Debra Prinzing

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Episode 523: Vashon Island Flowers, Part Two: Meet Halee Dams of Marmol Farm

Wednesday, September 15th, 2021

I’m excited to share Part Two of my visit to Vashon Island and introduce you to Halee Dams of Marmol Farm. Halee describes herself as a small-scale grower who uses organic and earth-friendly practices.

Halee with her flowers
Marmol Farm’s Hallee Dams with her flowers

She has a farm stand and a flower truck and she supplies private customers and Island shoppers through a retail partner on Vashon Island.  The name Marmol Farm comes from Halee’s great-grandparents Agnes and Martin Marmol. They were dairy farmers in Canada (where she’s from) and she likes to think they’re the inspiration for her love of farming.

Halee and Russell
My visit to Marmol Farm, where Halee Dams and her son Russell welcomed me on a recent September morning

Halee is also a mother to two-year-old Russell and a palliative care social worker. She’s balancing quite a lot and I know many of you can relate to the demands of trying to do it all well. I found Halee’s attitude refreshing as we discussed the so-called work-life balance (does that really exist?). Anyone who’s flower farming as a side hustle or while also raising children will definitely related to her story!

The tiny flower stand at Marmol Farm
The tiny flower farmstand at Marmol Farm in the Dockton community on Vashon Island
Rosie the flower truck
Rosie, the flower truck, which will soon appear at flower pop-ups with Halee — both on Vashon Island and in the greater Seattle area

Last week I visited Vashon Island, Washington and featured Part One of my two-part series about island flower farming with Alyssa O’Sullivan of Sweet Alyssum Farm. You can check out that episode here.

Dried flowers
Dried flowers, grown and preserved by Halee for a wedding she recently designed
Wedding
The wedding — Halee’s first! Designed for friends who wed in Stehekin, a remote community in Central Washington reached only by a ferry boat

Here’s more about Halee: By training, she is a social worker whose career has mostly been involved in hospice and inpatient palliative medicine. These days, she combines social work with parenting a 2-year-old-son.

Halee believes in local, sustainable flowers and is proudly floral-foam free. she is a member of Slow Flowers, and tries to grow her flowers in a way that is regenerative to the earth. Marmol Farm is a certified wildlife habitat and Halee is an ambassador of the Growing Kindness Project.

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Thank you so much for joining us today. I’d love to hear from you about the addition of video interviews to the Slow Flowers Podcast. My visit to meet Halee Dam on her farm is the eighth video “Vodcast” and I’ve learned a lot about how to produce, record and share content with you in a new way! But I’m eager for feedback, so please post a comment in the show notes or shoot me an email at debra@slowflowers.com. I hope to hear from you!


Channel Your Inner Fashionista

I want to remind you that it’s time to apply to create a botanical couture look for American Flowers Week 2022!

Slow Flowers will Commission at least FIVE Floral Couture Looks for our 2022 American Flowers Week Collection. We’re soliciting proposals from farmer-florist creative teams for this campaign. Those submitting must be active Slow Flowers members. Consideration will be made for specific new regions and botanical elements not previously featured. We have special focus on inclusion and representation! The selected Botanical Couture fashions will be published in our 2022 Summer Issue of Slow Flowers Journal.

For the 2022 Application, you will be asked to submit a Mood Board or Pinterest Board to express your concept. You will also be asked to write a description of your construction methods and mechanics to be used. This is all to ensure that you will be able to execute the design for photography and publication. Please reach out to debra@slowflowers.com with any questions. As a bonus, we recorded a webinar earlier this year with tips and techniques shared by past American Flowers Week creative teams. I’ll share the webinar link for you to watch –you can find it in today’s show notes, too! Can’t wait to see the floral fashions that we’ll publish in 2022!


Thank you to our Sponsors!

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 880 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms.  It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.

Farmgirl Flowers Banner

Thank you to our lead sponsor for 2021, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting more than 20 U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $9 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually. Discover more at farmgirlflowers.com.

2nd sponsor bar
sponsor logo bar

More thanks goes to:
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. Find the full catalog of flower seeds and bulbs at johnnysseeds.com.

Mayesh Wholesale Florist. Family-owned since 1978, Mayesh is the premier wedding and event supplier in the U.S. and we’re thrilled to partner with Mayesh to promote local and domestic flowers, which they source from farms large and small around the U.S. Learn more at mayesh.com.

The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important this year than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thanks so much for joining us today! ! The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 764,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too.

I value your support and invite you to show your thanks to support Slow Flowers’ ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right at debraprinzing.com

Debra in her cutting garden
In the #slowflowerscuttinggarden (c) Missy Palacol Photography

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem at a time. 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. You can learn more about Andrew’s work at soundbodymovement.com

Music Credits:

Game Hens; Turning on the Lights; Gaena
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

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

In The Field
audionautix.com

Episode 522: Vashon Island Flowers, Part One: A Visit to Sweet Alyssum Farm and a conversation with Alyssa O’Sullivan

Wednesday, September 8th, 2021

Last week I took a short ferry ride from the mainland – from Tacoma’s Pt. Defiance – to Vashon Island, Washington, a beautiful, evergreen place with deep agricultural roots and people who love both living among nature and having relatively quick access to the urban settings of Seattle and Tacoma. I actually look at Vashon Island everyday from my upstairs office window — across Puget Sound to the west. I don’t get there often enough, but before summer came to an end, I wanted to schedule an afternoon visiting two Vashon Island-based Slow Flowers members on their flower farms.

Alyssa O'Sullivan
Alyssa O’Sullvan of Sweet Alyssum Farm on Vashon Island, Washington (c) Rylea Foehl @familieswhofarm

And so, today you’ll enjoy Vashon Island Flowers, Part One, my visit to meet Alyssa O’Sullivan of Sweet Alyssum Farm, and next week, I’ll introduce you to island flower grower Halee Dams of Marmol Farms during Part Two.

Alyssa O'Sullivan in her sunflower field
Alyssa in the sunflower field (c) Rylea Foehl, @familieswhofarm

Meeting them and enjoying a glorious change of scenery, not to mention personal field tours, inspiring conversations and 2 ferry rides, was just the thing I needed to re-center my mind and remind me about why I care so much about nurturing and supporting the Slow Flowers Movement and its members through content like you’ll enjoy today.

recent bouquets from Sweet Alyssum Farm
Recent floral bouquets from Sweet Alyssum Farm

Alyssa is the owner and founder of Sweet Alyssum Farm, which grows specialty cut flowers to nurture creativity within the local floral community on Vashon Island and beyond. Her focus on sustainability nurtures the earth, animals and people these flowers touch along the way. 

U-Pick flowers at Sweet Alyssum Farm
U-Pick flowers at Sweet Alyssum Farm

As a small, creatively-run farm, Sweet Alyssum shares flowers through several outlet, including:

  • Market bouquets at local farmers markets
  • flowers for weddings and events
  • bouquets for several local food CSAs
  • and special order arrangements
Prolific blooms
A prolific harvest at Sweet Alyssum Farm

I know you’ll enjoy our conversation as Alyssa describes the many ways she and her partner are creating multiple income channels to sustain their livelihoods on their beautiful property.

Here is a link to Alyssa’s essay “Why Flowers,” which she wrote last year for Slow Flowers Journal online

camping at Sweet Alyssum Farm
Imagine!! Camping at Sweet Alyssum Farm

Thank you so much for joining us today. Did you catch the details about on-farm camping at Sweet Alyssum Farm? Right now, for $35/night, two guests can settle into a spot there on Vashon Island. Alyssa books campers through a website called Hipcamp.com. I checked out her listing, which sounds just like the farm looks: Sweet Alyssum is located on 12 acres of sloping fields set against a tall, forested backdrop, and only a 5 minute walk from restaurants, shopping, bars and groceries. Level campsites are spaced around the property, each with a fire pit and picnic table. There is a communal central deck for campers’ use, with a water spigot, power outlet and sink, plus a propane stove and some cooking utensils. While the working farm fields are not open to campers, the flowers serve as a terrific backdrop. And, there’s always the You-Pick flower patch and farm stand at the entrance of the property, open for shopping, picture-taking and flower-picking seasonally.

Tempted? Click here to book your camping trip soon!


Rebecca Raymond and Gina Thresher
Meet Rebecca Raymond, EMC, of Rebecca Raymond Floral (left) and Gina Thresher, AIFD, EMC, of From the Ground Up Floral (right)

Slow Flowers Meet-Up Logo ArtPlease join us this Friday, September 10th, when we resume our monthly Virtual Slow Flowers Member Meet-Ups, after a summer vacation. The time is 9 am Pacific/Noon Eastern, as we welcome Rebecca Raymond, EMC, of Rebecca Raymond Floral and Gina Thresher, AIFD, EMC, of From the Ground Up Floral who will share tips for planning and executing a successful Styled Shoot!  They will give attendees an inside peek at their new webinar, The Ins and Outs of Styled Shoots, which covers best practices for the entire Creative Process of producing a collaborative Styled Shoot. Bonus: Gina and Rebecca are extending a $100 off discount to Slow Flowers members who sign up via this course link and they will also share a few other surprises!
Follow this link to pre-register for the session. You can always find the link in our Instagram profile at slowflowerssociety, as well. And PS, we know this is a busy holiday week, with lots of weddings and also Rosh Hoshanah! So rest assured, you will be able to find the replay video of our Meet-Up on YouTube later in the month.

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Farmgirl Flowers Banner

Thank you to our lead sponsor for 2021, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting more than 20 U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $9 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually. Discover more at farmgirlflowers.com.

2nd sponsor bar
sponsor logo bar

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.

Longfield Gardens, which 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. Check out the full catalog at Longfield Gardens at longfield-gardens.com.

Rooted Farmers works exclusively with local growers to put the highest-quality specialty cut flowers in floral customers’ hands. When you partner with Rooted Farmers, you are investing in your community, and you can expect a commitment to excellence in return. Learn more at RootedFarmers.com.


(c) Mary Grace Long photography

Thanks so much for joining us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 762,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too.

I value your support and invite you to show your thanks to support Slow Flowers’ ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right at debraprinzing.com

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem at a time. 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. You can learn more about Andrew’s work at soundbodymovement.com

Music Credits:

LaBranche; Cottonwoods; Turning on the Lights; Gaena
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

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

In The Field
audionautix.com