Quite a catchy headline, aye? Well it’s true. In 2019 I worked in Fairbanks, Alaska as a travel nurse for a few months. As I got to know the other nurses in the hospital, one mentioned that she started a peony farm. This was the first I’d ever heard about someone growing flowers as a crop for sale. I mean, I knew flowers came from somewhere but I just assumed it was a place that was warm year round.
This whole notion of farming flowers led to endless Google searches. You see, while I was working in Alaska my husband and I were in the process of selling our current home and buying a 3.6 acre property with a house, a large machine shed, and a small utility shed…plus 1 acre of corn field that was ours after the farmer made his last harvest. The wheels continued to turn and somehow I knew that I was going to start a flower farm on that property.
I tried to keep my excitement at bay and look at this objectively. Sure all the beautiful photos of flower farmers holding these giant fresh cut bouquets in their arms were stunning. And of course their little potting sheds are all decorated with shabby chic decor. I even tried to read about the downsides of being a flower farmer. Things like, always having dirt under you nails or, if you do this full time, you don’t get to take a summer vacation. That one made me stop and think. I’ve been to 9 countries and 33 U.S. states. I’m kind of a travel addict (this was pre-COVID). But even after realizing I would only be able to travel in the off/winter months, I wanted to pursue this dream.
I told my husband I had an idea for a cash crop on our acre, and kept it at that. I was a few weeks away from flying back at the end of my nursing contract in Alaska and I knew I wanted to present the idea in person. I even went to the effort of designing and typing up a 10 page business plan, cost estimates, row plans, etc. I even had it bound at Office Max!
That’s how serious I’ve been about starting a flower farm, even in the beginning.
