Friday, September 11, 2015 | Today we are featuring the incredibly inspiring multi-faceted Molly Oliver—a passionate flower activist, farmer, and farm manager at the 1-acre Youth Farm, and co-owner and floral designer of Molly Oliver Flowers. Check out her previous posts on the Field to Vase blog: A Flower/Floral Design Team Grows in Brooklyn (June 2014) and Growing More Flowers, Farmers, and Florists in NYC (October 2014) and The Farmer Florist in Winter (February 2015).
Growing Farmer/Florist Community in the Hudson Valley and New York City
by Molly Culver of Molly Oliver Flowers
As some of you know, I straddle the two worlds of flower farming and floral design, as a grower at The Youth Farm in Brooklyn, and co-founder of Molly Oliver Flowers, a sustainable design company I run with Deborah Greig of East New York Farms!
Having moved back east in 2010 to be closer to home and hoping to find a niche to grow flowers, I’m amazed at the fast growing number of flower farmers and sustainably-minded florists in the area. A little hunch turned into a reality–turns out I was riding the same wave as many other budding farmers. Floral designers in NYC were trending in the same direction: Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua, and Emily Thompson of Emily Thompson Flowers reflect the seasons and the local flora on offer in their work, and their unique aesthetic approach has inspired florists and farmers alike. Other new florists in Brooklyn, such as Jessica Stewart and Justine Lacy of Foxglove Floral Design, also joined the Slow Flowers movement and purchase most of their product direct from farmers. This return to embracing what’s local and seasonal is being moved forward by this community and similar crowds across the country.
For this post I wanted to write about the development of a Hudson Valley Grower’s Group (HVGG), a networking group for farmer/florists in the Hudson Valley/NYC Region. I’ve been a part of the group since its inception and am excited to share some testimonials, via interviews I took with other growers who helped to found this group. In their own words you can feel the tangible energy of the growing movement of flower farmers, sense the necessity for exchanging information and supporting one another, and see the practicality of working together to tackle challenges of marketing, distributing, and more. The story goes as follows…
I returned east in 2010 following 2 ½ years of farming in California, and amidst the culture shock and climate adaptation I was very happy to reconnect with a fellow UCSC Farm Apprentice, Angela DeFelice, who’d also headed back east to her home state of New York. We bumped into each other at various NOFA-NY (New England Organic Farming Association) conferences—she was farming vegetables upstate, and I was working at The Youth Farm launching small-scale flower production in Brooklyn. By 2013, Angela was interested in transitioning from farming vegetables to flowers, and was hired to head to Sol Flower Farm in Millerton, New York for the 2014 season as their Flower Grower. We both noticed a lack of workshops geared towards flower farmers at the NOFA conferences, but we’d always found ways to talk shop at the Marriott bar in Saratoga with other flower growers like Jenny Elliot and Luke Franco of Tiny Hearts Farm. Communing and receiving counsel from fellow farmers feels indispensable to the trade.
In the winter of 2014, Angela and Sol Flower Farm Head Farmer Andy Szymanowicz offered to host a convening of flower growers and sustainably-minded florists. Other growers that helped to spark this initial gathering were Shannon Algiere, Flower and Herb Grower and Educator at Stones Barns Center, and Jenny and Luke of Tiny Hearts Farm. I played cheerleader from deep in Brooklyn, as I had a long list of questions for my fellow growers upstate: Do you trellis Scabiosa? Which Snapdragon varieties are working best for you? Have you dealt with Mosaic virus on Dahlias…?
While the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers is always an incredible resource, as well as the newly formed regional grower groups, the idea of a hyper-local growers group that shares the same hardiness zone and potentially the same microclimates (therefore sowing schedule, etc.) and markets was exciting and made a lot of sense. Held in January 2014, it was a great first meeting of about 8-10 regional flower growers, both established and new, and was the birth of the Hudson Valley Growers Group. Below are my brief interviews with Angela, Shannon, and Jenny, held this past spring and summer.
Angela DeFelice of Sol Flower Farm.
Angela DeFelice, Flower Grower, Sol Flower Farm
“At Sol Flower Farm we are dedicated to holistic farming practices, our respect for the environment, and our general love of all things beautiful and delicious.”
MOF: Why is this Hudson Valley Growers Group helpful or meaningful to you?
AD: It’s a community of support. We all have our own farms, heads down, most of the time. The idea/possibility of collaboration is exciting. It’s a pretty forward-thinking group of growers and we are all seeing a demand for our product and excited to move that forward.
MOF: How does the group envision that collaboration happening?
AD: One way is through joint plant orders: being small farmer, it’s sometimes hard to meet minimums and handle shipping costs from larger suppliers. We’ve also started to refer business to each other–many of us design as well as grow. If we can’t do a wedding or a wedding is a better fit for another grower we recommend each other’s farms. We’ve also started to talk about collaborative distribution and marketing—as in, can we get a van and do joint deliveries together?
Sol Flower Farm flowers.
MOF: There really is this growing new wave of flower growers in the area. Do you think farmers will want to distinguish themselves and find individual niches, growing specific types of flowers? So we’re not all growing Zinnias and Cosmos?
AD: This really has to do with land tenure. When farmers don’t have land tenure largely they’re growing annual flowers. Right now, it doesn’t seem to be an issue to have lots of farmers growing Ammi and Sunflowers. It feels like there’s so much demand that it’s not an issue, yet.|
MOF: So in other words, farmers aren’t going to put in an acre of Peonies until they own the land or have a long term lease?
AD: Some growers have access to perennials or are leasing land that has some interesting plantings or cool weeds/wildflowers. But yes, that’s the case I think.
MOF: How do marketing practices vary in the HVGG?
AD: There’s a huge range. The one area the group hasn’t tapped into is selling to wholesalers. Other than that, people are doing their own design work, selling in buckets to grocery stores, CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) bouquets, selling wholesale to florists and groceries, CSA add-on shares, on-site stands, and selling at farmers’ market.
MOF: How did you become a farmer?
AD: I’ve been farming since 2008, so I’m in my 7th year. I got my introduction to flowers in Santa Cruz [The University of California at Santa Cruz Farm And Garden offers a 6-month apprenticeship in organic farming]. I never thought I’d grow flowers–I was really food-focused. I went on to do some veggie apprentices and veggie growing. I had some bad experiences and was looking to learn more and to grow something where there was space in the market.
MOF: How’d your first season go?
AD: My first season at Sol Flower Farm was definitely rewarding. I’m learning tons and that feels really good. It’s easier to make money on flowers–it’s more viable in a lot of ways. Growing flowers on this farm has been exciting because I know it’s central to the viability of this farm. I think there’s a huge demand. The challenge lies in channels of distribution–how can we effectively get our flowers to these markets?
MOF: Is there room for more flower growers?
AD: Absolutely, I think there’s room for the growers to scale up and room for more growers. As we scale up and as we have more growers, it’s important that we are talking to each other and collaborating. It’s one of our goals. Some of us have come through the veggie ranks and there’s a lot of competition; and that’s hard so we’re trying to head that off with being open and collaborative. I wish we could meet more often! Wish we had more time on our hands!
Shannon Algiere of Stones Barns Center.
Shannon Algiere, Flower and Herb Grower; Educator at Stones Barns Center
“Stones Barns Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to create a healthy and sustainable food system that benefits us all.”
MOF: What was your path to flower farming?
SA: When I was younger, our family friends had a farm in East Lyme, Connecticut. I worked there in High School, alongside my Grandma. At college I worked at a biodynamic herb farm called Meadowbrook Herb Garden and got super interested in herbs and flowers in general. After school I traveled out west and moved into vegetable production. A few farms and states later, Jack (Algiere; Four Season Farm Director at Stones Barns Center) and I came to help Stones Barns set up and plant the farm. We always had herbs and flowers as part of our production but it took some time before we were able to lean into herbs and flowers and see what we could do with them.
MOF: How do flowers fit into the mission or work at Stone Barns?
SA: Flowers fit into the mission at SB; We are trying to model and experiment around a diverse farmscape. Naturally that overlaps into diversity of the model of agriculture. We are marketing our flowers so that our farm can be sustainable, as part of the non-profit. We have Flower CSA (1st year—40 members), and sell bouquets at the store. We also go offsite to a farmers’ market and sell bouquets, at least 40 per market, with a pretty set formula. Once we’re done pumping those out, the market bouquets are more design-y. Once someone finds a formula, we make 20. Then someone begins to make a market bouquet, and make as many as they can. I like to lean into CSA and markets because of the community-based aspect, and the educational piece for the community feels more important to me, as far as where I put my energy.
MOF: How do the flowers become part of the education at Stone Barns?
SA: We take 2 flower and herb apprentices per season. They come in and learn on this track as part of a 9-month program. It’s pretty special because not only does the farm get the support it needs to have a production farm, it feels very grounding to connect with farmers that are valuing the experience in a way that will direct them on their path. It keeps the intention elevated. Our goal as a whole educationally is to bring issues to the forefront for the community (e.g. ways to think about agriculture outside the industrial Ag landscape), bringing into their sphere how to purchase locally, set up their own growing spaces, how to have autonomy with herbs, etc.
Stones Barns Center flower rows.
MOF: Why is the HV Growers Group important or useful to you?
SA: The solidarity for me is that I come from a world of production and education, so the sense of community is what sparks change making, and where I see possibility for change making overall. I heard Joe Schmitt (Wisconsin flower farmer of the Fair Field Flowers group) talk about the flower co-op in Wisconsin. I love the idea of autonomy being in the growers’ hands and having a really direct relationship between each other, and with customers. That cooperative tale was my hook. The group is also helpful with building confidence, through story sharing.
MOF: Yes, we spent some time in the beginning researching flower cooperatives…the angle of the HVGG seems to have changed a bit, bringing in new growers and seeing where the conversation leads?
SA: The energy going into forming an entirely different market outlet morphed into a super valuable moment to information share and network, as well as the importance of connecting and having solidarity with people in my field. The act of planting seeds and growing is a very political/social movement just as much as it is active and practical. I love the concept of raising awareness through local mobilization, for the general public; this is a representation of how you can do that, and some valuable thought forms around sustainable agriculture and local growing.
MOF: How regularly is the group meeting?
SA: Two times a year, which is capacity for us. There’s online ability to connect a little more–to hear about market availability or having an issue with pests and diseases.
MOF: What are some key issues you see now coming up in flower farming?
SA: Land and capital access are the biggest issues for young farmers. It’s a place we really need to support them with and think about. We’ve spent a lot of time to shape our program to become more formalized in the areas of business planning, land access, etc. It has been really important to have our program shift in that direction. One thing I love to talk to young farmers about is that many of us got into it because of that feeling of autonomy; we need to integrate our romantic notions of owning land and be open to the many ways that could look, looking at land trusts, partnering with land owners, etc. When people come to train here at Stone Barns they’re falling in love with the Hudson Valley that makes so much sense, and I wonder if we’ll reach a saturation point here. The more I talk to people the more I realize that’s not possible–we have access to so many people and such beautiful land, so I’m remaining optimistic that the Hudson Valley can support all these growers and maybe it’ll push us to become more creative with our marketing, and perhaps mean that these co-op models may become more important. We need to stay talking and connected and maybe we’ll reach a point when the moment is ripe for the picking. It will happen. As growers, we will know when all the conditions are right and we will see it.
MOF: What’s next for the HVGG?
SA: Our meeting last Sept was an exploration of the feasibility of selling flowers to florists in NYC. There was also talk of defining our mission statement and defining our structure. There was enough input to reflect that we want it to remain pretty open and general, but we may move into that winter retreat time and have time to put something together more formulated in the spring. We are so wrapped up in the seasonal gesture, and biologically in tune with the spring and summer!
Jenny Elliott of Tiny Hearts Farm.
Luke Franco of Tiny Hearts Farm.
Jenny Elliott and Luke Franco, Tiny Hearts Farm
MOF: When did you start farming flowers and where?
THF: We started Tiny Hearts on a one-acre field through a farmer land match program just north of NYC, in 2011. We were originally growing vegetables and had just a few flowers, but as time went on we found ourselves pulled more and more to flowers, and switched over entirely a few seasons ago. Last spring, we moved the farm about an hour north to Copake, New York, and have 15 acres devoted just to cut flowers.
MOF: Why were you interested in joining/starting a growers group for flower growers?
THF: We mostly just want to get to know our neighboring flower farmers! Farming can be really hard, and it can be much easier, and way more fun, to do it as part of a community. It’s also a great way to share information and ideas with people who are as crazed about flowers as we are.
MOF: Why has the HVGG been helpful?
It’s invaluable to have a network of growers nearby. We can share growing techniques, give and get advice, dream up ways to collaborate and promote our local flowers, and it’s a relief to know that we can buy flowers from our neighbors if we need to. Sometimes we just need to commiserate about the weather with someone else who is also trying to get through a hard season!
MOF: What hopes (if any) do you have for the group’s future? How can it support you going forward?
THF: Flower farmers in the Hudson Valley are already producing loads of beautiful and interesting plant materials! We think this amazing group of growers can create a really solid, supportive network to promote local flowers and get them out to designers and people who would love to have them, but may not (yet!) know we’re here. There’s a wide open market for local flowers out there, and we’re lucky to be so close to New York City. By banding together, we can help each other become better growers, take better care of our land, and widen people’s appreciation for local flowers.
The Youth Farm flowers.
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into flower farming in the NYC region. The Hudson Valley Growers Group plans to organize for a farmer-to-florist meet and greet in the off-season. At Molly Oliver Flowers, we recently loved designing flowers and meeting more of the local flower community at the Field To Vase Dinner Tour at the Brooklyn Grange on August 20th. If you’re interested in attending and learning more about flower growing and floral design in this region, please get in touch, or check out a Field to Vase dinner near you this fall: http://www.
Happy growing and designing,
Molly
MOLLY CULVER
Farm Manager of BK Farmyards
Floral Designer of Molly Oliver Flowers
Brooklyn, NY
mollyoliverculver.com
Facebook: Molly Oliver Flowers
Instagram: @mollyoliverflowers
The post Molly Oliver Flowers | Growing Farmer/Florist Community in the Hudson Valley and New York City appeared first on Field To Vase.