Episode 399: Celebrating our 300th Episode with Teresa Sabankaya, the Posy Book and Our State Focus: Kansas

May 1st, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

This is the 300th consecutive episode of your weekly podcast about American flowers and the people who grow and design with them. It’s all about making a conscious choice and I invite you to join the conversation and the creative community as we discuss the vital topics of saving our domestic flower farms and supporting a floral industry that relies on a safe, seasonal and local supply of flowers and foliage.

I have a very special guest to help me celebrate our 300th episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Yes, for 300 consecutive weeks, ever since the first episode aired on July 23, 2013, I’ve brought you original programming about local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and the people who grow and design with them.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is different. My audio storytelling is inclusive and welcoming to you, and I hope you picture it the way I do: we’re all sitting together in a beautiful field of flowers or curled up around the fireplace sipping mugs of tea. It is a community gathering place for voices, insights, ideas and encouragement, bringing you nearly six years of meaningful and informative content — delivered through your ear-buds. The Seattle Times just called this podcast “a lively platform for voices in the local-flowers movement throughout the country, which will have you craving blossoms and blooms.”

Each week, you join my engaging conversations with flower farmers, floral designers, cut floral and plant experts, authors, entrepreneurs and innovators in the Slow Flowers Community.

And I thank YOU for joining me! For our 300th episode, I’m so pleased to welcome Teresa Sabankaya of the Bonny Doon Garden Co., based in Santa Cruz, CA. Teresa is a past guest of this podcast, but it has been quite a while since you’ve heard from her here — more than four years, actually, since we recorded our conversation back in April 2015 when I visited her shop, studio and garden.

A lot has happened with Teresa who I call a Slow Flowers Pioneer! Like me, you may have first met this passionate artist in the pages of Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart’s 2007 book about the Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers.

And while so many people say they want to write a book, Teresa’s book idea has actually become a beautiful reality. Her new endeavor, The Posy Book, will be published in one week by The Countryman Press, a division of W.W. Norton & Co., and we have the exclusive first peek inside its pages with today’s conversation with Teresa. I’m so excited to welcome her here — and be sure to listen scroll to the bottom of this post — where you’ll find the details on how you can enter a random drawing to win a copy of this special book.

The Posy Book’s tagline is “Garden-Inspired Bouquets that Tell a Story,” and in its 255 pages, you will find Teresa’s floral recipes for more than 20 flower arrangements, along with the message each flower communicates — yellow roses convey friendship; silver-leaf geranium articulates admiration, for example. There are step-by-step instructions, ideas for seasonal variations and a modern floral dictionary with hundreds of entries.

After hearing from Teresa Sabankaya, you’ll also believe that whatever the sentiment, say it with a posy. Check out Teresa’s New Language of Flowers Dictionary, online.

Here’s how to find and follow Teresa:

Teresa Sabankaya on Facebook

Teresa Sabankaya on Twitter

Teresa Sabankaya on Instagram where you can search by #theposybook and #sentimentinflowers

ENTER TO WIN THE POSY BOOK!

Thank you so much for joining me today! To enter your name in our drawing for a free copy of The Posy Book, you’ll need to do two things. First, visit Teresasabankaya.com, where you will find Teresa’s New Language of Flowers Dictionary — and look up the meaning of your favorite botanical element — flower, herb, tree or shrub. Then, post your thoughts about that flower and its meaning in the comment section below.

We will draw a name from the comments that appear by midnight Pacific time on Saturday, May 4th and announce the winner in next week’s show. Thank you to Teresa’s publisher The Countryman Press. This giveaway is limited to US and Canadian entrants.

Our theme for 2019 – Fifty States of Slow Flowers – continues today, with Stacy Schmidt of Narrow Trail Farm in Baldwin City, Kansas. Stacy writes this on Narrow Trail’s web site:

Narrow Trail Farm is a small family farm committed to bringing you the best sustainably grown, specialty cut flowers, vegetables, fruit, honey, and small batch handcrafted goods. Our farm is located between Baldwin City and the historic Vinland Valley on the original Santa Fe trail. We are committed to using only organic and sustainable growing practices and clean solar energy to offer you the healthiest products while protecting the environment. As we discuss, you can find Narrow Trail Farm at the Baldwin City farmers’ market and the Lawrence, Kansas farmers’ market, or at their own farm store Monday and Wednesday 4-8pm May through October or by appointment.

Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’m so pleased to share the stories and voices of Teresa and Stacy — and I am continually inspired be the incredible people who are making our world a better place through flowers and farming. As I seek new and inspiring voices, people with passion, heart, commitment and expertise to share with you, it’s my wish that today’s episode gave you at least one inspiring insight or tip to apply to your floral enterprise. What you gain will be multiplied as you pay it forward  and help someone else.

I thought of the Slow Flowers Movement while reading an article last weekend written by New York Times food editor Sam Sifton, acknowledging the James Beard Foundation’s media awards for 2019 that named the NYT publication of the year. Sam wrote this: “Our goal is simple: We seek to help people understand the world through food.” That sentence gave me chills, because it is exactly what I want to convey about our work — helping people understand the world through flowers. Pretty inspiring!

As I teased at the top of the episode, today we’re launching a special ticket-promotion for attendees of the upcoming Slow Flowers Summit — which takes place two months from today, actually, on July 1st and 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota.

One of the top reasons our attendees love the Slow Flowers Summit is the opportunity to mix-and-mingle with other kindred spirits. So we want to make it easy for you to experience the Summit and bring along your BFF, partner, colleague or team member with our Plus-One Ticket Promotion!

For a limited time — today through May 15th only — when you register for the Slow Flowers Summit, you can add a guest for $275! This applies to anyone who has already registered, as well as new ticket-buyers.

We’ll meet you in St. Paul-Minnesota, aka the Twin Cities, on July 1-2, 2019 for the best and most inspiring floral mind-meld around! Join an amazing community of progressive designers, farmer-florists, flower farmers and leaders in the sustainable floral marketplace. 

You can find the Plus One promo option by following the Register link at slowflowerssummit.com.

I look forward to connecting with you at the Slow Flowers Summit July 1st and 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as at the bonus pre-summit event — Dinner on the Farm taking place Sunday, June 30th.

Truly, we have a vital and vibrant community of flower farmers and floral designers who together define the Slow Flowers Movement. As our cause gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious.

I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.

I want to send a special shout-out this week to Aaron Stierle of Solitude Springs Farm & Vineyard in Fairbanks, Alaska — he contributed to the Podcast as well as joined Slow Flowers — all in one week. Aaron wrote: “Hi Debra, Love your podcasts! They’ve inspired me to take my farm to a new level by adding specialty cut flowers in addition to the peonies I grow for the Arctic Alaska Peonies cooperative.”

Well, that’s pretty cool! THANK YOU, Aaron, and welcome to the community! 

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community

Welcome back to returning sponsor Arctic Alaska Peonies for 2019 and the timing couldn’t be better. Arctic Alaska Peonies is a cooperative of family farms in the heart of Alaska working together to grow and distribute fresh, stunning, high-quality peony varieties during the months of July and August when the normal growing season is complete. Arctic Alaska Peonies operates three pack houses supplying peonies throughout the United States and Canada. Visit them today at arcticalaskapeonies.com

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org.

Our final Sponsor thanks today goes to Longfield Gardens. Longfield Gardens provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Visit them at longfield-gardens.com and join the spring flower photo contest going on now through May 24th. Share a photo of what’s blooming in your garden, post to Facebook or Instagram, and you might win a $50 dollar gift card from Longfield Gardens!  

1. Take a photo of something that’s currently blooming in your garden. Show us one flower, 100 flowers or a bouquet — you decide.

2. Post your photo on Instagram and tag it with #LongfieldBlooms. On Facebook, leave it as a comment under our weekly post.

3. Include the flower type (and variety if you know it), the date the photo was taken and where you are located.

We will select and re-share one winning photo each week from now through May 24. Good Luck!

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto iTunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com. 

Music Credits:
Heartland Flyer; Skyway; Betty Dear; Gaena; Perspirationby Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Lovely by Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
Music from:
audionautix.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 at 8:27 am and is filed under American Grown, Blog Posts, Book reviews, Creativity, floral design, Flower Farming, Podcast Episodes, SLOW FLOWERS Podcast, Slowflowers.com the Directory of American Flowers, Storytelling, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.