Flower & Herb Production

Scheduling and Making Use of Seasonal Flowers

Callie Lueking, Flower Girls
[Handout: None]

Maintaining enough plant material for designing and sales throughout the season requires good planning and timing. Callie will discuss how she schedules her planting dates and share some of her favorite summer and fall flowers.

Flower Farming Without a Tractor

Chris Wyant, Finding Eminence
[Handout: None]

The conventional wisdom is that farmers need tractors, but your farm’s context should drive these decisions. For many small farms, a tractor may not be the best use of your resources. Chris Wyant, co-owner of Finding Eminence Farm, will describe their ½ acre farm’s tractor-less journey and why they eventually decided to invest in a small “two-wheel tractor.” Chris will explain the wide variety of implements they use, when and why they choose to use them, and how their entire production system revolves around their tiny, non-conventional “tractor.” Other small tools and equipment will also be discussed.

Ranunculus and Anemone - A Crash Course!

Drew Groezinger, Clara Joyce Flowers
[Handout: Ranunculus and Anemone Culture]

Join Drew Groezinger, from Clara Joyce Flowers, and learn the in’s and out’s of growing ranunculus and anemone in all types of environments and conditions. During your time together, Drew will cover sourcing, growing structures, plant pathology, and pricing.

Efficient Field Block Planning and Set-Up for the Micro Flower Farm

Chris Wyant, Finding Eminence
[Handout: None]

Chris Wyant, co-owner of Finding Eminence Farm, will share how they designed their field blocks to work for their production system. Learn about their semi-permanent raised beds, drip irrigation system, and their use of landscape fabric, tillage tools, and cover crops to streamline their growing season. Chris will also share mistakes he wishes he could have avoided in setting up their ½ acre flower farm and things he still would like to do differently as the farm continues.

The Adaptability of Culinary Herbs to a Roof Environment

Chris Lueking, Flower Girls
[Handout: None]

Plans used in rooftop gardens have to tolerate harsher than normal conditions like small pots and limited water, yet still overwinter to provide benefit the following year. Chris will discuss her research project looking at the adaptability of different culinary herbs to a rooftop environment, which ones performed best.

Proactive Mum Tracking Practices

Greg and Mariah Anderson, Triple M Farm: Mariah’s Mums and More
[Handout: None]

The key to producing profitable mums is ensuring that crops finish at optimal size and quality. In this session, you’ll learn what key factors impact mum quality and the proactive cultural management practices for growing stellar-looking mums to sell in the fall.

A Grower’s Perspective on Starting a Flower Farm

Robin Habing, Faithfully Fresh Blooms and Events
[Handout: None]

You don’t have to have everything starting out. That’s just one piece of advice from Robin as she shares her insights on how to approach a new cut flower business with expansion in mind.

Growing Tulips for the Agritainment Business

Robert Richardson, Richardson Adventure Farm
[Handout: None]

The owners of Richardson Farm bought 300,000 tulip bulbs for their first venture into “tulips for agritainment”. Co-owner, Robert Richardson, talks about why he and his brother, George, and nephew, Ryan, decided to plant the tulip fields, what and how they did it, and the positive results. You plant them, and people will come by the thousands.

Harvest and Post-harvest Handling of Cut Flowers

Chris Lueking, Flower Girls
[Handout: None]

Chris will discuss her best practices for harvesting and caring for flowers, herbs, and foliages before they leave her fields and workshops, to safeguard their quality and maximize longevity.