Good morning friends of the farm! It’s Farmer Alex here to bring you all things flowers this fine Friday. I’m often the one sending out emails, but thought I would make that extra clear today, as flowers are special to me.
Growing up, I had two avid gardening grandmothers to look up to. They both had big beautiful gardens that I loved to play in and explore, and they generously shared their flowers with me, our family, and community. Their love of flowers continued into my adulthood as well, and I was lucky enough to be able to share this with them once I started my own flower garden back in 2021 — more on that in a moment. For now, meet Grandmas Nancy and Annie!
Below left is a photo of Grandma Nancy and me in front of her beautiful home garden. If you look closely, you’ll see that she’s holding some weeds in her hands — she’s always on the lookout for pesky ones to pull! The below right photo shows Grandma Annie, proudly sitting in front of the gardens that she maintained at our home farm after she moved nearby in her later years.
Today, Grandma Nancy often has little jars of tulips and daffodils ready for visitors to take home with them when they stop by for a chat. We sadly lost Grandma Annie in spring of 2023, and we think of her every time we look out at the beautiful space she created.
Thank you to my grandmothers for showing me the magic and delight of flowers. I admire you both so much and am endlessly grateful for the patience, perseverance, and dedication you’ve taught me through gardening.
Now that you’ve seen the gardening superstars who came before me, I’ll tell you a bit about my own flower growing journey.
That first season in 2021 was all about learning. I selected easy-to-grow varieties like Cosmos, Sunflowers, and Zinnias, found a spot for my small plot, and got to work seeding, transplanting, watering, and caring for my little beauties. After a near disastrous number of weeds that first year, I added a layer of landscape fabric in 2022, and it was a real game changer. In 2023 I decided to add some Dahlias to the mix and learned how to dig up the tubers in the fall and store them over winter. We successfully re-planted the tubers in 2024 and now have a very large collection stashed away for our upcoming season in spring 2025. I’ve also added a few other varieties along the way: Asters, Calendula, Carnations, and bouquet fillers like Tanacetum and Feverfew.
I mostly grow flowers because I love them, a love I inherited from my grandmothers and one that I delight in sharing with others. If you invite me to a backyard BBQ or Sunday brunch, you better believe I’ll be showing up with a jar for your kitchen table! I also love to fill my own home with them, scattering random jars and vases across as many surfaces as I can. Plus, they come in handy when decorating for farm events and brightening up our On Farm Market. I was even lucky enough to be in charge of florals for some dear friends’ engagement party last fall (pictured in the below in the top right photo).
Today, my dogs Blueberry and Peach love to wander through the flower patch and explore just like I did through my grandmas’ gardens.
I decided to share my love of florals a little bit further by opening them up to our loyal customers, first on a small scale throughout 2022 and 2023, and then more regularly in 2024 with the introduction of our Flower Subscription, a service we are excited to be offering again in 2025.
Learning how to harvest, style, and safely deliver jars of flowers took some time and practice. I had some fabulous team members helping me along the way (shoutout to Chloe, pictured below left, and Melissa!), and like all family businesses some late nights calling in Nathan, Maria, and Ella for back up. We battled rainy days, endless mosquitos, and some pretty intense heat. We had so much fun along the way, though!
And so, that brings me to today’s pitch: would you consider purchasing a 2025 Flower Jar Subscription? Because I mostly do this for fun, there are a limited number of subscriptions available. Last I checked there were 60 left, and once those are gone, they’re gone for good! Unlike our other crops, which are grown on a larger scale, we’re working with just one small flower patch! We did steal a couple more rows out of our rhubarb patch last year, though, which we plan to do again in 2025.
Flowers are one of the smallest parts of our farm business, and honestly not the most profitable, but they bring me so much *joy*. Now more than ever we could use more joy, right?
A Flower Jar Subscription would make for a perfect gift for a friend or family member, or a self-care treat for yourself. Order ahead for a birthday, Mother’s Day, or just-because.
A link to the Flower Jar Subscription is included below, as well as some important pricing and timeline details. If you made it this far, thank you so much for following along.
Annual Flower Jar Subscription Details
With our farm fresh Flower Subscription, 1 jar (375mL size) of flowers will be delivered to your door each week from July through September (Months 3 – 5). These flower jars will contain a selection of flowers grown & harvested on-farm. Sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, dahlias, and more will be included!
A one-time, up-front payment is required to secure you three months of weekly flower delivery.