for educational opportunities and hands-on workshops. Green Mountain’s Mobile Showroom brings hardgoods, tools and floral supplies to those customers who can’t make it to either wholesale branch for their floral needs.

Find and follow Green Mountain Florist Supply:

Follow Green Mountain Florists Supply on Facebook

Find Green Mountain Florists Supply on Instagram

See Green Mountain Florists Supply images on Flickr

Thanks so much for joining me today. Last week, we announced a giveaway of Andrew Mefferd’s new book The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution — and we’ve drawn one winner from all who posted comments in the show notes by Saturday, March 23rd. I loved reading listeners’ comments about the best tips learned from my interview with Andrew.

Our winner is: Melissa Garcia Perry of Howland Whistle Flower Farm who commented, “So timely! Listened to this podcast while tackling our new acres. Bumping up from super-small urban flower growing to acreage is full of challenges and has me questioning my methodologies. I want this new land to be No-Till but there are so many other growers around me telling me this is a fantasy. Andrew’s best tip for me was witnessing for himself how the absolute pro growers at Bare Mountain Farm simply covered sunflowers beds, stalks and all, with tarps and let their ground peeps do the work. Yes! I can do that.”

Congratulations, Melissa: We’ll get your address over to New Society Publishers so they can send you a copy. And thanks to all who commented and entered!

Don’t forget that Andrew has generously created a coupon code “slow” to give you 20% off your purchases or subscriptions – through the end of April – at his site, Growing for Market. Follow our link in today’s show notes to take advantage.

I was hoping to continue our #fiftystatesofslowflowers series today, with Hawaii, but was unable to entice anyone to join me.

I’ve had our most active Hawaii members on the podcast in the past, so follow a link to my interview with Alison Higgins of Grace Flowers Hawaii in Hanokaa on the Big Island — she has a lot of great stories about local flowers and the floral business of destination weddings you’ll want to hear if you missed the original air date. We need more active members — growers and floral designers — in Hawaii, so spread the word!

Next week, I promise you, we will hear from another State Voice — we have four I states coming up — Idaho, Illinois,  Indiana & Iowa, so that will bring us through the month of April.

I also have an reminder for ASCFG members or prospective members. The organization’s popular Mentor Program continues for the 2020-2021 seasons and if you’ve been thinking about apply to serve as a flower farming mentor or to be considered as a mentee, take note of the March 31st deadline.

And to learn more, listen to our past interview with ASCFG mentors and mentees in episode 295 from 2017. This is an incredible opportunity and the deadline is quickly approaching.

Thank you so much for joining me on this Slow Flowers journey as I seek new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you. I hope today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

I love hearing from listeners and here’s an encouraging note that I received from Michelle Haynes of Rusty Dog Ranch, who contributed a donation in support of the Podcast. She wrote:

“Debra ~Thank you for your wonderful podcasts! I am at the very beginning stages of setting up a cut flower farm and native plants habitat here in rural north Texas. I’ve created beds and planted seeds inbetween my day job, and I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m trying not to overthink it. Your interviews and stories keep me company and encourage me during this solitary work. Every time I hear the name of a flower, one that’s contained in one of my seed packets, I think, “Well, THEY did it, so why can’t I?!”

The Slow Flowers Summit is coming up soon — on July 1 & 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota. More than half of the registration slots have been grabbed, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to join with Slow Flowers thinkers and doers in person.

One of our past year’s speakers dubbed the Summit a “floral mind meld,” and I love that concept. Come and be a part of the incredible and uplifting experience! You can make your way to slowflowerssummit.com to learn all about the many opportunities to join us — from flower farm tours and dinner on a flower farm to business and branding presentations to interactive and inspiring design sessions . . . all designed to serve you! Subscribe to Summit news and updates at slowflowerssummit.com.

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.

NW Green Panels. Based in Madras, Oregon, NW Green Panels designs and constructs a wide array of wood-framed greenhouses offering versatility, style and durability. Their greenhouses are 100% Oregon-made using twin-wall polycarbonate manufactured in Wisconsin, making NW Green Panel structures a great value for your backyard. The 8×8 foot Modern Slant greenhouse has become the essential hub of my cutting garden — check out photos of my greenhouse in today’s show notes or visit nwgreenpanels.com to see more.

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 428,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. Thank you all!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

MUSIC CREDITS:

Not Drunk by The Joy Dropshttp://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Joy_Drops/Not_Drunk_EPhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Color Country; Betty Dear; Gaena; Perspirationby Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Today, we return to St. Louis, Missouri, to check in with the dynamic duo, Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack of Urban Buds.

Not only will you hear more about their farm’s expansion news, I especially wanted them to share highlights of the upcoming Urban Farming Conference that they and others have organized as a program of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers.

Every other year, ASCFG has a large annual symposium, such as the Raleigh conference last year. Then, during the alternating years, such as what’s happening during 2019, ASCFG produces several topic-focused sessions in regions around North America. Later this month, on Saturday, March 23rd, the second such event of the year heads to St. Louis.

You’ll hear a preview of some of the presenters and their topics covered at this one-day event, which includes a panel presentation from Mimo and Miranda and owners of two other Missouri flower farms — all about the results of their research and trials on Winter production. There will also be a tour of the local floral wholesaler, Baisch & Skinner, and a farm tour at Urban Buds.

Spring will have barely arrived outdoors, but inside the greenhouses and high tunnels at Urban Buds, beautiful seasonal flowers will be on full display. I’m excited for the attendees — the city farm is a sight to behold and proof that a flower farm can be just as successful on small plots as well as on larger acreage.

I love how the Urban Farming conference is described by ASCFG on its web site: “Not all cut flowers are grown on a traditional farm. Increasingly, more and more farmers are finding land within city limits, and producing a remarkable variety of cut flowers on a commercial level. Learn from two of the most successful, Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack, how they carved a one-acre cut flower farm out of the middle of a St. Louis neighborhood, and continue to expand their crop selection each year with innovation and environmental sustainability.”

Here is a link to the ASCFG Urban Farming Conference details, including registration and lodging.

Here is a link to my 2016 Slow Flowers Podcast interview with Mimo and Miranda, Episode 238.

Follow Urban Buds on Facebook

See more about Urban Buds on Instagram

Our theme for 2019 – Fifty States of Slow Flowers – continues today, with Kate Read of Grey Tabby Gardens in Lake Mary, Florida.

Grey Tabby Gardens is located in the central part of the state; she describes her floral enterprise as “a boutique cut flower garden and design studio.”

Kate grew up in England and brings a love of English gardens with her wherever she lives, including Florida, which she has called home for 18 years.

She writes this on her web site: “When I first moved to Florida there seemed to be very little interest in growing the type of flowers I was familiar with. My research led me to the “Slow Flower” movement and the desire amongst many flower lovers to source locally grown cut flowers, rather than imported flowers. I began to plan and plant a sizeable cutting garden where I could grow many of the lovely seasonal flowers that reminded me so much of those idyllic English gardens. The result is an ever evolving collation of unique and difficult to source garden fresh flowers styled into lush bouquets and arrangements and available to buy!”

The flowers that are grown at Grey Tabby Gardens are nurtured from seed to bloom and are tended using responsible practices. They have been naturally grown without the use of toxic chemicals or synthetic fertilizers and have been happily visited by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I’m just back from the Philadelphia Flower Show where my mind was fully blown, not only by the warm welcome shown to me on the Designer’s Studio stage, where I presented the Slow Flowers story through flowers, but also by the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see and cover the FTD World Cup floral competition.

Twenty Three countries sent a designer to compete on the world stage and over the course of three days, tens of thousands of flower show attendees witnessed the highest level of talent in real time. I’ll be writing about the competition for Florists’ Review and Canadian Florist, so you can read more about it in the near future. Suffice it to say, there is some kind of new dynamic, new energy being infused in the profession of floral design, especially here in the U.S., where florists of all stages of experience and style are inspired to elevate their craft and art to new levels.

Congratulations to all the remarkable FTD World Cup competitors — you are the cream of the crop — and special congratulations to Australian floral designer Bart Hassam for winning this international floral competition. I’ll have a link to beautiful images and videos from the World Cup in today’s show notes — you must take a look and drink it in.

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey, seeking new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you. I hope today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

One of our past year’s speakers dubbed the Summit a “floral mind meld,” and I love that concept. Come and be a part of the incredible and uplifting experience! You can make your way to slowflowerssummit.com to learn all about the many opportunities to join us — from flower farm tours and dinner on a flower farm to business and branding presentations to interactive and inspiring design sessions . . . all designed to serve you! Subscribe to Summit news and updates at slowflowerssummit.com.

Thank you to our Sponsors who we’ve spotlighted today:

And thank you to our lead sponsor, Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org.

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com

Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 422,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. Thank you all!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:
Dirtbike Lovers; Symphony 40 in G Minor; Rabbit Hole; Gaena; Perspirationby Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Our theme for 2019 — Fifty States of Slow Flowers — continues today with Connecticut. And because I was so wrapped up in the conversation I recorded with my guest, Evelyn Lee of Butternut Gardens, this is an extended State-Focus episode. A lot of exciting flower news is coming out of Connecticut and I’m glad we took the time to discuss it to share with you.

Evelyn joined Slow Flowers several years ago and I’ve enjoyed meeting her on a few occasions, including last year’s Slow Flowers Summit in Washington, D.C. I also interviewed her for a farmer-florist article a few years ago. Ironically, that article appeared in Southern Farm & Garden magazine, and while Connecticut isn’t exactly “the south,” the editors loved her story. Here’s a link for you to read the article.

Here’s more about Evelyn Lee and her flowers:

A number of years ago, with kids in college and beyond, Evelyn set her sights on the unlikely endeavor of creating a flower farm in the middle of the suburbs. Call her crazy, but she believed, then and now, that people truly appreciate fresh flowers, and that people, our environment and our economy all benefit from locally grown blooms.

Butternut Gardens is a fabulous little flower farm, design studio and garden workshop tucked away in Southport, CT. It is the only cut flower farm in Connecticut’s Fairfield County, offering the freshest of blossoms harvested daily at the peak of perfection.  No shipping. No storage.  Just rich, vibrant, delicious-smelling flowers every time.

Evelyn shares this on her web site:

When you choose Butternut Gardens flowers, you also choose flowers grown in an earth friendly manner on a Bee Friendly Farm by Evelyn Lee, a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional. Not only is our goal to bring the true beauty, fragrance and astounding variety of freshly-cut flowers to your special events and into your daily lives, but also  to share knowledge and best practices for sustainable suburban gardening, landscaping and land use.

Butternut Gardens flowers do not receive synthetic fertilizers, and great care is taken to not only “do no harm” but to also protect and enhance soil, water and living organisms. At Butternut Gardens, we leave plenty of flowers and pollinator-friendly habitat for neighborhood honey bees and an abundance of native pollinators, which call our land “home.” We strive to lead by example in our suburban neighborhood and hope to teach others about eco friendly gardening practices that can be applied to their land and gardens as well. A little education can go a long way!

During the growing season (March to November) Butternut Gardens crafts an ever-changing parade of seasonal flowers, fruits, seeds, branches and other interesting natural botanical elements from the several hundred of varieties locally grown into seasonal bouquets and arrangements.

Here’s how to find and follow Butternut Gardens:

Butternut Gardens on Facebook

Butternut Gardens on Instagram

Thanks so much for joining my conversation with Evelyn Lee of Connecticut’s Butternut Gardens. I’m continually inspired by the momentum and energy that is taking place in key regions across the continent. What’s happening with flower farmers and floral designers in Connecticut is also playing out elsewhere, spearheaded by creatives as passionate as Evelyn is. To be sure, we’ll continue hearing their stories here, on the Slow Flowers Podcast.

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey, seeking new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you. I hope today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!!

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.

The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org. Coming right up, on March 23rd, is the Urban Farming Conference in St. Louis. More details can be found here.

Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Check them out at johnnysseeds.com.

The Slow Flowers Summit is five months away on July 1 & 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota. Make your way to slowflowerssummit.com to learn all about the many opportunities to join us — from flower farm tours and dinner on a flower farm to business and branding presentations to interactive and inspiring design sessions . . . all designed to serve you! Subscribe to Summit news and updates at slowflowerssummit.com.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 414,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. Thank you all!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:
Children of Lemuel; Rabbit Hole; Gaena; Perspirationby Blue Dot Sessions http://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
Music from:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

I’m delighted to share today’s conversation with Stacy Brenner of Broadturn Farm in Scarborough, Maine.

Back in May 2012, after the publication of The 50 Mile Bouquet, I received an email from my dear childhood friend, Shari Shambaugh.

We went to high school youth group together in Portland, Oregon, but she had since moved with her family to Portland Maine.
As part of her newsy email, Shari wrote:

Our CSA farm starts up soon, so we’ll be having our source of wonderful produce back from Broadturn Farm. We tried a meat share with another farm this winter, both stepping back from the amount of meat we eat and choosing better/local sources. I am also thinking of getting the flower share this year, a weekly bouquet of flowers from our food CSA.

You would love the blog site of our farmers (lovely people – we had dinner with them a few months ago at the home of mutual friends). Their daughter is a gifted photographer and Stacy (the mom) is a gifted arranger/grower. I knew they grew local blooms, but didn’t know there was a Slow Flower movement. Makes so much sense.  I may go out and paint a few times this summer. I would be nice to get out into the open, and their farm has wonderful vistas.

Just months later, I met Stacy Brenner and John Bliss of Broadturn Farm when they traveled to Tacoma for the ASCFG Conference — and we connected the dots that my friend Shari was one of their CSA customers. Love the small-world personal connections that happen when you talk about local and seasonal flowers!

I don’t know why it has taken me so long to invite Stacy (and John, who was otherwise detained when we recorded today’s episode, reportedly working in their greenhouses) to be a guest on the Slow Flowers Podcast. So pleased we were able to record today’s episode via Skype this past week.

There has been a lot of excitement coming out of Maine in the Slow Flowers world lately, including two back-to-back successful years with the Flowering in the North conferences, not to mention Slow Flowers’ relationship with our sponsor Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and our support of Rayne Grace Hoke’s Slow Flowers-inspired design workshops.

So, the focus on Maine is growing. Let me tell you more about Broadturn Farm and its owners, Stacy Brenner and John Bliss:

John Bliss and Stacy Brenner share the work of running the farm and raising two daughters, Emma (22) and Flora (12). They both grew up in the suburbs of large cities, with no direct relationship to agriculture, but they started farming together in 2002.

In their bio on Broadturn Farm’s web site, John & Stacy describe themselves as middle aged, at times cynical, hardworking and always delighted to have a good laugh with friends and co-workers. Good food is a high priority, as is travel and plenty of time to binge on TV in the winter during a snow-storm. Access to real food, a strong need for connection to sustenance, and the potential to connect the verdant world with social justice is what urged this couple to put their hands to the earth.

While the desire to raise food was easy to intellectualize, flower farming is a hobby gone wild. Stacy and John both have a love for making and growing, thus flower farming and flower design work is like an extension of the challenges of food production melded with the art of design. Every bucket of blooms still makes them giddy. The first bunch of tulips, the perfect peony and the dahlia with just the right shade brings such joy. And, much like the first meal their family enjoyed with all farm-produced food, the first big wedding they produced with all farm grown and foraged goods made their hearts sing. John and Stacy are truly honored to put food on people’s tables and flowers in their arms.

They value Broadturn Farm as a gift, a real blessing, and they are open to sharing that with their community. There are trails to explore and fields to examine and there is always something going on with the livestock, from cud chewing to a mama hen trailed by her 6 chicks. And, if all that proves unexciting, the barn cats are sure to bring smile. If you come by, and you see John or Stacy puttering around, please say hello. They’re almost always busy in the season but never too busy to share a moment with a visitor. There are no regularly scheduled tours but don’t let that keep you from stopping by.

I’m so pleased to share this conversation with you. Stacy has a lot of exciting news to share as well as insights that may inspire you to take a step back and reconsider your farm or studio’s mission and practices.

So much going on and you’ll want to follow and connect with Broadturn Farm. Find and follow the farm here:

Broadturn Farm on Facebook

Broadturn Farm on Instagram

Broadturn Farm Flower Shop at FORAGE (Portland)

READ MORE…