5 things I wish I knew/did differently when I started flower farming

[@wildbirdfarm]

💯 agree! The fact that local flowers aren’t loved/wanted by all florists was a lesson I have also learned. Continuing to pray for E. She is blessed to have you as her mom! 🤍

[@lisajelle714]

“There’s no price tag you can put on saving your back.” Amen!

[@bareflowerfarm]

You know it!!

[@adriennegricius4703]

I too did enormous amounts of research about my approach to growing cut flowers. After reading several books on certain flowers I had intended to grow I knew I would till all my garden rows. My pH tested at 6.5. I amended with truckloads of rich compost, bonemeal and heavily topdressed with hardwood mulch over sandy soil. In My first year the pests challenged me to the point where I built insect netting on every dahlia row. The worm population grew heavily and the soil continued to look great. I decided not to lift the dahlias (zone 7a) add more mulch and tarp for the winter. My second season was phenomenal, hardly a flea beetle, slug, earwig or Japanese beetle. Until Hurricane Helene, production was incredible. Despite horta-netting the damage was moderate. Weed pressure was high and water sources were low. I ran the well dry several times. This year things are going to be very different. I was approved for a grant from NRCS to build 9000 sq ft of high tunnels. The first one (of3) is heated and vented. Lights and overhead fans are coming soon. This new approach in growing created lots more research to grow “inside”. Although I can regulate temperature and humidity to some degree the challenge of fungus is still around. Not to mention the moles, voles and shrews! Hoping for another successful season. As far as marketing, that’s an ongoing learning curve. Looking for those flower people that are crazy about flowers! I have found a few and they are so much fun to hang out with ! Love your videos and inspiration. 🌸🌸🌸 Garden of Adrienne Fb and IG

[@bvw3153]

I agree with you about no-till. I live in MD and we have heavy clay, so starting off no till would have been very difficult. We also have crazy wiregrass. So I think an initial till is fine, then go to no-till after. Things don't need to be all or nothing.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Yup! Great, point. It's not all or nothing!

[@3dogsandababy]

@bbw3153. I live in MD too and the clay and weed pressure is no joke! I don’t really feel so bad about tilling initially because I have actually found that where the soil is the most clay it is so compacted and devoid of nutrients that I don’t even find any worms or ants or any insect life and not even grass or weeds grow well in it so digging/tilling actually improves the soil health. However, I do believe that once I do initially disturb it to improve it, I don’t like to do it again.

[@susymurillo5758]

I pray please dear Lord heal this precious little one 💗 🙏 Merry Christmas

[@lydiamclaughlin7100]

Amen!

[@alisonburgess345]

My business (or hobby, strictly hobby) model is simple. I just grow flowers, wrangle them into bouquets, turn up at farmers markets and sell out. No marketing, record keeping or promotions... I'm retired, so don't rely on the income at all - it just covers my non-labor costs. It's a luxury, I know. I'd be a stressed out person as a full time flower farmer, totally at the mercy of the weather which is becoming more and more unpredictable. Nice video Jessie, and glad to see that E is doing very well 😊

[@bareflowerfarm]

Lol! I get it! Farming is one of the hardest jobs in my view. Scaling back has really reprioritizing what I want to do because of E's health has made flower farming a whole less stressful for me too.

[@Littlebitesofjoy]

Such a helpful video, and love the depth and thoughtfulness you put into it, thank you! Also sending so much love and blessings to E for continued progress, we're all rooting for her! She's the best flower of all :)

[@eyrerosecottage1970]

Your videos are some of the best ones out there for small scale growers. Thank you so much for sharing all the insight you've gained with us! And Merry Christmas to you, Eric, and E! I hope you all have a special holiday together, and make a lot of wonderful memories!❤❤❤

[@bareflowerfarm]

Aww thank you for this - happy holidays!

[@flowergrower1247]

I approached two local florists with similar results, one said they would not buy local flowers because of the "bug" issues and the other wanted to see how long my flower stems would last in the cooler, this guy never did get back to me. Weeds are everywhere and even in droughts, they manage to germinate and make a nuisance of themselves. My husband is in remission at this time for Multiple Myeloma bone marrow cancer and I find he does much better eating red meats. The cancer retarding drugs he is taking has bad side effects but we are managing this with good food. Love your videos! Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas season and I am still praying for a full recovery for E!

[@bareflowerfarm]

I have been there with the florists and I get it! For every 10 that are like the two you referenced, there will be 1 that embraces local. It's definitely hard to find that 1! That is amazing your husband is in remission. I'm actually shocked at how protein and red meats aren't really mentioned at all by the dietitians. We are now prioritizing organ and red meats since it's they've got complete amino acids :)

[@szu-pingchangwong3523]

I gain so much knowledge from you about growing a flower farm. I’m just an amateur flower farmer wants to be. 😄 Praying for your little one this holiday season! I’m so glad that she has such wonderful mom and dad by her side.❤❤❤

[@bareflowerfarm]

I'm so glad to hear! And thank you so much 💜

[@patriciabunk8114]

This was a really good realty check for us growers who are trying to sell to florist. Although, I am not pursuing very much of that but more on retail customers. The biggest reason is the relationship and how we can educate them on how the flowers are grown.

[@FaeHavenFlowers]

I will be starting my first official year of flower farming this year and I am glad you brought up the no till experience you had because I am trying to figure out what to do and how to get our property ready for the growing season. Our property is 3 acres of alfalfa and we plan to keep some so we can have a couple sheep and have some homegrown feed we need to terminate the rest so I can plant other stuff and put out a cover crop. I generally follow Bri from blossom and branch farms advice and it has worked great at our suburban property and she isn't 100% no till either. Thank you for this video it is so valuable for me as I get ready to do my first official year of flower farming. 😀

[@bareflowerfarm]

I follow her too! I even bought her course which is really good if you're looking for more info on growing regeneratively. I have found in general that following no-till principles is much easier to implement successfully on a smaller scale. How big are you planning on making the flower growing area?

[@annasleep]

Love all your observations and totally agree that one size fits all solutions for any farms don't exist. Our clay soil definitely needed tilling the compost in and this past year we did that on some new beds. The difference on performance of flowers in those beds were unbelievable and I now understand that while no till in theory is great, it will totally depend on where you are farming, how much space you plan to farm and just what you are planning to do with that area. I also agree about meeting your customers where they are at. What you value in flowers is important, but not everyone cares about that at all. Figuring out who your customer is is super important so you can speak to their needs. After my first year flower farming, my customer wants to give thoughtful gifts that look unique and bring joy. Most of them are not interested in the fact that we don't spray and consider soil health in all our farming practices. It is still a part of our description, but most of our customers just view this as a description, like colorful.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Spot on!!!

[@LifeatSycamoreRidge]

I remember watching your videos when you first came on the scene and now you’ve nearly reached 13k followers! Amazing! Keep up the great work!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Aww thank you for sticking around 💜

[@lilyling9289]

Continue to pray your precious child. You are very good in your presentation. May God bless you with your gift abundantly.

[@SusanParent-cx2zn]

Many Blessings to your family for the holidays.☮️🎄

[@Thehydrangeahouse]

Have also been trying the back saving trench, spread, cover, repeat, this year with so many bulbs. Thanks so much for sharing. So often your insights are what I also was questioning but have not read or heard anyone else talking about. Loved seeing little E enjoy herself in the snow.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Yay! Mission accomplished! It took Rebecca admitting the no-till piece for me to feel validated so I was hoping some of the fundamental truths would do the same for others :)

[@jessbeth73]

I heard a cute little chirp from E when she was playing at the table ❤ I'd love to hear her cute little voice more, even if we don't see her face 😊 This video was great...your observations about the importance of vase life to your customers is so interesting.

[@bareflowerfarm]

She's starting to babble new words everyday, so I'll include some more of her voice in the future ☺

[@julietavarron7401]

Wishing you and family a time of joy with baby E. Prayers always. And thank you for making these imformative videos -

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thank you 💜

[@bethhubbs9937]

I love all of your flower farming observations that you share. Your little girl is so precious.

[@wmcovington1041]

I am contemplating going into cut flower farming. Your videos and genuine experiences are sooo very helpful!! Keep up the good teaching !! Thanks for E’s updates!!

[@ryleesblooms]

So happy to see that E is in her best week during the holidays.

[@sydneyvinnikova2927]

Praying for your little one and your family!

[@HikeMichigan]

You always share such valuable information! Thank you. 😊 Also, I’d like to mention that I’m also looking forward to following your food growing journey. I’m planning to include both food for my family and commercial flowers, intermixed, to add diversity to my growing space. I appreciate your data focus. I’m so glad E is doing well and hope you and Eric are as well. Merry Christmas!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Yay! I'm glad there are a few folks out there who want to or are already incorporating food into their flower production. I just ordered a ton of seeds and can't wait for them to arrive!

[@sarahwithers478]

This was a really helpful video for me as a beginning flower farmer about to enter my second year. You’re great at making useful flower farming videos!But beyond that, I just wanted to say that you’re clearly a really great mom ♥️ Merry Christmas and prayers for E’s continued recovery!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thank you on both fronts! Happy holidays to you too!

[@lauraweaver4419]

I can't imagine as a parent what you are going through; what a trial. 💔 I can't help but think though how blessed your daughter is to have you as a mama. God picked you thoughtfully and purposefully to be her mama. Look at how you use analytics and your gifting with interpreting data and trending to help her have the best outcome possible. Praying for your daughter and for your family, and Merry Christmas! ❤🙏

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thank you for the kind words! 🙏

[@3dogsandababy]

@@lauraweaver4419 I agree 💯

[@sunitashastry5270]

I’m not a flower farmer. I grow for pleasure. I follow on KZbin a lot of flower farmers. Your insights were interesting - esp about vase life. I had never thought of that before! Re no till- I do agree that it may depend on your soil conditions. I have clay too. I am like you of (south) Asian descent - and yes our upbringing of “ get the last drop out” is not easy to let go!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Haha I like that! "get the last drop" - that was literally what me and my soap partner would say when we were making soap, "gotta get every last drop!". Being married to someone who does not subscribe to that has helped 😉

[@donbirkholz6842]

I have been gardening 50 years and the first year after tilling produces wonderful crops with all the vegetation and roots that decompose into fertilizer and better textured soil. If you have hard soil, my and others advice is to plant a good vegetative crop and till it under.

[@bareflowerfarm]

For sure. Having organic matter break down in the soil is definitely going to add carbon back to the soil!

[@tinalee7650]

So glad E (and you) get to have her good week over Christmas - it's so important to enjoy every minute of the good week - been there! And I think I drove my oncologist crazy charting all my levels, lol - but I wanted to make sure I was doing everything i needed to do to be healthy during and after chemo! And thankfully it paid off - in Oct (1 yr after last chemo) I had my first round of blood work in 18 months that came back where ALL levels were in range!! So, keep up the good work tracking and making adjustments - it does help!! Regarding farming - yes, I have learned the same as you - customers don't care like I do about being chemical free - but I'm still doing it for my health and theirs!! Happy holidays to the three of you!!!

[@bareflowerfarm]

You totally get it! We savor every day that we have post nadir. And I'm so glad I'm not the only one who charts labs. We actually don't tell our oncologist this but of course answer their questions truthfully about diet. At first, they seemed a bit skeptical when we said we were going to pursue a keto diet but now they're totally fine since E has been able to gain weight. Our dietitian even gave us the OK after seeing what we were feeding E. I'm hoping her lab results will look more normal in a year. Right now, there are still some whacky numbers. Do you feel like your bone marrow was able to recover after chemo? And yes! Being chemical free is more important now than ever. You don't realize the importance until you need to unfortunately. Happy holidays!

[@NahidRafie-z9l]

Wonderfull lesons espacial they way you explain in such systematic order

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thank you ☺

[@benlarson00]

Love your explanation about Honda v Ford F150. We are Honda drivers and I have to remind myself that some people love F150s - in the flower world of course - because I think like a deep Honda driver.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Lol!! imagine being married to a F150 thinker. But in all seriousness, being married to a different personality has definitely helped me see other perspectives.

[@PetrasGarden]

I noticed where I sell customers loved jars and a variety of different flowers together. I had only “simple” flowers no Dahlia’s,Ranunculus,Tulips, or Lisianthus. Also a lot of cat owners here so Lillies not so popular! Snow yay! Happy Holidays!

[@vivherman2296]

Hey Jesse! I agree with this post..on everything. I put in a small peony field this Nov. in my yard beside my market area. Got lucky ..soil wasn't full of clay as usual. My neighbor worked it up with tractor/tiller attachment. I went in and raked out the grass for 3 days and hauled it off. That being said ,...I will still have grass/weeds. Weed pressure has always been bad. Last yr. was my first tulip trial. Both the florists I sold to paid 2.00 a stem. I did overhear one of them over the phone say she could get them for a dollar off the truck. She did buy them.. I don't think a grower should get only 1.00 for a tulip. I guess I feel it should be one for the flower/one for my work to grow it...? I used that truck when I freelanced weddings and I know how cheap you can get flowers. Hoping and praying for E..so good to hear that news. Merry Christmas to you guys! Really interesting about the diet...will be waiting to hear more reports..and thanks for sharing your journey.

[@bareflowerfarm]

You're off to a great start! I find that many of my florists will buy from both local growers and wholesalers to not only even out the cost, but because local growers don't have enough product. And yes- local growers should NOT only get $1 for a tulip. You would break even at best assuming you had the most efficient labor setup!

[@darastrout1574]

Our forefathers gardened for their lives and of their families and I never remember reading about no till methods being used🙄. Keep being honest, social media - ugh!

[@JerriBerriW]

very interesting findings!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thanks Jerri, and I'm curious to see if you find similar or contrasting findings next year!

[@cecilialind9474]

Thank you for posting this! Valuable information. Happy holidays, and best wishes of health and recovery for your family!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thank you and the same to your family!

[@kimandpennyshow374]

WOW, Loved your talk today, thank you for sharing your experiences and your beautiful amazing little girl. She is so strong like you. Merry Christmas and hope 2025 is a game changer year for you and your family

[@bareflowerfarm]

I'm so glad it was helpful and thank you for the well wishes!

[@cbak1819]

Thankful for you addressing the bug issue. I am very concerned about a customer having an earwig fall from their bouquet! Because it has happened to me. I need to find something that I can spray on to prevent that! Not that I want to but need to.

[@bareflowerfarm]

I get it. I don't spray and that just means I need to make sure my customers are aware. But this is a great example of how everyone is different in this regard and there is no wrong/right

[@cntrygenes]

@@bareflowerfarm What about using something organic such as neem oil?

[@brookecolburn2755]

Try using oil traps on the ground to catch the earwigs.

[@cbak1819]

I'm with you with longevity and I'm Polish. 😄

[@rbrown2746]

I had a florist who was concerned about local flowers having bugs

[@bareflowerfarm]

I would say that the majority of florists who you need to convince why local is better will be concerned about having bugs, unfortunately. They're concerned bc their customers are concerned. Afterall, their customers may be buying a $60-100 arrangement with bugs. It's a societal norm that we need to shift!

[@cbak1819]

I am designing my web page now and it has been hard.. but by the grace of God he has given me patience. I'm not a techie type. I will be taking flyers to local business offices near by that will direct them to my website. My business plan in CSA subscriptions. In a 10 mile radius to my growing space. And selling to a florist whom I already spoke with. I don't expect the florist to buy stems for the same as my bouquets. Labor is much lower. I will harvest premium stems in 10 stem bunches.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Yep, you should definitely be selling stems to your florist at a wholesale rate which would be lower than those used in your bouquet!

[@3dogsandababy]

Know thy customer! I owned a dance studio for 23 years and in the beginning I thought professional dance experience and education, quality of age appropriate lesson plans, having the best equipment such as a professional sprung floor all to protect my students’ young growing bodies, joints, bones and muscles from injury and professional performances. And then one day a mom said “yeah we don’t care what they do on stage. We just want to see them in a cute costume so we can take pictures of them.” I was horrified, insulted, pissed, all the feelings. But then I realized people have no idea what is involved in training a dancer safely and the damage and injury that can occur when it is done poorly. All they cared about, at least until the kids were much older and wanted to get more serious, was that their kid had fun and made friends. So I changed my focus and marketing for the little kids to reflect that experience sprinkling in what I felt was important too as well as parent education once they enrolled and it made a huge difference. It was a big mindset change but as a small business, not a large professional ballet company with a huge budget and funding, I had to make some concessions toward what the customer wanted without completely compromising my beliefs. It is not easy. I had to laugh when you were talking about your Asian upbringing because my Asian friends like to tease me that I actually grew up Asian whenever I talk about how frugal and strict my parents were growing up. 😂😂 Also, thank you so much for sharing E and her journey with us. She is beautiful and I am praying for her always. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.

[@bareflowerfarm]

I love this example!! This to me is akin when people get upset that people call locally grown, specialty flowers as "wildflowers". Mindset change is such a powerful tool and one that often isn't realized in order to make our business successful :)

[@3dogsandababy]

@ yes! And when it doesn’t make sense, I just sigh and say wow, some people are just weird! 😂😂

[@tanyakilbane7636]

Dahlias 😍

[@jwhite5396]

A coworker will get his wife flowers. He said the flowers last so long. She’ll ask him if it’s okay if she throws them away. She didn’t want his feelings to be hurt, but she was done looking at them. Everyone is different. 🙂

[@bareflowerfarm]

That's actually hilarious!! But perfect example!

[@onechristianwallace]

Sometimes,you just have to till. Yeah.

[@tashaking8907]

Some of the no till folks do till initially

[@ryleesblooms]

What would you recommend would be the best course of action when you live next to the second largest flower mart in the world? But you also live in a state where sustainability is at the top of everyone’s focus. I am an urban flower farmer with three locations in Southern California but I am also only 30 minutes from the downtown LA flower Mart. The second largest flower market in the world.

[@bareflowerfarm]

So funnily, I would actually say that sustainability isn't at the top of everyone's focus. It's certainly possible to find people, but this isn't Berkeley by any means! That's the point though- as long as there ARE people in your market who align to your values, you can convert them into customers. Since you're in SoCal, you actually have a giant "addressable market" whether you're selling wholesale or retail. You probably have a better shot at cracking the wholesale than most of the nation since so many high end weddings happen around LA. Those are definitely customers who can bear the "premium" cost of local flowers. One thing that would be helpful for you to shift your thinking on is how you live next to a large flower market. You probably have about 20 coffee shops, 10 gyms, 30 Mexican restaurants all within a 15 mile radius. The point is, when a product has a low barrier to entry (as one of the largest farming states, I would say growing flowers in CA is low barrier to entry), there will be high competition, but it doesn't mean there's no room for you. You just need to figure out more precisely who you want to sell to and what's going to convince them to buy YOUR flowers. NJ happens to be a really large cut flower production state too. We have bigger commercial growers that supply grocery stores and wholesalers. I sell to a completely different audience- my local retail outlet that services people within a 15 mile radius and at the co-op which is servicing event designers similar to those in your area. Hope this helps!

[@thepragmaticfarmer6308]

I agree, no till is highly contextual, but there were ALOT of mistakes with your strategy. So it's not really no till's fault, which you kind of hinted at. No broadforking? How much compost did you add to the beds? Ideally you use soil from the pathways to build up the beds themselves. And mulch with compost. Also, even if you would have tilled, breaking up the rhyzomes of the aggressive perrenial weeds would have just produced more weeds, not kill them. So you would have had weeds either way without tarping or cover cropping first before planting production. No Till deserves to be questioned in context. But it deserves a fair critique. The benefits are real when done properly and in the right context.

[@bareflowerfarm]

All fair points! Broadforking was inconsistent and only done within certain beds. We did add quite a bit of compost to most of the beds, but there could have been alot more other regenerated practices consistently employed. My biggest issue was with the pathways. To your point, the aggressive rhizomes will come back either way but I think we could have held them back until year 2

[@brit7202]

💕💕💕🫶🏻