Latest / Slow Flowers Podcast / Episode 576: Georgia Flower Farm Visit with Rita and Mike Williams of WilMor Farms

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Episode 576: Georgia Flower Farm Visit with Rita and Mike Williams of WilMor Farms · Slow Flowers Podcast

0:02
Hello again,
0:03
and welcome back to the slow flowers podcast with Deborah printing.
0:07
This is episode 576.
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This is the weekly podcast about slow flowers and the people who grow
0:16
and design with them.
0:17
It's all about making a conscious choice and I invite you to join the
0:22
conversation and the creative community.
0:24
As we discuss the vital topics of saving our domestic flower farms and
0:29
supporting a floral industry that relies on a safe, seasonal,
0:32
and local supply of flowers and foliage.
0:35
This show is brought to you by slow flowers.com.
0:38
The free online directory to more than 850 Flos shops and
0:43
studios who design with local seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the
0:48
farms that grow those blooms is the conscious choice for buying and sending
0:52
flowers. And thank you to our lead sponsor. Farm grow flowers,
0:57
farm grow flowers delivers iconic burlap wrap bouquets and lush abundant
1:01
arrangements to customers across the us supporting us flower farms
1:06
by purchasing more than 10 million of us grown fresh and seasonal
1:11
flowers and foliage annually. Discover more@farmgrowflowers.com.
1:16
Thank you to Longfield gardens,
1:19
which provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials.
1:24
Their online store offers plants for every region and every season from
1:28
tulips and daffodils to dahlias caladiums and Amarillo's check out the full
1:33
catalog@longfieldgardens.com while
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today's episode has been a longtime coming.
1:41
I first met Rita and Mike Williams owners of Wilmore farms,
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flowers based in meadow, Georgia.
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When the low country flower growers invited me to speak at their Southern flower
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symposium back in August of 2018,
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the conference took place in Charleston, South Carolina and Rita,
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and Mike arrived by motorcycle a more than a 150 mile trip.
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So that impressed me in let me know they were the cool kids.
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Theirs is a family owned agricultural enterprise rooted deep in history.
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Wilmore farms is based on land that has been on Rita's side for nine
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generations. You'll hear more about that in our conversation,
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as well as how what's started as a hobby farm has grown into a
2:24
diversified, viable and sustainable operation day in and day out.
2:29
Wilmore farms, always tags, slow flower society on social media,
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ensuring that we stop and check out their beautiful flowers that they grow and
2:37
sell. It gives me a good sense about what they're doing,
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and I always feel connected to these long time slow flowers members launched in
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2015.
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Wilmore farms takes its name from Mike's surname Williams and Rita's
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maiden name Morgan with four children.
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This is truly a multi-generational project that you'll find inspiring.
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We recorded this conversation in mid August,
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and I loved seeing rows of all the delicious blooms on our virtual tour,
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as well as some of the farming techniques and efficiencies they have developed
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through trial and error.
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Let's jump right in and get started and meet Rita and Mike Williams.
3:22
Hi everybody.
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I am so excited to introduce Rita and Mike Williams of Wilmore
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farms. And they're gonna give us a little tour today,
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so I'm gonna turn it over to Rita and Mike they're in their you're in your golf
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cart, right?
3:36
Yes.
3:37
Okay. Well welcome. And thanks so much for joining me.
3:41
We haven't seen each other in person since like when was I in the south 2017 or
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so.
3:46
Uh, yes. Over at, um, in South Carolina at, um,
3:50
the low country growers, their symposium.
3:53
Yes. The Southern flower symposium that,
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and you guys rode your MI your motorcycle bike there, right?
3:59
yes, we did. .
4:01
I was so impressed with that.
4:03
.
4:04
Okay. Well, give everyone a little introduction.
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You said you had a little bit of a disclaimer,
4:09
which I think every flower farmer who's listening to this will love you more for
4:13
what you wanna say. cause you teased it.
4:16
Um, well I'm Rita Williams and my husband Mike Williams,
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and along with our four children, we are Wilmore farms, flowers. Um,
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and so before we start the farm tour,
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I always say this when people visit the farm is no judgment.
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You can't pass any judgment. Um, we, um,
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have four children and life just happens to us. Um, uh,
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we didn't go into any debt, um, for, with the flower farm.
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So because of that, we just used what was here. This is my grandparents' farm.
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And so we still use a lot of their old, um, equipment and gates and,
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um, and we just make due with what we have. So, um, it's not pretty at all.
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um, but it's functional and it works for us, but I just wanted to,
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to throw that out there.
5:03
okay. Well, does she do that all the time, Mike?
5:07
Yes.
5:09
It's sort of the corresponding to me as a gardener, the corresponding, uh,
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apology is, it looks so great last week,
5:16
but I just haven't had time to weed this week. So.
5:20
Yeah.
5:21
Well I guess like you said, everybody can say that, I.
5:23
Guess. Well, and the other thing I need to say before we start is, um,
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we cut and made bouquets for whole foods today. And so the fields are, um,
5:32
are not as abundant as they were this morning. Um, but, um,
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well we have got things in all different stages.
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So the flower farmers that are out there will, will understand for sure.
5:42
Absolutely. We don't wanna see color in the field. We wanna see money in your,
5:45
in your wallet. That's.
5:46
Right. That's.
5:47
Right. Yes. We do have color in the cooler so we can show you.
5:49
Yeah. We'll show you the cooler.
5:50
OK. So tell me where met is,
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is that how you pronounce it met Georgia where you are in Georgia?
5:57
Um, we are we're, um, uh, Southeast Georgia. Um,
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we're about an hour or so from Savannah. Okay. West of Savannah.
6:05
Okay. Okay, great. Um, well,
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are you gonna drive around or what can you show us from where you.
6:12
Are? Probably let, we'll probably walk.
6:14
Okay. Walk.
6:15
Think, um.
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Now we recording, we're recording this at 7:00 PM your time. Correct. What,
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what's the weather like right now?
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So we're actually believe it or not in a, um,
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a little cold spell for us, um, which is kind of ridiculous. Um,
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uh, we were, um, low eighties in the, in the mornings have been sixties.
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So right now thinking mid seventies, probably. Um,
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so it's actually very pleasant, which is not typical for us.
6:43
It's pleasant for mid-August for sure.
6:45
Yes. And pleasant for the farmers and the flowers probably. Yeah.
6:49
So I hope I am video and I'm having kind of some issues as far as showing you
6:54
what I wanna show you. Okay. Do you see the white, um, uh.
6:58
Row cover there? Blue.
6:59
There?
7:00
Yes. Yes.
7:00
Okay. So let, let me, um, talk about this and,
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and I will actually send a little video for the show notes. Um, we use, um,
7:08
uh, this, um, biodegradable mulch, um, as a weed barrier. Um,
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and, um, we use it behind the tractor and, um,
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it has been so wonderful for us. Um, not everything gets planted in it. Um,
7:21
but most everything does, um, um, sunflowers. Um,
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a lot of times we don't just because, um,
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we grow so many sunflowers and we're in a hurry,
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but the things that are gonna last longer, um, not our one hit wonders,
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what we call them, um, gets planted in that.
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And that has really saved our labor tremendously.
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I've never heard of biodegradable row cover, is it, um,
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is it kind of just like a, a plastic type of material, but it, it breaks down.
7:47
It is it's corn based. And so when you get through with, um, cutting, um,
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or harvesting that row, you just take the tiller and you till it into the soil.
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Um, and, um, wow. It's just, it's wonderful. It,
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we tried doing the landscape fabric method and, um,
8:03
we about got a divorce over it. , um, I mean,
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it just really was not good for us. Um, it's so hot here and,
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um, that was a problem. And then, um, uh, uh,
8:16
what was it? Fire ants were the problem and then having to, to, um, bring it up.
8:20
Um, anyway, so it did not work for us. I know a lot of farmers really like it,
8:25
but it did not work for us.
8:26
Right, right. So tell me what the one hit wonders are. Like,
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what crops would go in that.
8:32
So sunflowers for instance. Um, okay. Um, we can start walking. That would,
8:36
and so great. This will be, um,
8:38
our sunflowers that we'll be cutting on in the next two to three weeks. Um,
8:42
we grow our sunflowers really close together to,
8:45
to actually keep them from getting those huge heads out.
8:48
Some sunflowers usually do mm-hmm um,
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because we found in our bouquets, um,
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the really big sunflowers took up the whole bouquet sleeve and
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it was hard to get the other flowers that we wanted to end that. So, um,
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we grown 'em very close together and we just get, um,
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about three to four inch diameter, um,
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faces and they just work really well in our bouquets.
9:10
So those lush green rows of the sunflowers that are like maybe 12,
9:15
15 inches tall, the, those are in the, the white mulch,
9:20
the, or the.
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The, these right here are not in the mulch. Okay. But, okay.
9:25
But there.
9:25
Is an, we will show you some in a, in a little bit. Okay. We,
9:28
we are actually planting more and more, even the sunflowers in mulch, um,
9:33
wow. This summer. So these particular group is not,
9:36
but we have some more that we'll show you later that are okay.
9:39
So we're pretty much in our lower field,
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which I don't know how much you can see.
9:44
I can see all of it. It's gorgeous. Okay.
9:46
Wow. I'm trying to kind of hold it up, but I'm, it's.
9:49
You're good. Sorry. Until your arm gets tired. Let's.
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anyway, we'll, we'll walk down there and saying about most,
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most everything we're plant and have been for the last, uh,
10:00
I don't know, month or two.
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So we got like some Soia right here and it's in the white mulch.
10:05
Mm-hmm wow.
10:06
Actually we miss some Soia. Can you see that Deborah?
10:08
Yes, I can. Yeah.
10:09
You see that? See that and then poke.
10:12
Yeah. Do you just poke holes in that material and then.
10:14
Just, yeah, you can poke holes. It's very thin. So, um.
10:19
Easy to plant in then. Huh?
10:20
It's thin. It's kind of interesting because as thin as it is,
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you would think that it would not be able to be pulled behind a tractor.
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So like, I don't know. Can you see it up close?
10:32
Yeah. Oh, I see. So you're saying it, you,
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you would think because it's thin it might tear.
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Yeah. Like, do you, can you see my finger?
10:38
Yes, I can.
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Yeah. You can like, like, wow. You see that? Yeah.
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Just.
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Pop. It's very thin when you're planting in it,
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but you can pull it behind a tractor with no trouble. Wow.
10:50
That's.
10:50
Great. And it, um, it pulls real tight. Well,
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like the one we just showed you mm-hmm it pulls real tight and it
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makes a nice bed space.
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Yeah. So keep, keep all those weeds out. That's that's truly amazing.
11:03
Can you just mention where you buy it? Is it,
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is it easy to find?
11:09
Oh yeah. So you can get it. I get it from, um,
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Barry hill irrigation.
11:14
Okay.
11:15
Now I don't, I think there's other suppliers of it,
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but that's where I get it from. And it's just, um,
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you have to buy it as a what's the actual, I wanna say biotech,
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but I don't know if, I don't know if it's bio or not. I wanna say it's biotech,
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but it's black on the bottom and white on the top.
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Mm-hmm you can buy it solid black if you wish as well.
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But obviously for warmer climates,
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it's better to the white on the top. Yeah.
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Maybe I'll, I'll get the, I'll get the link from, from you.
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And we'll add it to the show notes.
11:49
Too. Just yes. And you can get it like in three foot,
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four foot and five foot widths, I think.
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Like how much acreage do you guys have?
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Yeah. About an acre and a half. It looks not much really. It.
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Looks so much, it looks so vast.
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um, I'm.
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Sure you're like, no, no more an acre and a half.
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Is enough. We are kinda at that point for sure. Well, so this is just a row.
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Let's see. I can't tell if I'm showing you,
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so we've got a row of cosmos mm-hmm that we're just starting to
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cut on again, we cut so much today for whole foods that, um.
12:22
That's amazing.
12:23
Am I showing it to you? Yes.
12:25
I see that pretty cosmos. Yeah. And like Salia, we're gorgeous. And then, uh,
12:30
what do you have behind there? Is that, um.
12:32
Um, so that's AUM. Oh.
12:34
AUM. Okay.
12:35
And that's just getting started for us. Um, in the past,
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we haven't had a whole lot of luck Withum um, but um,
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this year, are you seeing it?
12:46
Yes. It's such a vivid beautiful, like lavender blue. I love it.
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It is. And you know, you have so few lavender colors, um,
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of flowers that it's just nice when you have it.
12:57
Um, so what do you think is your,
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what do you think it's the secret to maybe having success this year?
13:02
Well, we planted it in the, the biodegradable, um, fabric. Um,
13:06
mm-hmm and so I think that helped.
13:08
And then we planted a little later. A lot of times we would normally plant it,
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um, like in April and this time we planted it, um, a little later.
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So I think that helped. Mm. Um,
13:19
we have some more Soia this is probably one of my favorite.
13:22
This is the Kramer's burgundy. Oh, wow. It has such a nice color to it.
13:27
And you're getting such long stems on it. Geez.
13:31
Yeah. They, they, they kind of get crazy for sure.
13:34
yeah, that.
13:35
One. Yeah. Which sets up feather.
13:37
And so this role is the mirror goals that we hammered today. Um,
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we grow a lot of mirror goals.
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They're great for the grocery store bouquets sunflowers me gold
13:47
and, um, Soia are our big, big three for the market or the,
13:51
the grocery store bouquets. And Zia's we grow a lot of Xenias too.
13:55
Yeah. And, you know, um,
13:57
there's something I learned from you when we met at the, uh,
14:02
Southern flower symposium. I don't know what the context was, but I've,
14:06
I've never forgotten it. And you were talking about Rebecca,
14:10
a tri Loba being a great flower because it,
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it allows you to, or kind of, it kind of becomes the matrix for,
14:18
for a bouquet.
14:19
Yes. Yes. And actually you're seeing our trio, but right now,
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and it is on its way out. Um, we've been what a great,
14:26
so for about a month now, and, um,
14:29
we probably have maybe two more weeks left that we can harvest some from,
14:32
but it is, so it is so great. It's my favorite filler for the summer, for sure.
14:36
So, so far we've seen all your lot,
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all annual field crops, right. Is.
14:43
That that's the.
14:44
Core of.
14:45
Of Wilmar besides Sal lo um, it's a perennial for us. Oh.
14:48
It is.
14:49
Oh, it is. Yep. It is. Um, and I'll have to say that is one mistake.
14:54
And so any flower farmer that's out there and you're just starting make sure to
14:59
get onto the perennial game early. Um,
15:02
had we known that we would be where we're at when we started we
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would've invested, um, in, in perennials a lot earlier,
15:10
so that's something that I regret. Um, but I hope that each year we can add,
15:15
um, more and more, um, to our perennials mm-hmm.
15:17
well, yeah. I mean, it's just like your labor, uh,
15:22
you know, you save your labor savings to have perennials.
15:26
Oh, yes, yes, definitely. Mm-hmm um, show 'em our.
15:29
Phones.
15:29
Yes. So let's see, we'll come here to the deer fence. Um, so when we,
15:35
so, you know, when we first started out, um, we were a hobby farm. It,
15:40
we truly were, were,
15:41
we wanted our children to learn how to work and how to go to market and talk to
15:45
adults and make change and that sort of thing. Um,
15:48
we had no idea that this would actually become a source of revenue and actually
15:52
one of our children wants to do this for a living. Um,
15:54
so we had no idea how that was gonna happen. Um, but when we started, um,
15:59
getting kind of serious about it,
16:00
we knew we needed to protect things a little better. So we put up a deer fence.
16:04
This is from deer busters. Um, uh, wow. I'll let me,
16:08
let Mike talk about it, cuz he knows I'll I'll record you.
16:12
Just, well it's I mean like she says from deer busters, the,
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the particular one we have is a seven and a half foot,
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which is kind of the minimum for deer protection. Um, but you can get,
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'em an eight foot, you can get 'em shorter than seven and a half two. Sure.
16:26
But it's seven and a half is probably as low as you'd want to go.
16:30
And we've got almost our entire
16:35
operation surrounded with the deer fence. We do have one,
16:38
we call it our top field and it's not fenced currently, but it will be fenced.
16:43
I hope this winter. Um, so that's a big investment.
16:47
I mean, it was pretty easy to put up and it's been durable.
16:52
Um.
16:53
And, and, and then the grand scheme of pricing, it was relatively cheap.
16:58
Yes. For high fence. It's, it's very cheap compared to other high fence methods.
17:03
Mm-hmm.
17:03
so is it, um, the, is the post metal and then the, the mesh, it.
17:08
Is the post, the post actually, um, fits into a sleeve.
17:13
So you actually pound sleeves into the ground and then you put the post into the
17:17
sleeve. So you actually could pull this post out.
17:19
I could pull this post outta the ground if I wanted to. Right.
17:21
But it sits down in a two foot sleeve.
17:24
So you,
17:24
you put all those sleeves in the perimeter line that you wanted first.
17:29
Yeah. So you, everything else. So put the sleeves in with, uh, sledgehammer.
17:32
That's really the hardest part of it is putting the sleeves in. Yeah.
17:35
So you put the sleeve in and then you just put the feed,
17:37
the post and then the fence,
17:40
I mean a good portion of this I did on my own, but wow.
17:44
Um, but you can, with two people, you can do a,
17:47
you can do a pretty big section in a pretty short period of time. It's,
17:51
it's pretty easy to put up.
17:53
So when you mentioned wanting to kind of making that transition from hobby to
17:58
Sirius, when was that? Like, how, how did that, what inspired that to happen?
18:03
Uh, I mean, obviously your flowers are beautiful,
18:05
so people responded positively, but how long ago did that? Well.
18:09
I think it was just more of like the, like she said,
18:12
we kind of did it the really honest, honestly, the first year it was literally,
18:17
we threw seed in the ground. like, it was really that, like,
18:21
I think we tore up the ground a little bit,
18:23
but we threw seed in the ground and then yeah.
18:25
Technical. Right. .
18:26
Right.
18:27
And then a couple months later we had flowers and we were kinda like, okay,
18:32
what do we do now?
18:33
We didn't have anything else playing behind it cuz we didn't even, you know,
18:35
we weren't thinking that far ahead. Mm-hmm so we,
18:38
I called a florist friend of mine and said, Hey, we have flowers,
18:41
you'd be interested, buy him. And she said, yes. And we thankfully and.
18:46
We, and actually, you know, her Deborah, um,
18:48
Christy Halsey with colonial house of flowers.
18:51
Oh yeah.
18:51
Christy actually bought actually, uh, bought our very first flowers we ever did.
18:56
Yeah. So anyway, so that was, oh.
18:58
Wow.
18:59
And then the next year it was kind of like, okay,
19:03
let's see what we can do. Um, we still didn't.
19:08
So like we didn't have a cooler, we didn't have, um,
19:13
we didn't really have anything mm-hmm I mean,
19:14
so we were just like, what section do we wanna try to do?
19:17
And what flowers do we wanna try to grow?
19:19
We still didn't really know about se succession planning.
19:22
So we still were kind of like, you know, we just learning as we go sort of sure.
19:27
Yeah. Hands on. Like you created your own system to teach yourself.
19:31
Basically doing, basically we had been to a couple of the, the as, uh,
19:35
as CFG conferences mm-hmm um,
19:40
and so that, and with some help from some other people, we just,
19:45
it kind of, so it literally we've grown from a land perspective.
19:49
We've actually, I think we've gone. I think we've increased.
19:54
I think now five times, I think this winter,
19:57
I think was our fifth time mm-hmm wow.
19:59
So we've just added on and added on and added on we've added irrigation,
20:04
added irrigation added, you know, we got off, we finally got a,
20:06
well just for our irrigation. Um,
20:10
we've added some tunnels and, and it's just kind of grown and grown.
20:15
I mean, we took into,
20:17
we got into whole foods that was kind of a process to get into whole foods,
20:20
but we did that, uh, what, three years ago?
20:24
19.
20:25
And.
20:25
Before, before COVID then yes.
20:28
Yes. Right. But I will tell you COVID actually helped us.
20:33
Um, our sales went through the roof, um, and I think it was because,
20:38
or at least my take on it,
20:40
flowers were a fairly inexpensive way for people to feel good. Yeah.
20:45
And they were stuck in their homes and they needed something to make them feel
20:48
good. Mm-hmm um,
20:49
and so we really saw a huge increase in ourselves, um,
20:53
during the two years of COVID.
20:55
Well, I've heard that from other people too. And it's, it seems like it hasn't.
20:59
I mean, I guessing that it hasn't slumped off since.
21:03
No, not no, no, not.
21:04
Really. Mm-hmm and the, as far as like the stores are concerned,
21:08
we could do more stores right now. We're, we're actually in the,
21:13
we're sort of in the process right now of just there she is out like.
21:18
How problem to.
21:19
Expand, how big we want it to be.
21:21
Well.
21:22
Cause we don't know, um.
21:25
It's a risk. We.
21:26
All know where to go right now because the, the whole foods, again,
21:29
for where we're at, we've got a good opportunity to, to do as kind of,
21:33
as much as we wanna bite off. And we're just trying to decide what it,
21:35
what that actually is.
21:37
Mike, what, what market is that? That, I mean,
21:40
or is there a distribution center near you? How, how are you?
21:42
There is a, well, there is a distribution center. So, um,
21:46
we currently are delivering to Savannah that's our store.
21:50
Okay.
21:50
But we are going to,
21:54
I think test the waters with a couple,
21:56
another couple stores coming up actually this month.
21:59
Wow.
22:00
And so again, we have to decide if, if we get,
22:04
I think if we go beyond like three or four stores,
22:08
we will just go to the distribution center. So the cause otherwise is about,
22:12
it's about three hours from us.
22:15
And, um, cause otherwise you're, you're individually delivering too. We're.
22:19
Just delivering right now. Correct. We're just delivering to the store. Yeah.
22:21
And then if we, these other stores we're gonna do,
22:23
we're gonna deliver straight to the store.
22:25
It's great that you can take 10 stores of material to it,
22:29
but there's also, you gotta worry about the packaging.
22:31
There's there's other things involved with it. Mm-hmm and,
22:35
and I'm, and I'm not saying we're not gonna do that. We just haven't decided
22:40
we've kind of crossed a lot of barriers this year with,
22:43
with kind of the labor thing. And we've figured out some more stuff,
22:47
I think this year. Um,
22:50
but we still don't really know what we want our next step
22:55
to be, I guess mm-hmm .
22:56
Mm-hmm.
22:56
and I really like the fact that we can have a relationship with
23:00
the stores when you deliver to the stores. Um, uh,
23:04
we just have we've we've met the staff there and they are really champion
23:08
supporters, cheerleaders for our product.
23:10
And if we went to the distribution center, then we would,
23:13
we would lose a little of that. Um, mm-hmm.
23:15
, you'd be more like just a, another commodity.
23:18
Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, so again, it,
23:21
one day it might be the best bet just for, from a,
23:26
a business decision. But for right now, I just really like being able to,
23:30
to, uh, to have that one on one with the store.
23:34
So, um,
23:35
let's just talk about how that happened because prior to branching out
23:39
into wholesale, you were primarily selling at your local farmer's market,
23:43
is that correct?
23:44
Correct. So, um, so again, I'll have to brag on, um,
23:48
we get a better something to look at in the back um,
23:51
we're walking around.
23:53
I.
23:53
Love it. Um, uh, so this, this is a row of, um,
23:58
of, uh, Flamingo, feather, um.
24:00
Oh.
24:01
Wow. Um, we use this, um, as our, um, um, kind of our,
24:06
it just adds such, um, interest to bouquets, um.
24:10
The dark, the dark stem. Yeah. It's gorgeous.
24:13
To it. Um.
24:14
It looks tropical in a way, you know, it has exotic mind. Yeah.
24:18
Um, but back to what you were asking. So, um, David Gerald,
24:22
he is the flower guy at whole foods in Savannah.
24:25
And he had seen us at precise farmer's market,
24:28
which is the farmer's market in Savannah. And he reached out and said,
24:33
I really would like to have your flowers in our store. And, um,
24:36
I'll be honest had da David not been such a supporter and pushing us
24:41
through the process we may have given up. Um, um,
24:46
it just, it's just, it's just a lot, um,
24:49
which is which now looking back, it makes me feel good, um,
24:53
about our product, the fact that it could meet all of their requirements.
24:58
Um, right. And, um,
25:00
it also makes me feel good about the food that I buy when I go to whole foods,
25:03
because I know what that pro what those products have had to go through, um,
25:07
to be allowed to be sold in their store. Mm-hmm um,
25:11
so for anybody.
25:12
So, yeah. So for anybody who's interested, like,
25:14
what were the biggest hurdles that you had to, uh.
25:17
Um, it is just a paperwork nightmare, um, and, um, just stay the course,
25:21
just stay with it. Um, I've heard there's a,
25:25
a flower farmer in Atlanta that's reached out to me and it sounds like the
25:29
processes has gotten better that it streamlined some. Um,
25:32
so I do hope that that's the case. Um, yeah,
25:35
we actually did it before Amazon bought 'em so maybe, yeah, we,
25:38
we did it before Amazon, um, bought whole foods. So, um, so anyway,
25:42
I hear that it's better, but my advice to anybody is it's worth it. Um,
25:46
you know, just hang in there and, um, you know, just keep trudging along and,
25:50
and really make a, uh, a, um, a contact at the store. Um,
25:55
again, you know, David was just such a cheerleader for us and, um, you know,
25:58
he just made sure that we, um, you know, stayed, um, on task,
26:03
you know, and got in there.
26:05
Well sort of like everything, it boils down to relationships and yeah.
26:09
Yeah. You know, and you know, that's live right. You know?
26:12
Yeah. Yeah. Um,
26:14
so are you are still selling at farmer's market then for like closer to home?
26:18
We, every week we do states for farmers' market. Um,
26:21
let me get to a different section. Uh,
26:24
every week we do state states for farmers' market, um,
26:27
which is about 30 miles per month. That's our closest market. Okay.
26:30
And then we try two to three times a month to go down to fury and Savannah.
26:35
Um, we've just got such a good customer base down there.
26:38
I hate not to go down there to, um, we just made some good relationships. Um,
26:42
and so.
26:43
They're wait, they're waiting for you. And if you don't come,
26:45
they start messaging you, right?
26:47
Yes, they do. They do. And faithfully, I can say, Hey,
26:50
I just delivered the whole foods swing by there. .
26:52
Mm-hmm , mm-hmm, , isn't that amazing.
26:55
But it's still not the same.
26:56
No, but that's so interesting that like, they,
26:59
the fact that you're at whole foods is not taking away from the customers who
27:03
wanna come buy it.
27:05
Be it not, not be it. Um, and I think people, you know,
27:08
you've got your market people who like going to the market, um, you know,
27:12
that's just a whole different kind of subculture of Firo mm-hmm .
27:15
Um, and, um, and, you know, I think they, like just, it's a,
27:20
I mean, they love our product, but it is more an experience, you know,
27:23
that's what they do on Saturday mornings, you know? Yeah. Um,
27:26
and which I think's wonderful. You know?
27:29
So how many of your children are now involved? Um,
27:33
I know you've told me that one of your, I think your daughters does all,
27:36
all your social media, so well.
27:38
She did.
27:39
Congratulations to that.
27:40
Well, well, unfortunately I've lost her.
27:42
We actually just took her to university of Georgia on Friday. Oh, wow. And so,
27:47
so she is, she has spread her wings and she has flown. Okay.
27:51
And, uh, so I'm, I'm pretty devastated over that. Um, happy for her sad for me.
27:57
Um, and so it will be me again on social media. So you will see,
28:00
there'll probably be a drop off .
28:03
We'll share the love back.
28:05
When it comes to social media. Um, uh, so I had, so Mary Jen's gone,
28:10
um, and, um, and she did my market. She did one of my markets for me too.
28:15
So that's another kind of hole that I've happened to try to fill. Right. Um,
28:19
and then we have another daughter, Josie who's 16 and Josie who Josie is,
28:24
who will take over the flowers. Um, that's what she wants to do for her, um,
28:28
for her living, um, and, um, in her, in adulthood. And, um,
28:32
I wish she could be here with us today. Um, but, um,
28:35
as children are busy with school and activities, she's not here. Um, but, um,
28:39
she knows so much, it's amazing that a 16 year old, I mean, she runs it like,
28:44
I mean, I mean, she truly can, she knows when to plant where to plant,
28:48
when to harvest what to harvest, what bouquets need to be made.
28:51
Like she can run it from start to finish.
28:53
Sounds like she kind of learned it along with you and Mike, like, you.
28:56
Know, she did, she did. Um, she, um, she's been with it every step of the way.
29:01
Um, and then our son is 14 and, um, he, he,
29:05
him and his dad are kind of the muscle mm-hmm . Um,
29:08
they do the tractor work and, um,
29:09
driving tea post and putting up fence and all the things that I just don't wanna
29:14
do. , that's great. Um, and, uh,
29:18
Mason doesn't, he does it, him and Morgan. Um, who's my baby, she's 12.
29:23
Um, they, they work because they want to earn some money. Yeah. They,
29:27
they don't do it because they, they have no desire to, to,
29:30
to be flower farmers mm-hmm , but, um,
29:32
it's a good way for them to earn money. Um, sure.
29:36
It kind of achieved what your original goal was, was to create a family.
29:40
Business. Yep, yep. It, it actually has. Yes. Um, so we're very blessed.
29:45
Um, and then this year I found two Hispanic ladies, um,
29:48
that are helping me that, um, have just been wonderful. Um,
29:52
we really had some, um, some labor issues and, um,
29:57
it was never stable. Um, and this year, um, it is stable and,
30:01
um, they've learned so much and they enjoy the flowers.
30:04
And so I've been real blessed. Um,
30:07
it really is our first year of having stable labor help.
30:10
And, wow, that's amazing. And is that, is that also because,
30:14
um, do one of you work off farm? I can't remember exactly.
30:19
Um, yes. Um, Mike, um,
30:21
has a landscape company and so he really is, um,
30:26
just after evenings and weekends, um, help, um,
30:30
cuz he's full time and um, I'm, I'm a nurse by education and stopped nursing,
30:34
um, uh, a year and a half ago. Um wow. And, um,
30:39
that has been nice to be able to focus because I've never really been able to
30:43
focus on the flowers prior to that. Oh.
30:45
I had no.
30:46
Idea even with that, I, I still needed more help .
30:50
So, so I'm just curious, you mentioned this was at your grandparents' farm. How,
30:53
how long have you lived there? Did you, um,
30:56
was this sort of something that you ha you lived,
30:59
you lived there before you had kids or did the,
31:01
having a growing family kind of prompt you to move there?
31:04
Well, when we got married, we knew we wanted to move here. Um,
31:08
and so this land's real special. So my ancestor, um,
31:12
John Deel, he re uh,
31:14
acquired this land and our piece of land is part of his original, um,
31:18
that he secured as a land grant from the queen of England in the early 17
31:23
hundreds.
31:24
Wow.
31:24
And, um, it has, um, the land has continued in our family. Um,
31:28
and my children are the ninth generation, um, from him, um, on land.
31:33
Oh, oh my goodness.
31:34
That's and so that's really, really special to me, um, that, um, um,
31:38
we've been able to maintain the, it in the family for that long.
31:41
And other people, other people have other generations that have farmed,
31:46
it sounds like, uh, at the, on the land,
31:50
was it mainly to just feed their, their families or was it.
31:53
More well, my, my grandfather prior to that, yes. Um, and then my grandfather,
31:57
um, he earned his living as a farmer.
31:59
He grew tobacco and cotton and soybeans and peanuts. Wow. Um, and then, um,
32:03
once he passed away, um, um,
32:05
we've continued to rent out the farmland to a local farmer. Um,
32:09
and so the bulk of our land is, um, in traditional row crops. Wow. Um, and,
32:14
um, we have cut out this, I don't know, probably all of this together.
32:18
They were not growing on all of it,
32:19
but this little area where we could grow on it is probably three acres. Yeah.
32:23
Um, and, uh, for us, you know, for the flowers.
32:27
Wow. Well, so interesting that, that you have, um, well,
32:32
obviously Mike's skills at a,
32:34
as a landscape designer or a landscape installer in that business probably
32:39
came in quite handy. You can grow anything too, Mike, right.
32:42
He, well, he has a degree in horticulture from the university of Georgia. So,
32:46
um, he already knew like, like he had,
32:49
he had some knowledge coming into it and then especially his knowledge of
32:52
irrigation, um, and tractor, we had a tractor, which is huge.
32:56
A lot of people don't have tractors when they start off.
32:58
So we had equipment already. And so all of those were just kind of bonuses,
33:02
you know? Oh my goodness.
33:03
Get started. Oh my gosh. And, and then, uh,
33:06
the design that you do with the,
33:10
the floral design does, do you think that that's like your inner creative,
33:15
uh, tapping your inner creative artists that you hadn't been able to do when you
33:19
were nursing? Or is it just something that, you know,
33:22
you guys figured out together?
33:24
Well, I'll be honest with you. The bouquets are assembly line bouquets.
33:28
I am not a designer. I have no desire to be a designer. Um,
33:33
my love is growing flowers. Mm-hmm um, and, um,
33:37
so our bouquets are not, um,
33:40
there's not mean like it's about a minute that a bouquet, you know,
33:43
from start to finish. And what I have found is if you have good flowers,
33:48
it really doesn't matter, you know? Um,
33:51
and either the person's gonna buy your bouquet and they're just gonna flop it in
33:54
a base because they don't care or they're gonna spend their time themselves
33:59
designing how they want the bouquet to look at home.
34:01
Mm-hmm mm-hmm . And so we have found that, um,
34:04
we just end up getting frustrated at ourselves and each other, if,
34:08
if we really try to design anything. Um, and so interesting.
34:12
So definitely that, that is different for us,
34:14
cuz I know a lot of flower farmers are, you know, they,
34:18
they have the design element, they do weddings, they, um, do events.
34:22
And at this point I have no desire to, to expand that way.
34:26
Mm. That is so interesting Rita because, uh, you know,
34:30
that saying like the flower's so beautiful, it arranges itself, you're kind of,
34:35
you're kind of proving that like yeah, yeah. You come up with us. It's true.
34:38
It really is. And you know,
34:39
for the longest time our children made the bouquets mm-hmm um, uh,
34:42
Josie still makes the bouquets now,
34:44
but the other ones have gotten so busy that they're not able to help me. Um,
34:48
but you know, years ago, I mean there was little kids making those bouquets,
34:51
you know, so it really is all about the flowers.
34:54
Oh my goodness. I love it.
34:55
So that means your recipe is constantly changing because.
34:58
It is so.
34:59
What's available. Right.
35:01
Right. Like for instance, this morning when we made for whole foods, you know,
35:04
after we finished cutting, I looked in the cooler and what we had.
35:06
And so then it was three of this, two of this, you know, it is,
35:09
it changes from the volume of what we have, um, and,
35:13
and somewhat the colors, but, you know, our bouquets are just really,
35:17
really colorful and they always have been, um, and full of sunflowers.
35:21
We've become, become known for that. Um, so, um, you know, yeah,
35:26
it does change based on the volume of, of flour that I have. Um,
35:30
but we really don't,
35:31
don't do a lot in regards to certain pallets and that sort of thing.
35:35
Well, it, I think think vivid is, is definitely your palette because yeah.
35:40
, you know,
35:41
you know what people are drawn to and if you're going more retail yep.
35:45
Then pastels kind of don't have a, I suppose you have a few pastels tucked in.
35:50
I.
35:50
Do, especially in the spring, um, the spring,
35:52
we definitely have the lighter colors, but summer is just full of color.
35:55
And then as we go into the fall,
35:57
we'll have a lot of just the oranges and rust and burgundies, mm-hmm,
36:01
that just, you know, mm-hmm, just, you know, um,
36:04
it's nice to see how the season changed naturally.
36:06
Yeah. Now, do you, are you guys growing Dalia at all?
36:10
.
36:11
Or is that a, a, a bad question? .
36:14
So I'll tell you that is that's my nemesis. Um.
36:17
No, really guilt. Right? We said that no guilt.
36:21
Um, every year we try. Okay. Um,
36:23
and I can get a hundred or so nice blooms, but I want like thousands.
36:28
Yes.
36:29
And, um, I have not found the recipe yet for us here.
36:34
Okay. Um, I have tried to do it counter seasonal, like a lot of people do.
36:38
Um, and that did not work because we still do get cold here, you know? Yeah.
36:42
And I didn't have a way to protect them. We've tried growing them under lights.
36:47
Um, we've tried growing 'em with shade cloth. Um,
36:49
this year we are just growing 'em out in the full sun and just trying to keep
36:53
them alive through our heat and see what happens. Come, come, um,
36:58
fall.
36:59
When things maybe cool off a little bit.
37:01
Yep. Yeah. But they hate our heat. They hate it. Mm.
37:05
Yeah. And I remember that when, when we were at that conference, um,
37:08
our mutual friend, uh,
37:10
Rita and Andrews came from cuts of color and we were all blown away about how
37:14
she's growing winter dahs, but she has.
37:17
She's amazing.
37:18
She has the structures. She's got, um, a different setup than you.
37:22
Yep. Yep. And she's amazing. Like Rita's my life goal, you know? Um,
37:26
and whenever we get together, we laugh, we call each other. We're do Rita's. Um,
37:31
and, um, I remember that she, she has been such a mentor to me. Um,
37:35
especially in the beginning, like she would text me and say, Reed,
37:38
I'm doing this today. Are you doing this today? Um, that's.
37:41
Lovely.
37:42
She, um, she, she,
37:43
what you see today really is on the back of R Anders.
37:47
Ah, well, we had, we had her, um, guest, uh,
37:52
present at the SL flowers member meetup, um, this past spring.
37:57
And it was specifically to tell people about her winter growing processes.
38:01
So I'll just send you a link to that.
38:03
Oh, that would be great. That would be great.
38:05
I know you never have time to get on those meetings with us, but uh, .
38:09
This is I'm going, I'm gonna.
38:11
. No, no, this is, this is the next best thing. Well, um, what,
38:14
the reason I brought up the Dahlia is I was just kind of curious what your end
38:17
of season crops are. Is it,
38:19
is it just that the sunflowers and solo just, uh,
38:23
keep going until we do we get, have a frost?
38:25
We, we do. We, we, we keep planting. Um, we try to make it to Thanksgiving.
38:29
Sometimes a frost will get us prior to some Thanksgiving.
38:32
Sometimes a hurricane will get us prior to Thanksgiving. Um, but we do plant,
38:36
um, with that, with the end goal of Thanksgiving.
38:39
And it really is just our summer. We, um, sunflowers, we do switch. Um,
38:43
actually we can show you these right here.
38:45
So this is our first group that will be the pro cut reds. Okay.
38:49
And then the ones behind it will be the Mullan rouges. Um, so.
38:53
You're kind going into the darker colors. Yeah.
38:55
Now our customers love those. You put a couple of those in,
38:58
with the nice Vincents choice and that is some kind of bouquet. Um,
39:02
and then of course we'll still have Zia's, we'll have gunna, um,
39:06
we'll have basil, we'll have mahogany hibiscus. Um, I've got it started, um,
39:10
up in the upper field right now. It's a great filler and our bouquets. Um,
39:15
so it's just, we shift it's essentially the same flower.
39:17
We just shift to darker colors.
39:19
Mm-hmm and these sunflowers are planted in the fabric.
39:22
Can you see that?
39:23
Yes. Oh, it's.
39:24
Yes. It's and actually most, most everything in this lower section.
39:30
Um, that's great. Almost everything is planted in the fabric.
39:33
So, um, when you talked about the close, uh,
39:35
placement of the seeds or of the, of the flowers,
39:40
how, how many inches apart are the sunflowers?
39:43
So right now we've got all of our sunflowers on, uh,
39:48
six inch spacing.
39:49
Okay. Wow.
39:50
And, and like, so like these are Xena and they've been chopped off.
39:54
Like we've already pruned them.
39:56
Mm-hmm but these will be really pushing strong here in the next
40:00
couple weeks.
40:01
So we got, so you'll get the next flush then.
40:04
The next flush we've been cutting on an area in the top field,
40:07
which we might make it up there, but, um, the top field we've been,
40:12
we've been working on it now for about a month.
40:15
So here's some gum Freea now this is not in fabric, but it's,
40:19
it is weeded pretty well. Um, it's great. Can you see it? Okay.
40:23
Yeah. It's beautiful. That's a great color too. So that,
40:27
is it still on a six inch grid, even though you, you don't, these.
40:30
Are all six inch. Yep. We pretty much have everything. Um, that's love.
40:35
I mean, that's worked pretty good for us, uh, so far, so yeah, it's kind of the,
40:40
if it's not broke, you don't fix it kind of thing.
40:42
So I noticed that you have some structures way in the distance.
40:45
Are those just hoop houses or high tunnels?
40:48
Uh, yeah, so up there. Yeah.
40:51
Mm-hmm.
40:51
can you see those?
40:53
I can. Yeah.
40:54
So we've got three smaller ones and one big one and the big
40:59
one right now is kind of our main area for our, we call 'em our babies,
41:03
but all of our transplants. Okay. So we see them and then they go in there.
41:08
So that we'll go up there in a second, but it's full of,
41:11
of stuff that needs to be planted.
41:14
Yeah. That be.
41:15
The other three are just kind of a mess right now.
41:18
We've gotta get 'em cleaned up for fall mm-hmm . Cause we,
41:21
we use our tunnels BA mainly just for season extension.
41:25
Got.
41:25
It. So, um, we're not really.
41:28
You'll.
41:29
We have grown in them in the summer, but.
41:34
Probably gets too hot. Right.
41:35
It's mainly the, it's mainly the season extension stuff.
41:39
Ah, that's great. Well, before we wrap up, why don't you hop in your, um,
41:44
in your cart and take us over there or if,
41:47
if you don't have time that's okay too. Yeah.
41:49
Yeah, no, we can walk up there.
41:50
Sure. That, oh, so this is another, um, this one actually is, um,
41:55
Flamingo, feather. It's another Salia instead of having the purple tips,
42:00
it has the white and then as it gets older, it, um, goes to like a blush color.
42:05
Yes. Um, another really good, um, filler for, or accent flower for us.
42:10
I'm, I'm shocked at how tall those stems are or that is amazing.
42:14
Yeah. They, they, those feathers get, they, they, when we're cutting them,
42:18
they're usually in the four foot range or,
42:21
or better be four to five foot probably.
42:24
And these were sunflowers we planted last week.
42:26
Yeah. Those would be last week sunflowers.
42:28
And then just other areas that we're about to turn up or we've turned up and we
42:32
gotta keep working on them.
42:33
Wow. So Mike,
42:35
you come home from landscaping and put in a couple extra hours. Uh .
42:39
And read, it keeps right up with you. .
42:42
Yeah. I mean, usually in the evenings, I, I just do whatever I gotta do,
42:46
you know, mm-hmm sometimes it's what, whatever. I mean,
42:50
sometimes I help withou. Okay.
42:51
Sometimes it's tractor work sometimes it's like spreading compost.
42:55
We're about to walk up to a big pile of compost right now. .
42:57
So that's something else that some people may want to know. So, um,
43:02
every bed before we pull the plastic on, or before we plan in it, it gets, um,
43:07
a layer of compost. Um, and then, um, a, um,
43:11
a fertilizer, just a, just an application of a general fertilizer.
43:15
Okay. So.
43:16
And then after that, we really do not.
43:17
Fertilize. It's an organic, this is organic compost. It's,
43:21
it's certified organic. And the fertilizer we use is, is organic as well.
43:26
Are you are, is one more farms, uh, certified organic.
43:29
We are not certified organic, but we,
43:31
we try to use armory rated chemicals.
43:35
So we use, um, like the ne oils and sure.
43:39
Just anything that's, that's more of the, um,
43:45
you know, approved yeah. Armory rated, but no, we are not certified organic.
43:48
I said we're regulated by whole foods.
43:50
Mm-hmm as far as what we can use.
43:52
And so we have to follow recommended list.
43:56
It sounds like they didn't require it though. And,
43:58
and I think from what I've learned from other flower farmers is just, um,
44:03
it doesn't necessarily, you know,
44:06
add up because the there's so,
44:09
so many other regulations for certified organic that are E maybe easier
44:14
for food growers than flower growers. And you're so diversified.
44:18
Right? Yeah. I mean, we certainly try to use, I mean,
44:22
we try to use the practices of it, but mm-hmm yeah. It's uh, well,
44:27
you know, it's a long process to get certified, so I don't know if we,
44:31
we ever will or not.
44:32
You know,
44:32
we don't grow anything edible and what we found that's important to the customer
44:36
is that it's local.
44:37
Yeah. I was just gonna say,
44:40
your brand already has an excellent reputation and your customers know you're
44:44
local and they, they know your affiliated with whole foods.
44:49
So they've got this sort of sense that you're doing good things and, uh, I,
44:54
I applaud you for it. I mean, I think just trying to maintain,
44:59
you know, those practices is hard enough.
45:01
yeah, yeah. Yep. So these are some of the babies.
45:04
Can you see these okay.
45:06
Yeah. What.
45:07
Are they? There's some mayor goals and Sotia and wow.
45:11
Basil and gumph and sunflower.
45:15
Oh ahead. No, no, I was just gonna say it's like, you use what you have.
45:18
You have, um, pallets.
45:19
Yeah. Yeah. They're sitting on pallets and buckets. I'm impressed. I mean,
45:23
it's not, it's not the greatest looking thing, but, uh.
45:27
Structure's beautiful and it's doing the job. That's wonderful.
45:30
Doing the job. This is an old trailer but the good thing,
45:35
the good thing about this trailer is we have a lot of, a lot of, uh,
45:38
seed trays on it. We can move it quickly. So Hey.
45:40
You just haul it out to the field, to, to transplant.
45:44
So Deborah, this is Josie.
45:45
That's Josie. That's our say.
45:47
Hi to Deborah. Hi Josie, the future, the future generation. I love it.
45:52
She's the future. She's the future. She's not,
45:54
she doesn't really like this kind of thing, but she is the future. So, ah, okay.
45:58
So maybe, maybe one day you'll be talking to her on your podcast.
46:01
I would love it. I would love it. Let let's plan on that. Okay. I'm serious.
46:05
That's so inspiring. Little, did you know when you had this idea that it was,
46:11
I was just gonna blow up and be such a amazing change in your lives to have this
46:16
beautiful flower farm?
46:17
Yeah. Yep, yep. You're right. So, um,
46:20
we'll walk you over to the barn real quick in the cooler.
46:23
Great. That sounds great. And then we'll, we'll, uh, we'll say goodbye.
46:28
Um, for sure. When we, uh, post this, um, interview,
46:32
I'll get some extra photos from your feed, your,
46:37
your flowers are packaged so beautifully and you're using like a
46:41
branding on like a, a, a label or a sticker to brand.
46:45
New. Yeah. We've got a, we've got a stamp on there that we've used. And uh,
46:51
so now we,
46:52
we kind of started that several years ago and we started it and people are sort
46:55
of just used to it now.
46:57
I love it. So I love the business name and obviously it's a play on Williams.
47:01
Right.
47:02
Right, right. For the yeah. Williams and Morgan mm-hmm Morgan is,
47:06
is Re's maiden name and one of our children's name Morgan. Oh.
47:10
Yeah.
47:10
This is our, this is our old barn. Can you see it? Okay.
47:13
Mm-hmm that we've kind of, uh,
47:18
rebuild and changed and added.
47:21
And this serves as our main
47:25
like processing facility.
47:28
Okay. So this is where you're making your bouquets.
47:30
It is. And so it's about 150 years old. Wow.
47:35
Um, it was about to fall down when we moved out here.
47:39
And so we've had to do a fair amount of
47:44
work. I know it still looks rough, but from where it's come from.
47:48
It's come a long ways. Hey.
47:49
You, you, you used what you had back to that story. Is this, um,
47:54
is this your cooler then on the outside? Or do you have, oh.
47:56
You have a, so there's one cooler here. Can you see that one? Yeah,
48:00
that was our very first cooler. I got it out of an,
48:02
all of us subway that they had torn down.
48:04
Oh my goodness. Perfect price, right?
48:07
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So we got, so we used it and, uh,
48:10
and it was fine for us for the first, uh, couple years. And then,
48:15
I don't know. Can you see.
48:17
Oh, wow. That's gorgeous inside you guys.
48:20
So this is kind of the structure, there's the tables.
48:25
So we truly, it's like an assembly line when we make bouquets. Yep.
48:28
But buckets on the tables and we just go at it.
48:31
I have a little whiteboard over on the wall and that's where the recipe of the
48:35
day gets written. And, um.
48:37
That's wonderful. That's, that's what.
48:39
We do.
48:39
I love all the old windows, but you have the cafe lights. So I could,
48:44
I could imagine you could throw a, a great workshop or party in there. If you,
48:47
you went that.
48:48
Route. We actually had, my sister actually got married in here.
48:51
Oh my goodness. I bet it was so dreamy.
48:53
It was kinda funny. Yeah. Um, so this is the back of an old truck.
48:57
That's an old like reefer truck and we're not affiliated with that company.
49:02
but we just haven't, we haven't, we're gonna paint it one day,
49:05
but anyway.
49:05
You're gonna put the Wilmar Wilmore logo up there pretty soon. Right? Yeah.
49:09
We'll have something, but we kind of built on this section this year,
49:13
actually this winter, and we put this cooler,
49:15
used to be on the other side of the barn, but it was kind of a hassle.
49:18
So now we've put it here.
49:20
Yeah. You're like walk right in from the production.
49:22
Area. Yeah. You can walk right in from the production, which is very handy.
49:27
And then, uh.
49:28
So practical. So.
49:29
The, the cooler is on, but I'll try to take you in here.
49:32
Oh, that's okay.
49:33
We'll just love to take a peek and all these babies are going out the door
49:36
tomorrow. It looks like. So.
49:37
There's some of our bouquets for whole foods.
49:39
Oh my goodness. Those are amazing.
49:43
And there's can you see, okay.
49:46
Yes. So are you putting yeah. You.
49:50
Have right here. We're delivering in the morning. Okay.
49:53
And then we've got stuff that we cut today. There's a lot of
49:57
sunflowers and ALS.
50:00
And you'll make those tomorrow into new bookcase.
50:03
Yeah. They'll be, these will be processed for our next thing in a couple days.
50:08
Wow. So you built this, you built this from a reefer truck and then did,
50:12
did you have to put a CoolBot in it or did it come with a refrigeration?
50:16
No, we had to put, so it did have it had this in it,
50:18
which is just a normal cooler unit, but we didn't do that.
50:22
We just used the cool box of the CoolBot. Is, can you see it? Oh.
50:27
Yes, it's fabulous.
50:28
So there's the, the AC the window unit and then the cool bot itself. Yeah.
50:33
Um, so we had it that's trick. We had it, or we put it in here.
50:37
That's amazing.
50:38
And it's good. It keeps it'll keep run stuff down to about 40 degrees.
50:42
We usually keep it between 40 and 42. And,
50:47
uh, perfect. Yeah. So that's our cooler.
50:50
Wow. What a great tour and visit. Um,
50:53
Rita knows that I've been bugging her to do, uh,
50:56
record an interview for a while. It's a bonus that you could join us, Mike,
51:01
and what a team you guys make. I'm really inspired.
51:03
And I know other people will be happy to have a little bit of a
51:08
virtual visit to Wilmore farms. It's really, um,
51:13
congratulations. I'm really impressed and inspired.
51:15
I look forward to hearing what you decide to do as you grow, um, in the future.
51:20
Um, we see a lot of people who, um,
51:27
I suppose I just wanna say it's hard work. Um,
51:30
and I think a lot of people don't realize it and then they get very,
51:35
um, discouraged. Um, and you know,
51:39
it's been six years and we still don't have it figured out . Um,
51:44
and so I, I suppose I just wanted to,
51:47
if there's the people out there that are listening to this and they're ready to
51:51
give up, because they're so discouraged just to encourage them not to, and that,
51:55
you know, ever, ever failure that you experience, that's a learning process.
51:59
Mm-hmm and you know, to do something different the next time.
52:02
That's a good attitude. And,
52:04
and also you you've decided what to specialize in you've you've kind of
52:09
stayed focused and stayed in your lane. You're not trying to, you know,
52:13
try things that maybe like garden roses or something that just wouldn't do well
52:18
in your region. Yeah.
52:19
Could you imagine .
52:21
Yeah, but I know, I know you're gonna crack that. Not with the,
52:24
with the dahlias. I'm not sure how, but I wanna hear the story when you,
52:27
when you tell me.
52:28
Well, I don't up that send.
52:30
Me some photos phone okay, good.
52:33
We'll get it eventually. But, but for right now,
52:35
this what we're doing works for us.
52:38
And like Rita said, I think the biggest, like with so many people,
52:43
especially at the farmer's market, you know, if we had a,
52:47
a nickel for every time someone comes and offers to work for free and
52:52
all that kind of stuff. I mean, I, you know, I think people, because.
52:56
It would be so fun .
52:57
Yeah. I think people have the vision sometimes that like,
53:02
we just skip around and listen to music all day and the flowers are so CRA,
53:07
you know, it's like, and it's kind of like a fantasy world.
53:09
And so when you actually have to get into it and realize how hard it is,
53:15
it's, it is, it can be discouraging. It can be frustrating,
53:18
especially where we live. What's very hot. It's very humid. It's just,
53:23
sometimes it's brutal working conditions,
53:26
but you gotta keep going and keep, you gotta be persistent. And, uh,
53:32
just try to, you're gonna make mistakes,
53:36
but we've made millions of mistakes and we continue to make 'em. And the,
53:40
and I think the worst part about it is, you know,
53:43
I've used this analogy a lot where if you build a wall wrong,
53:47
you can tear it down and build another wall. When you,
53:51
when you in this business and what we do,
53:54
sometimes you have to wait a full 12 months to fix what you messed
53:58
up. That's and that's really, that's hard, point's hard,
54:02
but it's kind of the reality of the business. It's just, it is what it is.
54:05
So you just try to,
54:07
that's a really good learn from your mistakes and do the best you can and keep
54:10
being persistent or be, as we, as we say around here,
54:14
we are pathologically optimistic.
54:17
and you make great team. I, I love it.
54:21
Thank you both so much. This has been wonderful. And I really look forward to,
54:25
uh, sharing it with, uh, the SL flowers community and beyond,
54:29
and I hope to visit someday. I would love to.
54:34
Thanks. So
54:54
Thanks so much for joining me today. Visit SL flowers,
54:57
podcast.com to watch the replay video of today's conversation and that terrific
55:02
farm tour look for episode 576.
55:05
I've also grabbed links to some of the resources that Mike discussed,
55:09
including the compostable mulch, sheeting,
55:12
the deer fencing and their CoolBot system.
55:15
So you'll wanna check that out as well as follow links to Wilmore farm's
55:20
social places. Our next sponsor. Thank you goes to the Gardener's workshop,
55:24
which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and
55:29
farmer Flos online. Education is more important than ever,
55:32
and you'll want to check out the course
55:34
offerings@thegardensworkshop.com. Hey,
55:39
this coming weekend, if you're available,
55:41
you're invited to join me virtually as I share the story of slow flowers and our
55:46
mission at the Fria summit,
55:48
a virtual three day conference taking place September 23rd,
55:52
24th and 25th.
55:54
Fria stands for Floris recognizing environmental and ECOS sustain
55:59
ideas and applications hosted by hit Gillum and Gregor lurch.
56:04
The first Fria summit will cover presentations from industry leaders on
56:08
sustainability in floristry,
56:11
I'll be presenting a new lecture called walking the talk,
56:14
putting your sustainable values into practice.
56:18
And I'm excited that SL flowers members,
56:20
Susan McCleary and Holly chapel are also part of the speaker lineup.
56:25
They'll present design, demonstrations and lectures,
56:28
and they'll be an international slate of designers offering 15 hours of live
56:32
presentation in all the standard registration is $99 and the full
56:36
registration, which includes a bonus session with Gregor. Lurch is $129.
56:42
You can find the registration link in today's show notes or visit Frisia
56:46
summit.com. Our final thank you goes to Johnny's selected seeds,
56:51
an employee-owned company that provides our industry with the best flower herb
56:56
and vegetable seeds supply to farms, large and small,
56:59
and even backyard cutting gardens like mine.
57:02
Find the full catalog of flower seeds and bulbs at Johnny's seeds.com.
57:07
Thanks so much for joining us today.
57:09
The slow flowers podcast is a member supported endeavor downloaded more
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than 889,000 times by listeners like you, thank you for listening,
57:18
commenting and sharing.
57:20
It means so much as our movement gains more supporters and more passionate
57:24
participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry.
57:28
The momentum is contagious. I know you feel it too.
57:32
If you're new to our weekly show or our long running podcast,
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check out all of our resources@slowflowersociety.com and consider
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making a donation to sustain SL flowers' ongoing advocacy,
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57:47
You can find the donate button at slow flowers, podcast.com.
57:51
I'm Debra printing,
57:52
host and producer of the slow flowers show and the slow flowers podcast.
57:56
The slow flowers podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew BNN.
58:00
The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my
58:05
guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company,
58:09
or organization. Next week,
58:12
you're invited to join me in putting more slow flowers on the table.
58:16
One stem one base at a time. I'll see you then.