Latest / Slow Flowers Podcast / Episode 577: Building a home-based cut flower business with Backyard Blooms’ Janet Kramka

Transcript

Episode 577: Building a home-based cut flower business with Backyard Blooms’ Janet Kramka · Slow Flowers Podcast

• 0:02
  Hello again, and welcome back to the Slow Flowers Podcast with Deborah Printing.
• 0:07
  This is episode 577.
• 0:10
  This is the weekly podcast about slow flowers and the people who grow and
• 0:15
  design with them. It's all about making a conscious choice,
• 0:19
  and I invite you to join the conversation and the creative community as
• 0:24
  we discuss the vital topics of saving our domestic flower farms and supporting a
• 0:29
  floral industry that relies on a safe,
• 0:32
  seasonal 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 floors,
• 0:42
  shops and studios who design with local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers.
• 0:47
  And to the farms that grow those blooms.
• 0:49
  It's the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.
• 0:53
  And thank you to our lead sponsor, Farm Grow Flowers.
• 0:56
  Farm Grow Flowers delivers iconic burla 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@farmrowflowers.com.
• 1:17
  Our first sponsor, Thanks,
• 1:18
  goes to store at Cold creators of the Revolutionary Cool bot,
• 1:22
  a popular solution for Flower Farmers Studio Flos and Farmer
• 1:27
  Flos.
• 1:28
  You can save thousands when you build your own walking cooler with the cool bot
• 1:32
  and an air conditioner. Don't have time to build your own.
• 1:35
  They also have turnkey units available.
• 1:37
  You can learn more@storeitcold.com.
• 1:42
  While you're in for a real treat,
• 1:43
  today with my conversation featuring Janet Kraka of Backyard
• 1:48
  Blooms based in Trumbull, Connecticut. In August,
• 1:52
  Janet and I participated in a webinar hosted by New York's Madison Square
• 1:57
  Park conservancies horticultural lecture series.
• 2:00
  It was all about the Soul Flowers movement,
• 2:02
  and it was really fun to share the screen with the Soul Flowers member who is
• 2:06
  walking the talk in her practices as a small scale farmer florist.
• 2:11
  Through that experience,
• 2:12
  I became fascinated with Janet's personal story of pivoting to a second career.
• 2:17
  After working in the graphic design field,
• 2:19
  she recorded a special video tour of Backyard Blooms backyard in
• 2:24
  Connecticut, where she mostly grows annuals and dahlias in raised beds.
• 2:29
  You can watch that video by logging onto today's show notes for episode
• 2:33
  577,
• 2:35
  and you'll see the video tour and more photos of Janice Flowers and
• 2:40
  farm@slowflowerspodcast.com. For episode 577,
• 2:45
  it's really impressive to see the scale of what she has built with the land
• 2:49
  available to her backyard Blooms grows and sells custom bouquets,
• 2:54
  flower subscriptions, and DIY buckets direct to consumers,
• 2:58
  as well as maintaining a presence at the popular Trumbull Farmer's Market.
• 3:03
  They offer wholesale flowers to Floris through the Connecticut Flower
• 3:07
  Collective. Today's conversation focuses on backyard bloom services,
• 3:12
  customer base, and regional market. As Janet writes on her website,
• 3:16
  what started as a love of nature and gardening has blossomed into our small but
• 3:20
  mighty family farm,
• 3:22
  where we are committed to growing flowers sustainably and organically.
• 3:26
  Our blooms are local,
• 3:27
  unique and grown with great care for Floris designers and anyone who delights
• 3:32
  in the beauty of flowers. I love that sentiment.
• 3:35
  Let's jump right in and meet Janet Kraka of Backyard Blooms.
• 3:39
  I'll share all her social places in our show notes.
• 3:50
  Hi everybody. This is part two of our, uh,
• 3:53
  feature about Backyard Blooms,
• 3:55
  and I'm so excited to welcome Janet Kraka.
• 3:58
  You just saw her in this wonderful video tour that she created for us.
• 4:03
  And now we're gonna talk a little bit about your business. Janet. Hi.
• 4:06
  It is great to have you here. And, um, by way of background,
• 4:10
  I should just mention when you first joined SL Flowers, I was like,
• 4:14
  I know where Trum Connecticut is,
• 4:16
  because I went to kindergarten and troubled Connecticut, which is, uh,
• 4:20
  so in my mind you're in the house. I grew up in.
• 4:23
  . Yeah. At least the town.
• 4:25
  Yeah. Yeah. We were only there until, I don't know,
• 4:28
  a year and a half until we moved to Southern California.
• 4:30
  So it is a distant memory, but it's,
• 4:32
  it's really wonderful to kind of know where you are. Um,
• 4:36
  you talked about your size of your growing area,
• 4:39
  you talked about the zone you're in. Um, but I,
• 4:43
  I wanna just ask you about your business and kind of your path. Um,
• 4:47
  and I will just say we, uh,
• 4:49
  both participated in a webinar that took place on
• 4:54
  August 18th with the, um, uh,
• 4:57
  Madison Square Park Gardens in New York and for their
• 5:02
  online horticulture program.
• 5:03
  I think by the time this episode Air Janet will be able to get the replay video
• 5:07
  and share that with people too.
• 5:09
  Oh, good. Okay. Which.
• 5:10
  Was really fun. I thought it was. Yeah.
• 5:12
  It was, it was.
• 5:13
  It was a great, I mean, it was virtual, but it was, I think it,
• 5:16
  we got our point across.
• 5:18
  Yes. Yeah.
• 5:19
  Well, I was, So we've seen your fabulous backyard. You know what,
• 5:23
  you've talked about it being a 2,500 square feet,
• 5:27
  and then you mentioned that you think that's like less than a eighth of an acre,
• 5:30
  but it feels,
• 5:31
  it feels large to me when I see you standing next to rows of flowers that are
• 5:36
  taller than you, it feels very abundant.
• 5:39
  Yes, it does. I had the same impression.
• 5:42
  I went back and looked at some photos from when we first started, and I thought,
• 5:46
  Oh, look how little we were when we were just four rows . And then,
• 5:51
  you know, the next year we added another four, and then we added another four,
• 5:54
  then we added a couple more. And so yeah, when I'm back there, when I,
• 5:59
  first of all, when I saw that photo, when we were just four rows,
• 6:03
  I said to my husband, Oh, remember when we had a lawn ?
• 6:08
  Completely.
• 6:08
  Gone now. So it does feel that way to me when I'm out there. I, I'm,
• 6:14
  I'm short, I'm only five foot one,
• 6:16
  but a lot of the flowers are taller than I am. Right. So that's part of it too.
• 6:19
  I feel like I'm in a jungle when I'm there.
• 6:21
  But I love it. Uh, it's like your secret garden. Yeah. Um, so when you did,
• 6:26
  uh, mention that you've got these ra rows and they are kind of like raised beds,
• 6:31
  I thought maybe you should talk a little bit about how you had to choose to grow
• 6:35
  in that method because of the type of soil you have.
• 6:39
  Yes. So originally we had a little vegetable garden,
• 6:43
  and that was even with the, that was ground level,
• 6:46
  and that's where we started our farm.
• 6:49
  What we didn't realize that the time was that that was really the only spot in
• 6:54
  the yard where there wasn't rock ledge, which is very common to Connecticut.
• 6:57
  Okay. Connecticut is covered with, with rock ledge, and we live on a hill.
• 7:02
  We're at the top of the hill, so I think we're even more prone to it there.
• 7:06
  So we had that original bed,
• 7:08
  and then the next year we wanted to add four more rows,
• 7:11
  and my husband dug down and about six inches in he hit rock.
• 7:15
  And then he tried another spot, you know, all over this area,
• 7:19
  and he just kept hitting rock. And, and I said, Now what do we do? Right.
• 7:23
  You know, you can't grow.
• 7:24
  You were all ready to expand your flower operation.
• 7:27
  . Yeah, we were. And so he said, Well, we're gonna have to build up.
• 7:31
  So the raise beds were done out of necessity.
• 7:34
  I think it makes things a little more complicated.
• 7:36
  We've gotta get the drip irrigation up and over the ledge.
• 7:39
  It makes the caterpillar tunnels that we use a little more complicated to steak.
• 7:45
  So it's definitely fussier, but it's just, you know,
• 7:47
  you do what you have to do to make something work. Mm-hmm. ,
• 7:50
  and I'm just thankful we could do that.
• 7:52
  So he put in four rows via a raised bed.
• 7:56
  The expense was, now we had to fill that with dirt, so that was Right. You know,
• 8:00
  a bit of an expense. And, um, but, but that worked okay.
• 8:04
  And then when we wanted to add another four, we then it was like, Oh, boy,
• 8:08
  are we gonna hit ledge again? And we did. So then the next four that came,
• 8:12
  we had to do a raise bed again. So.
• 8:16
  Wow. So what's the material? Is it, are they timbers or, uh, brick? What do you,
• 8:21
  what is the kind of contain the, the, the border of the raised bat?
• 8:24
  I believe they're, I wanna say two by eight boards. Mm-hmm. . Okay.
• 8:29
  I'm not positive on that. Yeah. But that's what I, I think it is.
• 8:32
  And he did in some of them, because we have a, a slight slope in the yard,
• 8:36
  he had to use two stacked on top of each other, knee them together. Yeah.
• 8:40
  So it's a little deeper than eight inches in some spots.
• 8:43
  But in a perfect world, you're trying to get your, your mostly your annuals to,
• 8:47
  and your obviously dolia tubers to get what, like 12 inches of root space, or.
• 8:53
  At least, Yeah.
• 8:54
  Yeah, yeah. At least. That's great. Well,
• 8:56
  you mentioned that you use organic methods and, um,
• 9:00
  I can imagine where you're constantly just trying to add compost every year
• 9:03
  after maybe after you've removed at the end of the season,
• 9:06
  removed everything to build that back up,
• 9:09
  because you can't keep buying top soil.
• 9:11
  Exactly. Yeah. Yes. So we have that,
• 9:14
  that fill that we purchased as a base,
• 9:17
  but we do have a very large compost pile. And so we work that over every year,
• 9:22
  and then we add that to the beds, do the soil tests each year,
• 9:26
  and then amend accordingly because the soil in those beds is changing a lot from
• 9:30
  year to year.
• 9:31
  Yeah. Yeah. Well,
• 9:32
  I just wanted to mention that because that's a hardship and you found a way
• 9:35
  around it because you're resilient and you're inventive . Um,
• 9:40
  but, uh, backyard blooms is what it is. You're in your backyard,
• 9:44
  you live on your farm, um, but as you said, it's suburbans,
• 9:47
  so there's traffic and, you know, neighbors and all. Um,
• 9:52
  can you talk a little bit about the channels of business that you're,
• 9:56
  you're bringing your flowers to market and who your customers are?
• 10:00
  Yeah, so we have several outlets.
• 10:03
  I sell wholesale through the Connecticut Flower Collective, which has been, uh,
• 10:07
  a wonderful option. I sell retail.
• 10:10
  There's a very cute little gift shop in Trumbull called Pure Poetry,
• 10:14
  and she allows me to bring my bouquets there and sell on consignment,
• 10:18
  which is lovely. And we sell subscriptions.
• 10:23
  So I do a csa, um, I do DIY buckets,
• 10:27
  buckets of blooms on my website,
• 10:30
  and I do flowers on bouquets on demand.
• 10:33
  So I am a farmer florist. Mm-hmm. ,
• 10:36
  and I do the Trumble Farmer's Market. The farmer's market,
• 10:40
  I realized was a necessity. That was kind of a last minute add on.
• 10:43
  So I started with the csa my very first year. I did a tool up subscription.
• 10:48
  And so I, I wanted to start very small, um,
• 10:52
  didn't have a ton of bulbs, so I was just gonna offer 10 subscriptions,
• 10:56
  and I filled the 10, but it was primarily my friends and family. Yeah.
• 11:01
  Which was,
• 11:01
  So you kind of just put the word out that I'm gonna do this next spring.
• 11:04
  Do you wanna get in on it?
• 11:06
  Yes, that's exactly, that's great.
• 11:07
  And so it was lovely that they were so supportive of what I was doing,
• 11:11
  but I realized right away, this isn't sustainable.
• 11:14
  I can't have my friends and family be my subscribers every year, . So,
• 11:19
  you know, I realized, I said to, to Pete, my husband, I said, um,
• 11:24
  I don't think the community really knows we're here.
• 11:26
  So we really need to do a farmer's market so that we're in,
• 11:30
  those are our people. These are people that appreciate locally grown.
• 11:33
  That's why they're there. They're obviously in the area.
• 11:36
  So we entered into that, and we were in our second,
• 11:40
  just our second year doing the farmer's market. Mm-hmm. .
• 11:42
  But that's been tremendous for networking with people in the community.
• 11:45
  And I feel like we're finally establishing that base of people who,
• 11:49
  who know we're there and come back repeatedly, which is wonderful.
• 11:54
  At the, And you said it's a Thursday Farmer's Market, is it like a afternoon,
• 11:58
  early evening?
• 11:59
  It, it's four to 7:00 PM They have live music and, um,
• 12:03
  they have like a craft station for kids.
• 12:06
  There's a ton of families that come out that's really fun to see,
• 12:09
  and they try to break, um, change it up every week.
• 12:12
  So they'll do little scavenger hunts for the kids to,
• 12:15
  to promote that for families.
• 12:17
  And so I love that little kids will come to the booth with their parents and
• 12:20
  they'll ask us questions, and sometimes they can,
• 12:23
  they don't even understand the question. , there's like.
• 12:25
  A, it's on the scavenger hunts page or whatever. Yeah.
• 12:28
  There's like a five year old who said,
• 12:30
  wanted to ask how many varieties do you grow?
• 12:33
  And they couldn't even say the word variety, you know, it was just adorable.
• 12:37
  And so, but that was fun for me. So I said, Do you know what a variety is?
• 12:41
  And he just shook his head, no. You know,
• 12:43
  it's like little deer in the headlights. And so I was able to pick up,
• 12:46
  I sell some flowers loose by the stem, so I was able to pick up a few.
• 12:50
  And I say, You know, can you see how these are different? And he nod, you know,
• 12:54
  he nodded. And I said, Well, that's what different varieties mean.
• 12:57
  They're different types of flowers. And so it's just, it's a lot of fun.
• 13:00
  So you really get the interaction there. They do,
• 13:02
  they do a nice job at the Trumble market.
• 13:04
  From that, um, point in the week, um,
• 13:09
  you've probably already supplied the
• 13:13
  wholesale flowers to the Con Connecticut Flower Collective, which are your,
• 13:17
  your longer stems and maybe your higher value flowers. Do you, Yes. Um,
• 13:22
  do you find that the farmer's market kind of is a way to just move product that
• 13:26
  you would otherwise just not, not cut, or, you know, you toss?
• 13:31
  Absolutely.
• 13:32
  That's been such a benefit that came out of it that I wasn't anticipating.
• 13:36
  Our Connecticut Flower Collective Prime Market Day is Wednesday,
• 13:41
  although they have expanded this year and have some offerings on Thursday and
• 13:44
  Friday as well. But for me, because of the, the farmer's market,
• 13:47
  I can't participate in the Flower Collective on Thursday, but it works out fine.
• 13:52
  I bring all my product on Wednesday. And, um, and then as you said,
• 13:57
  those are my prime flowers. And, you know,
• 14:00
  the other blooms that I'm using for the farmer's market, they're beautiful,
• 14:02
  but they're just shorter, so they're not meeting that wholesale standard.
• 14:06
  Mm-hmm. But I'm putting together mason jar ques,
• 14:09
  and so actually something that's very long that I would sell wholesale doesn't
• 14:13
  work as well for the me jar. So yeah,
• 14:16
  it's definitely a way for me to use all of those other stems that I can't sell
• 14:20
  wholesale. Um, so that's been a real benefit.
• 14:25
  Well, like you mentioned in the video, you,
• 14:26
  the snaps that are kind of on their third or fourth cutting that are short.
• 14:29
  Yeah. I'm picturing that those are going into your mason jar arrangements.
• 14:34
  Yes, exactly. Yeah, they are. That's really neat. Yeah, They're the,
• 14:37
  they're the gift that keeps on giving. They'll Snap Dragons. They're,
• 14:40
  they're wonderful .
• 14:41
  So the, um, you mentioned that you, uh, have the,
• 14:45
  the subscription program and the BU by the Bucket that's really more retail,
• 14:50
  direct to consumer than, um, that probably is, is even,
• 14:55
  uh, more profitable than a farmer's market, uh, right. Operation, Right?
• 15:00
  Yes.
• 15:01
  And how much, how, like in terms of slicing up the pie, how much would that, um,
• 15:06
  represent?
• 15:08
  Um, you know, I only have last year's a basis mm-hmm. , so I'm, um,
• 15:13
  that's when I was really involved in all of those markets. So I'm trying to,
• 15:18
  I would say,
• 15:22
  I would say that the wholesale might be the
• 15:26
  largest,
• 15:28
  although the DIY buckets of Blooms would be close to that, and really.
• 15:32
  Wow.
• 15:33
  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They've been very popular.
• 15:36
  I think it's because a lot of the larger farms in Connecticut
• 15:41
  are pulling back a little bit on their DIY buckets. Mm-hmm. ,
• 15:45
  I think that with Covid, people were a lot more adventurous into do it yourself.
• 15:49
  So it, it surprised me with its popularity. In fact,
• 15:53
  the first year that we did it, , this is true Confessions.
• 15:57
  It wasn't one of my business models,
• 15:59
  but someone just saw my website and contacted me and said,
• 16:03
  Do you do buckets of flowers? And I said, Sure. .
• 16:09
  You say yes to everything at that point. Right.
• 16:11
  Exactly. And so this is part of what I love about the Flower Collective.
• 16:15
  I went there and talked to other farmers and was like, Help.
• 16:18
  I said yes to something. I, I don't have any idea what to charge, how many,
• 16:22
  you know, blooms do you put in a bucket?
• 16:24
  So it's just such a wonderful network of people that are part of that
• 16:27
  collective. So they kind of walked me through it. And so in that first year,
• 16:32
  last year, it really was, it wasn't part of my website,
• 16:35
  so it was just people that, that just asked the question randomly.
• 16:40
  And I had not as much last year because of that,
• 16:43
  but still just finding me, searching me out that way. I'd say I did maybe six.
• 16:48
  Yeah. You know, which, which wasn't bad,
• 16:50
  But then I realized right away that I really loved doing that.
• 16:54
  So I made it part of my website.
• 16:56
  I have a whole FAQ sheet describing it. And so this year, I mean, I,
• 17:01
  I'm doing several buckets a week almost.
• 17:04
  Wow. And are they people who wanna have just fun with flowers,
• 17:08
  or are they throwing dinner parties,
• 17:09
  or are they trying to do a DIY wedding or all of the above?
• 17:13
  It's all of the above. Um, yeah, I, I mean,
• 17:17
  some of the stories have surprised me.
• 17:18
  I had one woman who told me she was traveling with the flowers,
• 17:22
  and I made the mistake of assuming that she was traveling,
• 17:26
  you know, locally, it was for a dinner party. I knew that.
• 17:30
  And then I had all of her flowers collected,
• 17:32
  and I think it was the night before I was delivering them,
• 17:35
  she sent me an email and she said, um,
• 17:38
  So do you have any recommendations for how to help these survive a,
• 17:41
  a plane trip to Europe?
• 17:43
  Oh my goodness, .
• 17:45
  Wow. Okay. That, you know,
• 17:48
  so that informs me next time I shouldn't make any assumptions on where people
• 17:52
  are traveling with them. So that, that's crazy experience for me,
• 17:55
  because if I had known that,
• 17:56
  that would've informed different choices I would've made for what I was giving
• 18:00
  there. Something that I know is a lot more durable. Uh, Yeah. So our flowers.
• 18:03
  Straw flour or something like that. Yeah.
• 18:05
  Exactly. Um, so our flowers went to Croatia ,
• 18:10
  that's where she was traveling to from Connecticut.
• 18:13
  Uh, what a compliment.
• 18:15
  I wanted to also just try to picture where you are in relationship to the
• 18:19
  Connecticut Flower Collective. Where is that? And like how, how many,
• 18:23
  What's the radius of people who sell there and buy there?
• 18:28
  Yeah, I know that we have a farm,
• 18:30
  a rather large farm in Massachusetts that contributes.
• 18:34
  But yeah, you've, you're sort of centrally located in the northeast that way.
• 18:38
  Yes. They've tried to pick a location that's right in the middle of the state,
• 18:41
  which of course is smart for all of the surrounding states. So, I mean,
• 18:45
  that's the advantage of Connecticut is so small that if you travel in any
• 18:48
  direction for an hour, you're in another state. ,
• 18:52
  it's about a 40 minute drive for me.
• 18:54
  But there are other growers like myself down in this area. So we carpool.
• 19:00
  So I, wow. I connect with others. There's, you know,
• 19:03
  Apple berry farm in Newtown, there's quality DAFs, the Spring Bunch in,
• 19:08
  in Shelton. These are all surrounding communities. And, um, so we will,
• 19:13
  we will car, we will carpool, you know, we'll text each other.
• 19:17
  I need to go this week. Are you? I can take your flowers. You know,
• 19:21
  that sort of thing.
• 19:21
  Oh, wow. That's what.
• 19:22
  But the other advantage of the collective, a lot of times,
• 19:24
  even if someone else is driving that week, sometimes I'll make the trip anyway,
• 19:29
  because sometimes I'm there as a buyer, not just as a seller.
• 19:34
  And that's such an advantage to be part of a collective as a small grower.
• 19:39
  If I have a week where I'm doing four DIY buckets, the farmer's market,
• 19:44
  I have wholesale orders, et cetera.
• 19:46
  Sometimes I don't have enough subscriptions as well to,
• 19:51
  I, I get a little nervous about it. Yeah. To, to meet all those needs.
• 19:54
  So sometimes I'll come in and I'll shop the floor myself.
• 19:57
  And I always tell people that like with their buckets, that I,
• 20:02
  sometimes I'll acquire blooms from other growers. I'm always upfront about it.
• 20:06
  Um, but there are other local growers like myself,
• 20:08
  and no one seems to have an issue with that.
• 20:11
  And they'd rather have the abundance of blooms than,
• 20:15
  than get it strictly just from my farm.
• 20:18
  Yeah. I love it. And part, part of the education too, I remember when I had, uh,
• 20:22
  some folks from the, uh, Connecticut Flower Collective on the podcast last year.
• 20:26
  In fact, I'll find that link and share that episode when, when we post yours.
• 20:30
  Um, that was one of the comments that I heard is like, your, your others,
• 20:35
  each other's best customers. You do, Yes. You're, you're, hopefully you're,
• 20:39
  you're selling more than you're spending. But some,
• 20:41
  some weeks is probably a good, a good way to, to,
• 20:46
  to justify, uh, the trip up there is that you're selling and, um,
• 20:50
  also saving yourself another trip to, to go buy. Um,
• 20:55
  Exactly. The reason you're buying also is because you're doing some, some,
• 21:00
  uh, wedding designs or some custom orders for.
• 21:04
  Exactly. For clients.
• 21:05
  Right?
• 21:06
  Yes. And those are really on demand. So I'm not anticipating it.
• 21:09
  So when I've already committed to some DIY buckets,
• 21:12
  and of course the farmer's market is an ongoing commitment,
• 21:15
  and someone's already had a pre-order for through the collective. I,
• 21:20
  I can't always anticipate. Some weeks I'll have bouquet requests.
• 21:23
  Some weeks I don't. But inevitably, when I have the most going on,
• 21:27
  then someone will contact me and say, I need five centerpiece for a shower.
• 21:32
  Can you help? And I, you know,
• 21:34
  my theory is if I can manage the time to do it, I'd rather,
• 21:38
  I'd rather supplement with other blooms and make this happen. Because, you know,
• 21:42
  something like a shower, other people see them. It's a good networking practice.
• 21:46
  Absolutely.
• 21:46
  Yeah. So I think it pays off. That's great. What I have done is gone,
• 21:50
  like last year, I went through and organized, I,
• 21:54
  the way I keep track of everything.
• 21:56
  I keep track of my Connecticut Flower Collective purchases,
• 21:59
  and I was able to look at how many flowers I, what, what did I buy the most of.
• 22:04
  And I saw that I bought a lot of forget me nots. I needed,
• 22:08
  I was lacking in fillers.
• 22:09
  And so that helped inform my choices then for the next year.
• 22:12
  That was one reason that I did the forget me nots in my garden this year,
• 22:16
  was because I saw, Oh, I, I bought a lot of those. Why don't I grow them?
• 22:20
  You know? So.
• 22:21
  That's amazing. And that blue is just so hard to come by that Oh,
• 22:25
  you now have this blue option for people.
• 22:27
  Yeah. And I love.
• 22:29
  It. That's a really good way to do research. I,
• 22:31
  I appreciated what you said about constantly as,
• 22:35
  as you know, you're still in your, you know, you're still young.
• 22:39
  You said in our webinar that a new our young farmer or a new farmer is
• 22:44
  anyone who's less than five years in, which I hadn't heard,
• 22:46
  but that makes sense. Um,
• 22:49
  so you're kind of doing this evaluation in real time about what
• 22:53
  crops are winners and then what you can let go of and maybe replace next
• 22:58
  year. Exactly. You probably have a lot more evaluation to do.
• 23:02
  Yes, I do. Yes. In fact, the first year of growing, I, I had said to Pete,
• 23:07
  I have so much that I don't have enough.
• 23:10
  And what I meant by that was I had tried so many different varieties,
• 23:13
  but I only had like, maybe 20 of these and 20 of these.
• 23:17
  And so I realized that I have to be very careful with my
• 23:21
  experimentation. I need to keep trialing new things.
• 23:24
  Cause I wanna find those flowers that really work the best for us with
• 23:29
  our soil, our conditions, our time.
• 23:32
  And I'm gonna learn that by experimenting with new things every year. But I,
• 23:37
  I have to still have a bulk of things that I know that I can rely on.
• 23:42
  And so that was a lesson that I learned early on.
• 23:46
  It's hard. It's, I think it's really hard, and I've watched that arc of, of,
• 23:51
  um, kind of becoming more disciplined, the more seasoned Yes.
• 23:55
  Grower is to the point where, you know,
• 23:58
  you might have to kill some of your darlings because they're not profitable.
• 24:01
  And yes, this isn't a hobby.
• 24:03
  Yes, that's true. It is so hard for me to be ruthless. I have to say.
• 24:08
  That's one of the toughest things. But you have to be ruthless, lovingly mm-hmm.
• 24:13
  , you know mm-hmm. . And so last year I tried pansies.
• 24:17
  There's varieties that,
• 24:18
  that grow long and that are beautiful for cut flour production.
• 24:22
  But I didn't realize when I grew them was that they really needed to be started
• 24:26
  in the fall. If you wanna have that length. I started mine in very early spring,
• 24:31
  so I was hopeful that they would do okay because they're very cold tolerant.
• 24:34
  Right. Um, but they were coming up, they were, you know,
• 24:37
  like just these teeny little things. And so for a while, I, I just,
• 24:41
  they were beautiful, but they were so short and I thought,
• 24:44
  I have to pull these out. It just, it kills me. .
• 24:47
  So for a while I tried just cutting the, the,
• 24:50
  the flower heads and selling just that, you know,
• 24:54
  because they're often used for cake decorating and that.
• 24:57
  Sort of.
• 24:57
  Thing. And some people do sell them that way at the collective.
• 25:00
  You can get them just in a little plastic container,
• 25:03
  and it's just the flower heads. Um, but I knew really, I,
• 25:07
  I tried . Yeah. I tried, but eventually we yanked them out,
• 25:12
  and then I can put sunflowers in there because I can plant those later in the
• 25:17
  season. They're still gonna spring up. And that's what I ended up doing.
• 25:20
  And the sunflowers were quite profitable in September, so it was all good.
• 25:24
  But yes, especially on a small farm,
• 25:27
  you can't have wasted space. Mm-hmm. , you've gotta maximize it.
• 25:31
  So, Janet, do you, have you, you showed us that lithe and Dahlia beds,
• 25:35
  which are the newer beds. Do you still have further, um,
• 25:39
  lawn that you can dig up and, and, and expand?
• 25:42
  Or are you kind of at capacity now?
• 25:44
  Well, barely. So we're gonna had two more.
• 25:49
  Don't tell my husband.
• 25:50
  , he won't hear this. He.
• 25:52
  Won't, he won't watch this.
• 25:53
  Yeah.
• 25:54
  Right. Um, so where we had the lthe planted and the new Dahlia bed,
• 25:59
  they, they go, there are a different orientation than the other beds are.
• 26:03
  So the, the, we have 12 that are what I call vertical rose,
• 26:07
  and that's just their orientation to the house. Mm-hmm. .
• 26:09
  Then we added two more that are horizontal,
• 26:12
  So those horizontal beds we can extend out a little further.
• 26:15
  Okay. That's what you're talking about then in.
• 26:17
  The, in the video. And so I'm gonna add to those horizontal beds.
• 26:21
  So they're 25 feet.
• 26:22
  I'll have a little gap in between and be able to do another 2 25 foot rows.
• 26:27
  And then we have pretty much officially used every square
• 26:32
  inch that we have.
• 26:33
  . Well, can you talk a little bit about what you alluded to in our, um,
• 26:37
  in the webinar about planning to, uh, find land elsewhere for,
• 26:42
  I'm assuming that would be like an annex farm, right? Or Yes. Would it be,
• 26:47
  would you move everything?
• 26:48
  Well, I'm not sure exactly how we'll make this work logistically.
• 26:53
  Ideally, in time, I do want to live where I farm.
• 26:57
  I don't wanna be commuting to a farm every day. Yeah.
• 27:00
  So I'm not sure how it will work,
• 27:02
  but what we're doing right now is just looking for land and it will just be an
• 27:06
  annex mm-hmm. . And then the hope is that over time,
• 27:10
  once we get that built up, that we could, if there's, um,
• 27:14
  that we could possibly build a home on that property mm-hmm.
• 27:17
  sell our own home and move and, and use that to,
• 27:20
  to build on the land, we'd be displaced for a little while.
• 27:25
  So I'm not sure again, how that's all gonna work out. Um,
• 27:28
  we've thought about leasing land, maybe just in the meantime,
• 27:31
  just leasing something and then when we're ready to move,
• 27:35
  then just move to a house that has a couple of
• 27:40
  acres on it.
• 27:41
  The problem with that is that if I were to lease for a couple of years and
• 27:45
  putting all this blood, sweat, and tears into land that, you know,
• 27:48
  I'm not going to for very long. Yeah.
• 27:51
  Yeah. I understand that.
• 27:52
  Yeah. So it, it's interesting. We're talking with,
• 27:55
  there's a land trust in the area,
• 27:57
  and they're very open to us farming some of their land.
• 28:00
  That could be a wonderful annex solution for us in the short term.
• 28:05
  So there's definitely options.
• 28:07
  But one thing that I learned about is that the University of Connecticut
• 28:11
  agricultural department has people that help you navigate this
• 28:16
  if you're a new farmer.
• 28:17
  So we're actually getting on a phone call with someone from Yon.
• 28:22
  I think our appointment is in a couple of weeks,
• 28:25
  and they're gonna help us find land or talk through all of those details.
• 28:30
  What are the options available to us in leasing and buying the, um,
• 28:36
  uh, grants that could help in that sort of thing.
• 28:38
  And it's a free service if you're a new farmer.
• 28:41
  I think the first time that you have a call and then subsequent calls you pay
• 28:45
  for. But we're definitely gonna take advantage of that.
• 28:47
  And it's good to know that's out there.
• 28:49
  I'm sure that's available in other states for their university.
• 28:52
  Programs. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. And well, what it reveals is that you have,
• 28:56
  you're still in the exploratory stage.
• 28:59
  This will be kind of a multi-year process. Um, Yes. And right now,
• 29:04
  most everything that you're growing, that's the annuals.
• 29:08
  It's not like you have to move them.
• 29:09
  You'd be moving things like digging up to all your tubers.
• 29:13
  You don't really have a lot of perennials really,
• 29:15
  that you're integrating into your business, do you?
• 29:18
  I don't, because I don't have a lot of room for them.
• 29:20
  I have perennials in the front yard mm-hmm.
• 29:22
  that have been there forever,
• 29:24
  since before we started flower farming. So some of them are usable,
• 29:28
  some of them are not. And I'm definitely moving towards more native perennials.
• 29:33
  So there are a few gaps in the front yard where I'm filling in with native
• 29:36
  perennials that I know we can use for cuts. Mm. Um, we,
• 29:40
  we participate in pollinator pathways. Are you familiar with that?
• 29:44
  We have something like that here in Seattle too,
• 29:46
  that I'm assuming it's just to cry,
• 29:48
  try to create pollinator plants throughout a neighborhood or in an
• 29:53
  area, right?
• 29:53
  Yes. Yes. Exactly. To connect, I guess the radius,
• 29:57
  I'm not that knowledgeable on the radius that pollinators travel,
• 30:00
  but there is a limit. And if they, if they're in one garden,
• 30:04
  but there's a huge open space and nothing for them to,
• 30:07
  to land on within, you know, I don't know how many yards or feet.
• 30:11
  Or miles.
• 30:13
  They don't really move beyond that. They'll just stay contained in an area.
• 30:16
  And so the idea is to help develop the pollinator population that you
• 30:21
  wanna have these pathways and they, the pollinators, it makes sense.
• 30:25
  They're much more attractive to native plantings than they are to what's
• 30:29
  imported. Uh, so, so we're really focusing on native growth.
• 30:33
  But I would like to really expand on pese. I love them.
• 30:38
  They're one of my favorite flowers.
• 30:41
  So that's something I would like to invest more in.
• 30:44
  But I feel like we're in this limbo phase where if we're not gonna be here very
• 30:47
  long, do I wanna invest in a lot of p e in the land?
• 30:50
  Right. Right.
• 30:50
  It can take them with me, but when you uproot them,
• 30:53
  it takes them about three years to really get well enough and stuff. Right.
• 30:56
  Might as well just wait. Right.
• 30:58
  Yeah, exactly. So, you know,
• 31:00
  there are perennials I would love to invest more in,
• 31:03
  but I just don't feel like we're in a place right now where we can do that till
• 31:06
  we have a few more answers to what our next move.
• 31:08
  Is. Oh my gosh. Well, good luck on that. That's exciting. Yeah. Um, well,
• 31:12
  I wanna talk a little bit before we wrap up about your influences.
• 31:15
  You have this background as a graphic designer.
• 31:17
  How long did you work as a graphic designer and like what kind of work did you
• 31:21
  do and do you see that that kind of, I don't know,
• 31:25
  your visual aesthetic popping up in your floor arranging? Yeah.
• 31:28
  That's an interesting question. I didn't know that I, you know,
• 31:31
  I think it's hard sometimes for when you're in the arts to know that you have a
• 31:35
  style. For some people it's very clear. For others it's not.
• 31:38
  I felt that I was much more eclectic in the graphic design field,
• 31:42
  but some, but people would look at my work and say, Oh, you have a style.
• 31:46
  And it is interesting cause I'd think I, I do really , you know,
• 31:49
  I didn't really see it.
• 31:50
  Well, especially if you're working for clients and you're,
• 31:52
  you're kind of trying to meet their style request. Exactly.
• 31:55
  You don't always see it.
• 31:56
  Right. That's exactly right. I did a lot of freelance work and I felt like,
• 32:00
  you know, if this was for a younger audience, I tried to make it more edgy.
• 32:03
  And if it was for a more traditional audience,
• 32:05
  I tried to make a more traditional design. And so I,
• 32:09
  I did feel like I was always catering to my audience,
• 32:11
  and I didn't know that my own style, it makes sense that it would shine through,
• 32:15
  but I, it was hard for me to see that. So, um,
• 32:19
  when it came to, I did graphic design for about 12 years. Okay.
• 32:24
  Prior to that, I had worked in a corporation and then, um,
• 32:29
  my degree was actually, my bachelor's degree was in education. Okay.
• 32:33
  But I'd never gotten into it. I had children.
• 32:36
  I was a stay at home mom for a number of years,
• 32:38
  and what got me into graphics was that I thought, Okay,
• 32:41
  it's time when my kids were all in school. It's time to,
• 32:44
  to start using that education degree. But I thought if I'm gonna teach,
• 32:48
  I wanna teach art, because I've always loved that,
• 32:51
  hadn't really had any art courses. So, uh, in order to teach art,
• 32:55
  I had to get a certification.
• 32:57
  So I went back to school in my forties and got certified
• 33:02
  in art and graphic design. And once I got in those classes,
• 33:07
  I realized, Oh, you know what? I don't, I still don't wanna teach.
• 33:10
  This is what I wanna do full time. So I love it. Yeah.
• 33:14
  So I did that for about 12 years. And then, uh, as much as I loved that,
• 33:18
  I was tired of being in front of a computer screen all the day, all,
• 33:22
  all day long. Nature has always been at the heart of what I do. And that's why,
• 33:26
  you know, I had said, when we had that talk yesterday with Madison Square Park,
• 33:31
  um, it was just very serendipitous.
• 33:33
  I see this book about flower farming, and I,
• 33:38
  and I just realized all of a sudden in this moment, Hey, this,
• 33:41
  this takes everything. I've always loved the nature.
• 33:44
  This flowers are art in nature. Absolutely.
• 33:47
  I.
• 33:47
  Always loved in nature, I've always loved art. This is the perfect combination.
• 33:51
  I'm not in front of a computer screen all day. I love working with my hands.
• 33:56
  And that's really just what launched that in the last three years.
• 34:00
  Mm-hmm. , I would say with making bouquets,
• 34:03
  I definitely do have a style.
• 34:05
  And what's fun is that when people see it at the farmer's market,
• 34:10
  they say, um, someone said,
• 34:13
  it's like a curated wild flower look. And,
• 34:17
  and I love that.
• 34:18
  It's a huge compliment.
• 34:19
  . Yeah. It, it made me happy. And I realized that they,
• 34:23
  they describe a wild flower look because they're,
• 34:26
  they're used to a very different look usually from, you know,
• 34:29
  if you order from FTD or, or go to most flower shops,
• 34:33
  there's a very standard look and mine don't fit that standard. Look.
• 34:37
  Maybe there's a more in your mind a stiffer look and not so naturalistic. Right.
• 34:41
  Yes.
• 34:41
  It's very naturalized. Exactly. Yeah. But they could tell,
• 34:44
  it's not just that I threw things in Aase.
• 34:46
  So the fact that they said it was curated, I thought, Okay, I like that. I.
• 34:51
  Like that. Yeah. That can be your new tagline.
• 34:52
  . Yes. Curated wild flower.
• 34:54
  But you had mentioned also like color is always factoring into your graphic
• 34:59
  design and that you're obviously thinking about that when you're
• 35:04
  choosing what to grow. Yes. And how, how you can use it in design. So.
• 35:07
  Yes, that's true. And that's part of what drew me to the arts.
• 35:10
  I've always loved color. Um, I tend to like more subtle colors.
• 35:15
  So even though I love color, I'm not typically a bold, loud person,
• 35:18
  but I love experimenting with those colors. Mm-hmm. ,
• 35:20
  if someone calls for that in their bouquet,
• 35:23
  it's fun to always break out of what your normal mold is.
• 35:26
  Sure. So, so never say never about certain colors. Right.
• 35:29
  Exactly. Yeah. Right. I mean,
• 35:31
  I've had the most fun with some colors that I would've never chosen myself.
• 35:35
  But when I'm choosing it for someone else, then thinking through, Okay,
• 35:39
  I have this bright red color, and how can I,
• 35:43
  how can I pull other colors into that and have a bridge color that's going to
• 35:48
  blend those, what complements this to make this pop more?
• 35:52
  So all of that that I've learned in, in art design is,
• 35:56
  is really a real boon to that.
• 35:58
  Well, I, I can't help but, uh, look at the flowers over your left shoulder.
• 36:02
  There. There are so beautiful. Thank you.
• 36:04
  And you've got dahlias and sys. What else is in that base?
• 36:08
  There's a little Lizzy this in there.
• 36:10
  This is really the last of everything on the farm.
• 36:13
  So this is quite a combination. I've got some SC Bosa in there.
• 36:18
  Yeah. A lot of zia's. A little Menard I think is still in there.
• 36:23
  Love and a puff is the little vine. Yes.
• 36:25
  You probably can't see that that well in there, but it's.
• 36:28
  Charming. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. Thank you. Um, well, I was wanting to ask you,
• 36:32
  when you're at the farmer's market, are you the only a flower farmer or, um,
• 36:36
  are, you know, is that an advantage? I know some people don't have that kind of,
• 36:39
  uh, luxury.
• 36:40
  Yeah, no,
• 36:41
  I am and I'm very grateful for that because you never wanna get in a position
• 36:45
  where you're undercutting each other. Pricewise. Yeah. You know,
• 36:49
  this other growers have said neither one of you benefit from that kind of
• 36:53
  competition. So I am the only one there. There are some, um,
• 36:57
  vegetable farms and some of them will have just some loose zinnias cuz they've
• 37:01
  had those, or they'll have maybe some hanging baskets,
• 37:05
  but that it's nothing like what I'm producing. Yeah.
• 37:07
  Wow.
• 37:08
  So, yeah, I, I appreciate that in a farmer's market when they limit the vendors,
• 37:12
  um, so that you're not competing directly against each other.
• 37:15
  Yeah. And even if somebody did come in, I mean, I, I'm imagining you've got the,
• 37:20
  you're established now, you're, you've got the, the following and so Right.
• 37:25
  Right. Which would be hard for them. So.
• 37:27
  Yeah. I mean, if it was me and I was new going in,
• 37:30
  I would try to look at what, you know,
• 37:32
  Janet was growing and try to grow something completely different just to
• 37:36
  differentiate myself. So.
• 37:37
  Yes, you would hope yes. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
• 37:40
  Well, so we talked about your new, uh, your,
• 37:43
  your search for land and constantly evaluating for new, uh,
• 37:48
  varieties that you wanna grow. Do you have any other projects in,
• 37:52
  in play that you're hoping to implement next year? Or is,
• 37:55
  is your plate very full right now?
• 37:58
  My plate's very full, but I'm always thinking of new ideas, so mm-hmm.
• 38:02
  , I mentioned how much I love the DIY buckets.
• 38:05
  I think part of that, I am an extrovert and I,
• 38:09
  I get so invested when these people come to me. You know, they're saying,
• 38:13
  I'll ask, is this for a birthday party? You know,
• 38:16
  it informs the choices that you're making. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm,
• 38:19
  I'm not trying to pry, but it,
• 38:21
  it helps me make good decisions for what their event is. And,
• 38:25
  and inevitably we get in this exchange and I get so excited for what
• 38:29
  they're doing. Um.
• 38:30
  I love that. It's.
• 38:31
  It's just the extrovert in me. So I'm like, really? You're having,
• 38:35
  having a party? Okay. We know.
• 38:37
  . Let me help, let me give you some ideas.
• 38:39
  , I almost wanna be there. That's just my personality.
• 38:43
  I love it.
• 38:44
  It's very fun to make these connections. That's the,
• 38:47
  the connections in the flower farming. I, I love that.
• 38:50
  And so I find that that's what the farmer's market does.
• 38:53
  That's what the DIY buckets do. I ask them, you know,
• 38:56
  if you think of it when you're done,
• 38:58
  would you send me pictures of how the bouquets came out? Um,
• 39:01
  and so we still have exchanges even when the, when the event's over. And,
• 39:06
  um, and so as I've done more and more of these,
• 39:10
  what I've realized is that people really, they wanna do their own events,
• 39:14
  but they maybe don't have the full confidence in their abilities.
• 39:18
  So one idea I've had is something that's kind of a hybrid, which again,
• 39:23
  isn't easy for me to do in the space that I have right now, but thinking ahead,
• 39:27
  when we have land, more land,
• 39:29
  I would love to offer something that is like a workshop.
• 39:34
  Mm-hmm. for DIY people that, you know,
• 39:38
  they wanna do their own, but they want a little guidance. And it's a little.
• 39:41
  Coaching.
• 39:42
  Yes, exactly. Like a little DIY coaching, something simple.
• 39:45
  It's still gonna keep, I, I need to be mindful that sometimes they're doing diy,
• 39:50
  not because they want to, but be so much,
• 39:52
  but because they have a very restricted budget.
• 39:54
  So you have to be mindful of that. But that's something I've often thought of.
• 39:58
  I can see a need there and I would love to get involved in,
• 40:01
  in that kind of a teaching moment.
• 40:03
  I just say, that's the kind of teaching you'll enjoy doing.
• 40:06
  Yes, exactly. Finally use that teaching degree. Right.
• 40:09
  Right. I love it. Well, this has been so much fun.
• 40:12
  I feel like getting to know you has been, uh,
• 40:16
  a real reward for me to just see how you've built your business.
• 40:19
  And I know it's gonna inspire other, inspire others, uh,
• 40:22
  especially people who are pivoting away from corporate careers or looking
• 40:27
  at their backyards and thinking about what they can do. And I'm sure you're,
• 40:31
  you're realistic in when you talk to people about how much work it
• 40:35
  is, but you're not sitting behind a computer.
• 40:38
  You're out there treating your mental health and caring for it
• 40:43
  and getting all those endorphins from being out in nature and growing.
• 40:47
  So it's probably been a positive, uh, lifestyle change for you too.
• 40:51
  Yes, it really has been.
• 40:53
  I was most concerned about my husband because he helps so much,
• 40:56
  but he's got his day job, so he's in front of a computer screen all day,
• 41:00
  and then I'm asking him to help me in evenings, weekends.
• 41:03
  And I thought this might be a little too much for him.
• 41:05
  His job is really demanding, but he finds when he is out there helping,
• 41:09
  it doesn't feel like it's work is work. It's hard work, It takes a lot,
• 41:14
  but there is, it's physical,
• 41:15
  something that's regenerative about it at the same time.
• 41:18
  So I don't wanna minimize that. You know, when you're out there it's like, Oh,
• 41:21
  this is wonderful. Sometimes, sometimes I've been in tears in my yard. I,
• 41:25
  it's pouring. I'm trying to get some,
• 41:28
  some tulips pulled up by the bulb and they're sticking in the ground.
• 41:31
  And I mean, you know,
• 41:32
  there's definitely moments of frustration or something isn't working the way I
• 41:36
  need it to work or producing well,
• 41:39
  but there is still something about being outside and being in nature and working
• 41:43
  with your hands that even when you're working hard and you're sweating,
• 41:48
  I come inside and I feel like I,
• 41:51
  I feel it's fed me, it's fed my soul.
• 41:54
  Yes. That's rewarding. Yes. I love it. Yes, it is.
• 41:57
  And you're feeding other people too.
• 41:58
  Yes.
• 41:59
  Well, I will come visit when I come to Connecticut. Um.
• 42:02
  I would love that.
• 42:03
  Yes.
• 42:03
  And I'll have to ask my mom for the old address so I can figure out where I was
• 42:07
  on trouble. I.
• 42:08
  Will take you on a tour. Yes. Okay.
• 42:10
  Great. Thank you so much. And Janet, I do, uh, wanna hope,
• 42:14
  I'm hoping that when we post this@slflowerspodcast.com, I'll, in the show notes,
• 42:18
  I can show some of your, um, curated wildflower arrangements. Uh,
• 42:23
  if you share some photos. I know you just sent me a big, a big folder.
• 42:26
  I just haven't dug deep into look at them yet. So thank you for that. Yeah. And,
• 42:30
  uh, we'll also share backyard blooms, uh,
• 42:32
  social places so people can find you and follow along. Uh, and thank,
• 42:36
  thanks so much. This has really been fun.
• 42:38
  Thank you. It's been a privilege.
• 42:57
  Thanks so much for joining me today.
• 42:59
  You can visit slow flowers podcast.com to watch the replay video of today's
• 43:04
  conversation. Look for episode 577.
• 43:07
  I'll also include links to Backyard Blooms Social Places,
• 43:11
  and two other resources.
• 43:13
  The replay video of our Slow Flowers presentation recorded on August 18th
• 43:17
  for the Madison Square Park Conservancy. And a link to My Slow Flowers Podcast,
• 43:22
  episode 494, which features Farmer Florist, Haley,
• 43:26
  Bill of Eddie Farm, and the Connecticut Flower Collective.
• 43:31
  Our next sponsor, Thanks, goes to Cal Flowers,
• 43:34
  the leading floral trade association in California,
• 43:37
  providing valuable transportation and other benefits to flower growers
• 43:41
  and the entire floral supply chain in California and 48 other states.
• 43:46
  The association is a leader in bringing fresh cut flowers to the US market and
• 43:50
  in promoting the benefits of flowers to new generations of American consumers.
• 43:55
  Learn more@cgs.org.
• 43:59
  And thank you to Details. Flower Software,
• 44:02
  a platform specifically designed to help Floris and designers do more and
• 44:07
  earn more with an elegant and easy to use system.
• 44:09
  Details improves profitability, productivity,
• 44:12
  and organization for floral businesses of all shapes and sizes.
• 44:17
  Grow your bottom line through professional proposals and confident pricing with
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  details all in one platform.
• 44:23
  All friends of the Slow Flowers Podcast will receive a seven day free trial of
• 44:27
  details, Flowers, software. You can learn more@detailsflowers.com.
• 44:32
  Thanks so much for joining us today.
• 44:34
  The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member supported endeavor,
• 44:38
  downloaded more than 900,000 times by listeners like you.
• 44:43
  Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing.
• 44:45
  It means so much as our movement gains more supporters and more passionate
• 44:50
  participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry.
• 44:54
  The momentum is contagious. I know you feel it too.
• 44:57
  If you're new to our weekly show or our long running podcast,
• 45:00
  check out all of our resources@slflowersociety.com and consider making
• 45:05
  a donation to sustain slow flowers, ongoing advocacy,
• 45:10
  education, and outreach activities.
• 45:13
  You can find the donate button@slflowerspodcast.com.
• 45:17
  I'm Deborah Printing host and producer of the SL Flowers Show and the SL Flowers
• 45:21
  Podcast.
• 45:22
  The SL Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brennan.
• 45:27
  The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my
• 45:31
  guests alone, independent of any podcast, sponsor, or other person, company,
• 45:35
  or organization. Next week,
• 45:38
  you're invited to join me in putting more slow flowers on the table, one stem,
• 45:43
  one base at a time. I'll see you then.