sugar from sunshine

Farm Photos

2010-06-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't get any shots last week, but we had tons of flowers at the market. It was ridiculously hot, but otherwise a great market day. I took a few shots today, before it gets late in the week and hectic.

Agrostemma in bloom.

Sunflowers for market.

Gorgeous green rose hips.

Mixed bouquet.

My new market vehicle!

Dahlias are budding up!

Zinnias in full bloom.

Lilies in crates, ready for harvest.

More calendula.

Farm Photos

2010-05-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

The farm is in full bloom finally. It's been a trickle so far, and we sold out by 10:30 at the Farmer's Market last Saturday. Our German Goddess, Claudia - a family friend who is now helping at the market - was an amazing salesperson and flowers went fast! It was my first day of missing a market in 3 years and I missed being there, but had a blast at our first 4H Livestock Show & Sale. I miss our pigs, but am so glad the kids had such a great time showing them and that they both did well selling them. Here's what's happening...

The pigs' last meal before the show and sale.

Loaded up (after 3 hours of struggling with them) and ready to go.

They were so cute and great little rototillers!

The kids in the show ring.

Christian checking out the pigs' new quarters in the show tent.

This week's lilies...look for these salmon-colored 'Menorca' lilies at the Farmers Market this weekend.

This white asiatic lily 'Navona' will also be in bouquets this weekend.

A row of trial varieties of dianthus. These were planted later than we normally would plant dianthus (these were spring planted, we normally plant in fall) for the ASCFG trials, and they are just beginning to bloom.

Flower spikes on the first planting of glads!

Succession plantings of glads and sunflowers. First planting on the left and most recent on the right. Each row contains 500 glads and about 500 sunflowers.

The first row of zinnias is beginning to bloom.

This beautiful row of safflower is also a trial variety. It's just starting to bud up at about 24". Looks promising!

Calendula in bloom. Our first year trying the variety 'Pink Surprise'. Unfortunately, the surprise is: they are very short! Oh well, look for them in "Herb Posies" at the market this weekend.

Trial varieties of snapdragons in bloom.

Huge 'Fangio' lilies in the back yard border garden. Notice they are taller than the 4' fence!

Bed Stamper

2010-04-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have gotten a few emails from other growers about how we stamp our beds for planting. (See previous post) Our bed stamper was made from a lawn roller, from which I removed the handle and fitted "arms" out of plumbing nipples and floor flanges to hook it up to the tractor. I ordered planting punches from Buckeye Tractor Co. that normally go on water wheel transplanters and screwed them onto the roller and...voila. It makes great planting holes in plastic also.

Busy time

2010-04-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much lately because I've been planting like crazy. Thousands of

transplants from the greenhouse have gone into the ground. Lisianthus, scabiosa,

snapdragons, calendula, dianthus, sweet peas, larkspur, and even sunflowers and

zinnias were already planted and over 20 others are in the greenhouse waiting.

Weekly bulb plantings are actually on schedule (so far!) and thousands of bulbs

have already been planted. I am excited about some of our new perennials that

should be quite productive this year including 2 new varieties of phlox, monarda,

agastache, yarrow, scabiosa, hollyhock, buddleia and a red veronica. Our lilacs

that were ordered for our research trial have arrived and been planted. The plants

were delayed by a huge storm that left the folks at Syringa Plus flooded and

without power. Fortunately, they were OK and able to save all their plants.

Our plants are getting some nice green growth on them and will hopefully gain

some nice size this year and give us sweet smelling blossoms next spring.

Here are a few shots from the last 2 weeks...

One of our weekly plantings of sunflowers.

The lilacs were all labeled clearly with great sets of roots.

Forty lilac bushes, ready to grow!

A newly tilled bed (between rows of rye and field pea cover crop), stamped and ready to plant.

The same bed planted, then mulched by mowing the rows of cover crop on either side.

A bucket of ranunculus.

Homegrown.org

2010-04-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just discovered this new website and love it. It's definitely food related, not really about growing flowers. But, growing is growing no matter what you produce. There's a great post today about Straw Bale Gardening, which is a great way to go if you have limited space. I also read another great post about vertical wall gardens, which I've seen before and really like. My favorite is the idea for a vertical strawberry garden. I'd love to have strawberries on the deck at arms reach for the kids - and with no weeds!

Check out Homegrown.org...

Project Successful!

2010-03-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

Our Kickstarter project has officially ended and we were fully funded! Thanks to generous supporters who are now charter members of our Flower CSA, we exceeded our goal of $2000 by almost $500! Time to finalize the design of our custom shipping boxes and get them ordered! Thanks to everyone who pledged!

New Site is Up!

2010-03-25T03:44:00.001-07:00

Our new site is up! Click here and see what's new with us.

Spring

2010-03-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

The weather is finally warming up and I have been a planting fool. Sweet peas are growing nicely, ranunculus is up and the greenhouse is lined with trays full of sprouting babies. Our lilacs for our research trial are being shipped Monday so I tilled and amended those beds today. The first row of sunflowers of the season was seeded today, alongside the first row of glads that were planted. Hard to believe it's that time already. Here are some photos from yesterday...

Seed plates from our push seeder and a packet of Pro Cut sunflowers.

My seed starting table... complete with bins of alphabetized seed packets, field row marking stakes, labeler for labeling seed trays and row markers with waterproof labels, my crop notebook with a page for each crop... and of course my cell phone and my Starbucks!

A bag of Gladiolus bulbs waiting to be planted.

Glad bulbs nestled into a furrow.

Field row markers.

The worlds cutest field hand.... of course he had his own project in mind...

... he makes a mean mud pie!

New Kickstarter Reward

2010-03-01T04:22:00.000-08:00

We've added a new reward to our Kickstarter project. If you aren't familiar with Kickstarter or our venture on it, check it out here. The classy t-shirt (the text reads I Cut One - at Back Bay Flower Co.) is our creative attempt to appeal to the fellas a bit. All new pledges at the $30 level get you our fabulous t-shirt along with a shipment of flowers. Something for everyone! Go tell your friends and more importantly, go pledge on Kickstarter and get your shirt and flowers. Click HERE to pledge now!

Winter on the Farm

2010-01-31T08:09:00.000-08:00

We got our first big snow at the farm! We only get snow in Virginia Beach about every 5 years and we just moved to this farm 3 years ago. Snow had to be swept off the greenhouse and the chickens were totally freaked out when they first stepped out of the coop. They kept trying to fly up out of the snow and at first, went back into the coop. I finally threw some food over to the door and they started eating. Dingo, our chocolate lab was ready to play, but our chihuahuas were not so thrilled. It amazes me that I have been in a planting (indoor seed starting) frenzy for the last few weeks and yet the ground is completely buried in snow today. It was beautiful for the last 2 days and the kids have loved it - especially sledding on the golf course at Grandaddy's - but I am ready for the snow to melt, the ground to dry up and to see lots of seedlings in the ground outside.

Hybrid Lilies

2010-01-28T04:02:00.000-08:00

Lilies are one of our biggest and most important crops. We grow the brightly colored asiatics and L.A. (longiflorum/asiatic) hybrids for their bright colors. These come in a broad range of color from yellows to pinks to oranges and even bicolors. They typically have little to no fragrance and are medium sized blooms. The Oriental hybrids are the frangrant lilies folks either love or hate, like Stargazers and Casblancas. Most range from deep pink to white and have very large flowers. Also popular on the cut flower market are the newer OT Hybrids. These are a cross between Oriental lilies and Trumpet lilies and have the color of some of the trumpets and the size and fragrance of the Orientals. A favorite of ours and our customers in the last few years is Conca D'or, a large, mildly fragrant pale yellow OT. Here are a few varieties we are growing for 2010...

'Nymph' is a striking bi-color OT lily. It is huge and fragrant and great in Christmas bouquets with our 'Red Cathedral' amarathus.

'Black Out' is always a stand-out at our farmers market. It is great for our fall bouquets with it's deep, rich color.

'Nashville' is a nice L.A. hybrid with large, deep yellow blooms.

'Menorca' has been one of my very favorites for years. Although we plant pre-cooled bulbs (see below) each week for a steady supply of lilies, some of my favorites are planted in fields or gardens around the farm and have perennialized (they come back every year and spread). 'Menorca' lilies we planted several years ago come up every year on thick stems with HUGE flowers. The light, fresh scent is nice, too.
'Lake Carey' will be our dark pink Oriental for 2010. A new-to-us variety, it looks like a winner and comes highly recommended by our bulb guy.
'Liberstar' is a pale yellow OT that we're growing this year in place of 'Conca D'or'. Although I do love the 'Conca D'or's, 'Liberstar' has a faster crop time and upfacing flowers should make it more useful in our bouquets and easier to ship.
'Helvetia' is a white Oriental we grew last year along with 'Casablanca'. We are growing both again this year.
'Algarve' is a light pink L.A. that we have in the field. It's a great pink for bouquets.

We plant lily bulbs that are shipped to us each week after being cooled in a factory to simulate winter chilling. They begin to bloom as soon as we receive them and must be planted right away or they sprout in the shipping crates. However, non-programmed bulbs can be found at garden centers or in mail order garden catalogs and planted in your garden to re-bloom each year. Be sure if you grow your garden lilies for cutting, to leave 1/3 of the stem in order for the plant to generate a bloom the following year.

Is it Spring, Yet?

2010-01-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a super cold winter so far. I've been getting seeds cranking in the greenhouse and dahlias rooted in the garage. Otherwise the ground has been either too wet or frozen. Yikes! Thank goodness for indoor distractions like creating 2 new websites (one with a store!) a new brand image for the web store, planting databases, bulb orders, and lots of reading. I'm immersing myself in multiple books this winter about business management, psychology, social media, branding and farming. We're getting pigs in a few weeks. Our first real farm animals aside from the chickens. I've ordered new chicks and decided to go for rare & unusual breeds to keep it fun for me and the kids. O.K., mainly for me. The field is still mud and has been since the nor'easter back in November, so the movable chicken coop has been very stationary since I can't get the Suburban to the field to move it. I am getting anxious for Spring and it's beautiful flowers. I am looking forward to connecting with a new family of designers on the East Coast since we will start shipping soon. In the meantime, here's a few photos...

Our New CSA

2010-01-05T03:54:00.000-08:00

We've launched a project on Kickstarter.com. If you aren't familiar with this cool website, check it out here. We were invited to post a project last year and did, but I didn't really promote it myself. This time I am tweeting daily and working a bit to get the word out. Our project is basically the beginnings of a CSA online. CSA is Community Supported Agriculture - in which folks can buy a "share" of the crops from a farm in advance. Obviously in our case the "crops" are our flowers. In most CSA's, you don't really get a discount for pre-buying, you are just guaranteed your share of goodies from the farm. In ours, we are actually giving our farm supporters a bit of a discount. Plus, you can pledge as little as $5, you don't have to buy a whole seasonal share.

Here's how it works...Check out the link above to read about our project. Choose your pledge amount and pledge through Kickstarter. Your pledge is just that - a pledge. You don't pay anything unless we meet our goal of $2000 in pledges. (So after you pledge, email everyone you know and tell them to do the same, because, of course, this means you don't get anything if we don't meet our goal.) When our project time is up and if we meet our goal and receive enough pledges, we contact you to get you your flower share! Cool, huh?

Style Me Pretty Feature

2009-12-26T04:39:00.000-08:00

I've been a little slow to post this, but the Inspiration to Reality design that was created from my inspiration board was featured recently on Style Me Pretty. If you don't know about this cool wedding planning tool, the Style Me Pretty wedding blog has created The Style Circle, an online wedding community. Once you become a member of the Circle, you can create a profile and create inspiration boards from 1000's of amazing photos or anything else you care to download. It's a great tool for brides and really handy for wedding professionals to draw ideas, too.

So...not too long ago I create this board and it was chosen for one of their Inspiration to Reality contests, in which they choose one board and have a select group of wedding professionals create a real-life version of the board and do a photo shoot to be featured on Style Me Pretty. Here are a few snippets from Style Me Pretty and the actual shoot. Click here to check out the whole deal!

I also received a super-sweet email from Meagan Gilpatrick of Maine Seasons Event Planning, and one of the fabulous vendors who worked on the project. I really admire her work and we have decided it is a mutual goal to work together in 2010!

Inspiration to Reality

2009-11-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

I created a new inspiration board on Style Me Pretty's Style Circle that drew it's palette and mood from our Ameraucana rooster named, Speckler (thanks, kids) and the gorgeous blue-green eggs laid by our Ameraucana hens. I posted it on my Style Circle blog to be entered into their latest Inspiration to Reality contest. For this contest, they have chosen amazing wedding vendors to bring my board to reality including: Meagan Gilpatrick of Maine Seasons Event Planning, Sara Fitzgerald O’Brien of Griffin-vites, photography by Brea McDonald Photography, Videography by Meg Simone and Flowers by Dawn Kelly of Soiree Floral. So cool! Here's a look at the board...

Credits: Rochelle Mort, Blooms by Martha Andrews, Twin Lens (3), Back Bay Flower Co. (2), Karen Wise, Jen Huang, Andrea Polito Photography, Inc., Carla Ten Eyck

Check back on Style Me Pretty' soon for the results!

Farm Dinner!

2009-11-11T12:29:00.000-08:00

I am really excited to announce that we have decided to host a dinner at the farm to benefit the Old Beach Farmers Market - one of our big, local selling spots. Some of the market founders came out Sunday afternoon and we dreamed up a dinner under the open sky among the flowers (in the middle of the field!) with all local food and wine. We are selling a limited number of tickets for this intimate event to be held next May. I put together an inspiration board of what we've planned so far. Here's a peek...

Credits: Heather Kincaid, Karen Wise Photography (2), Back Bay Flower Co. (4), Jose Villa, Jose Villa Photography (2), Meg Baisden Photography, Michael Oppenheim Photography, Outstanding in the Field, Jose Villa, Robert and Kathleen, Jubilee Events (2)

Skirt! Magazine Feature

2009-11-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

It was really fun to be featured in Skirt! magazine recently and I am so bummed to hear that Hampton Roads Skirt! is being cancelled. Kim Wadsworth, Eleise Theuer (the amazing photographer who took the photo above) and all the other contributors did a great job and it will be missed! To check out the article on me, click here.

Dahlias!

2009-11-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

I am a little obsessed with dahlias right now since I am finalizing my order for next year's varieties. They come in such a wide variety of colors and sizes and even shapes and each one is just gorgeous!

Credits: Brett Buchanan, Harper Ferguson, Easywind Studio, Valarie, Dia Rao, Myrtle & Marjoram, Zoom Photography, Zoom Photography, Olivia Leigh, Dollface Studio, Twin Lens

Fall Floral Fun

2009-10-23T06:25:00.001-07:00

Check out these gorgeous fall florals. I love the pale color palette in the peachy tones designed by Anne Mendenhall. The richly hued florals featuring the architectural grasses were designed by Gilly Flowers are also a favorite of mine. I think what I love most about all of these designs is that they really reflect the bounty of typically harvested fall flowers like dahlias, lots of grasses, pods, berries and roses. Both of these beautiful weddings were recently featured on Style Me Pretty.

Credits: Dia Rao (2), Jose Villa (6)

Gorgeous Florals from Ink & Peat

2009-10-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

I am loving the gorgeous floral designs from Ink & Peat over on the Housemartin blog. I love seeing designers using seasonal blooms...so many of these lovelies are blooming at the farm right now. Go to their blog, check it out.

Reception Sweets

2009-10-12T05:13:00.000-07:00

I love this idea for a great alternative to a traditional wedding cake (or even the current trend of cupcakes and candy bars) from Lifestyle Insights ...http://www.robinavni.com/lifestyle-insights-blog/index.php/2009/10/09/nix-the-wedding-cake/. Yum!!

Long Island Garden Tour

2009-10-09T14:04:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged much in the last few months, but now that farm work is slowing a bit I was able to travel to Long Island for the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers annual conference. I spoke briefly to a great group of people with a panel of other growers and really enjoyed hearing floral designer Carol Caggiano speak to our group also. Carol was as entertaining as she was informative and everyone loved it.

We also got to tour several amazing gardens with the help of tour guide, Allan Armitage. Allan entertained us on the bus rides to our destinations and educated us while we strolled through some amazing places...

Allan posed with Specialty Cut Flowers co-author (and ASCFG director) Judy Laushman at Suzy Bales home.

Suzy was our gracious host at our last stop, letting us lunch on her terrace and touring us through her beautiful gardens. Here is a lovely arrangement Suzy made. Her new book comes out soon and I can't wait to check it out.
These white Japanese anemones were in every garden we visited. This one was at The Planting Fields Arboretum.
Catmint lining a walkway...
Our first stop was the private Old Westbury Gardens. The old brick home was amazing!
And so were the dahlias!
I took this shot for my kids.
Allan pointing out purple berries of callicarpa.
Some of the trees were SO huge. Looking at these two huge weeping beauties on either side of the arbor.
Aside from the great scenery, I also had a great time chatting and exchanging info and secrets with other cut flower growers. Can't wait until next years conference in OK!

Vintage Centerpiece Idea

2009-10-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

Not that I want brides to NOT use flowers, but how cute is this table center idea featured on Style Me Pretty with old family photos inside mason jars... http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/10/05/diy-wedding-from-jessamyn-harris-photography-iii/

Spring Flowers

2009-10-04T04:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a new Style Circle Inspiration Board that's all about Spring Flowers....

Credits: Meg Baisden Photography, Meg Baisden Photography, Suthi Picotte, Karlisch, Jose Villa

Style Me Pretty - Style Circle

2009-09-25T05:42:00.001-07:00

I love the new Style Circle feature on the Style Me Pretty Blog! Members can create inspiration boards with photos from real weddings. Here's one I did...all florals, of course.

Credits: Heather Kincaid (2), Allyson Magda, Mark Brooke

Flowers at the Chrysler

2009-08-27T13:15:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that the flower arrangement at the Chrysler Museum of Art this week is full of our organic flowers. We were asked to do the arrangement and told that a natural looking arrangement is preferred. So...natural I did. It is chocked full of lush greens like ivy, ligustrum, and laurel and dotted with Conca D'or lilies, 'Limelight' hydrangea and accented with hanging pepperberry and spiky curly willow. If you're in downtown Norfolk this week, stop by the Chrysler and check it out.

Apples & Peaches

2009-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

We went on an excursion today to a nearby orchard to pick apples and peaches. The kids had a blast in spite of the 90 degree heat. The fruit was beautiful. I definitely want to plant a few apple trees on our farm. The branches with the small, green fruit on the ends of the branches would be amazing in large arrangements. Here are some shots from today...

I'm loving this oh-so-vintage sign. I'm already thinking about a similar sign for our farmer's market booth next year. I think I'll paint the background and let the kids "weather" it for me! Then I'll find just the right cheesy-looking font to give it that retro look.

The kids quickly noticed that the best fruit was on the top branches. They got creative with the teamwork for getting to them.

My crew....

Christian wasn't loving the heat - or the gunshots from nearby (gotta love the country) - but finally got into the action.

The ride home was spent discussing all the sweet things the kids have decided I'll be making with apples and peaches...

Organic Flowers at The Farmers Market

2009-08-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

It was a great day at the Old Beach Farmer's Market in Virginia Beach yesterday. The weather was great in our shady little corner. Here are some shots from the day...

Old Beach Farmer's Market

2009-07-27T13:25:00.001-07:00

It's been a great season so far at the Old Beach Farmer's Market at Croc's 19th Street Bistro. Weather has been beautiful and the social/community event it has created is also a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of our flowers and some of our wonderful customers. Most of these photos are courtesy of the lovely Rebecca Grandi, one of the many generous and talented market volunteers. Thanks, Becky!

Planting & harvest

2009-07-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

While the back deck remains a big snuggle-fest, the farm work goes on...

Plugs waiting to be planted...

When I look like this, I know it's been a good day on the farm.

i heart farm life

2009-07-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

In the last 5 days....

More later....!

Today's harvest

2009-07-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from today's hot, humid harvest...

My favorite dahlia 'Naomi'

Cinnamon basil beginning to flower.

i heart hydrangea

2009-07-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Our 'Limelight' hydrangea are in full bloom and were a huge hit at the market last weekend. Sold by the stem, each bloom was so huge that 3 or 4 stems made a huge bunch. I especially love 'limelights' for weddings. The lime-fading-to-white is the perfect compliment to any other color and quite elegant on it's own. The delicate puff of blooms are gorgeous in these rustic wedding flowers...

Organic Wedding Flower offer on Kickstarter

2009-07-01T05:46:00.000-07:00

Since we were invited to post our project on Kickstarter, we've had little-to-no response. Our project - to fund the purchase of eco-friendly packaging to ship our organic flowers - caught the attention of the Kickstarter board, but our existing "fan" base is limited to our local customers (who, incidently, don't need flowers shipped to them). So, I thought about who does want our flowers to be shipped, and by far, the biggest requests we've gotten have come from brides in other states looking for organic flowers. So...we've decided to create the first nationwide flower CSA (if you don't know - CSA is "community supported agriculture" in which people pre-purchase a "share" of the expected harvest on a given farm) by letting a specific group of customers (5 lucky brides in this case) pre-purchase our organic wedding flowers before they are available to the public later this fall. A full package - including 5 bouquets, 5 boutonnieres, a flower girl posy, 2 corsages and 8 table bouquets (or packages can be adjusted to the equivalent), shipped to you and ready to go. Sort of our version of off-the-rack flowers. You give us color, style, and flower preferences, based on what is anticipated to be blooming at the time of your event, and we create your custom organic wedding flowers. The best part...the package is usually $900, plus shipping, but 5 lucky brides - who act quickly - can get it now for $400, including shipping! All flowers are certified organic and grown on our family farm in Virginia. They are shipped to be received 2-3 days before the event. Interested brides can email us at beckydevlin {at} mac {dot} com with questions, or go to our website at www.backbayflower.com to read more.

To be one of the 5 lucky brides to get your flowers on Kickstarter, follow this link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/organicflowers/organic-flower-farmer-wants-eco-friendly-packaging

The great kitten rescue

2009-06-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went down to the greenhouse to feed the baby chicks. I was trying to get a shot of this funny looking guy...

And we heard something crying. My oldest son ran to look around a huge old tree that fell during a winter storm last year. In a little burrow under the tree, he found 5 newborn kittens. He managed to get them all out with the help of a piece of pvc pipe. They are so cute. They looked super tiny so we came inside and googled away to figure out how old they are and if and what we could feed them. We figured out they had to be around 4 weeks old, so we gave them some cat food soaked in milk and warmed up to see if they would be able to eat.

2 of the kittens were notably bigger than the others and chowed on the food. So we left them to eat. And look who showed up...

Mama kitty was more interested in the food we had put out for her babies than in feeding her babies. But after being in the box with them for a bit, she obliged in letting them eat.

But she took off right after and didn't come back last night. This morning, when my daughter and her friend went to check on them, they said the 2 littlest weren't eating the food. So, off to the pet store we went to get bottles and supplemental milk. And now we're nursing the kittens. Which is really cute, but just makes my to-do list that much crazier...

But the kids sure love it!

my favorite time of year

2009-06-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

Although I try hard to live in the moment and enjoy each one...I love fall and every year by about this time - usually after harvesting flowers for hours in 90 degree heat - I long for fall. I love the chilly nights, the cool sunny days, sleeping with the windows open, a big glass of red wine after a long day in the dirt...and the list goes on. But most of all, I love the flowers! The vibrant jewel tones, renewed vigor of summer-blooming perennials after a long and thirsty summer, the rich textures...I could go on and on. Recently, I got a preview of fall when our bicolor sunflowers and millet started blooming...

Check us out on Kickstarter!

2009-06-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

We were recently invited to post a project on www.kickstarter.com. Kickstarter is a site on which people can post a project that they are seeking to fund and people can contribute amounts as small as $5 or $10 to help the cause. Since we are a very small farm, I am hoping to find partial backing to purchase and patent custom designed eco-friendly shipping boxes to begin shipping our certified organic flowers and bouquets from our flower farm. We have been selling our flowers locally for 7 years and would like to also make them available to folks around the country as an option to imports. Although many South American flower farms are rethinking their typical growing practices to make worker safety and the environment more of a priority, they are still a long way from organic and, obviously, they are a long way from the United States. Additionally, many flower farms still don't seem to care about either the environment or worker safety, spraying toxic chemicals all over their crops as if it were pixie dust.

We are trying to get folks to support our project and help us get our organic flowers out there on the internet. You can check out our farm at http://backbayflower.com to learn more about our farm and our flowers or check out Back Bay Flower Co. on Facebook.

Click on the link below to support our project...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/organicflowers/organic-flower-farmer-wants-eco-friendly-packaging

You can copy the link to email it to friends and family or post it on your blog. Please let us know if you do so we can thank you properly!!

Why buy organic if you don't eat them?

2009-06-25T04:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a major wedding publication that focuses on weddings of the rich and extravagant. The issue included a brief article about green weddings that provided information and resources for having eco-friendly ceremonies and receptions. The article barely touched on flowers, suggesting merely that brides use potted plants or - if they must - go organic with cut flowers. The article listed on-line resources which I also checked out. One had 3 sentences about flowers with the main advice being, buy organic if you can find them or grow your own. Another site had several flower links to elegant and chic designers, but all seemed like upscale floral designers using commercial flowers. I couldn’t find anything that made any of them “green”. The last site I checked out pointed out the pesticides and unsafe practices used to grow most commercial flowers, but didn’t really provide an alternative other than “buy local if you can” or (shudder) use silk flowers.

This was only one of a few items I have seen lately in the media on green weddings, or ecologically-sound flowers. Amy Stewart’s fabulous book, Flower Confidential, was a great read with great insight into the various ways flowers are grown and created around the world. The insight into the floral industry and her own love of all things blooming were both inspiring and informative to a small grower like myself. However, just like the other information I have come across recently, there was little about small flower growers like myself. As a member of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, I know there are many growers, just like me, all across the country growing a few acres of a wide variety of crops to sell to their local market. Some sell at farmer’s markets, others sell wholesale to local florists, while some do both. A handful provide floral design services, delivery and flowers and/or design for weddings and events. But we all are “green” simply because we provide a local product to local consumers. Although we all use some fossil fuel to get to our customers, it’s WAY less than the cost to ship a planeload of Ecaudorian roses to Miami.

A recent article in the New York Times entitled “To Pull a Thorn from the Side of the Planet” about going green when buying flowers, highlighted the Bonney Doon Garden Co., a florist in Santa Cruz, CA who sells organic and sustainable flowers and gorgeous floral designs. In addition to seeking out sustainable and organic product, they even grow some themselves. I was a little disappointed that the article emphasized that “green” flowers are not yet too important to consumers since they typically are not eaten. It seems to me that the general public is fast becoming “ecologically aware” and that ANYTHING green is hot. Maybe the point was that, although interested and impressed, the general public isn’t yet willing to pay more for something that is not consumed.

Perhaps those consumers would change their minds if they read another recent article I saw in Audobon magazine entitled “The Greening of the Flower Industry”. The reporter visited flower farms in South America and told of the “venenos” - poisons - sprayed on the roses, and therefore into the environment and water. The author saw dead fish floating in the polluted nearby rivers and heard workers speak of the use of illegal and highly toxic agrochemicals that are imported under the radar. A full page photo shows an Ecuadoran rose worker who withheld his name, with swollen hands and barely able to walk or talk. His problems began while working in the rose plantation’s fumigation department.

After several more horrific accounts of dead wildlife and sick workers, the article moved to a more positive note and told of the green movement in the flower industry. Like the other publications I’ve read recently, there was a great deal about Veriflora, a sustainability certifier, and Organicbouquet.com, which sells organic and Veriflora certified flowers. The article briefly mentioned that organic and sustainable flowers used to only be available from farmer’s markets, but are now available through these larger companies online and in grocery stores.

All of this press is great and the companies doing big things to make the world a better place when it comes to growing commercial flowers are impressive. My only beef is that there seems to be a common thread in all of these informative articles. The all seem to skim over the fact that there are so many small growers like myself, many of us sustainable growers with healthy farms. No jet fuel, no fumigation department, just healthy flowers with unique and vibrant varieties. And while there are some growers who may be veggie growers that dabble in flowers and have more “wildflower” type of offerings, I could probably name 20 or 30 small growers just off the top of my head who grow high-quality commercially-recognized flowers like lilies, roses, sunflowers and snapdragons. The only difference is that they also have many other long lasting and unique varieties. Maybe it’s time for us small growers to be the squeaky wheel with the press...