Episode 682: Celeste Monke of Free Range Flowers, a diversified cut flower farm operated with partner Jay Roelof – plus, a farm tour to preview ASCFG’s regional meeting in Bellingham, Washington
September 18th, 2024
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Nothing beats a flower farm tour – and I couldn’t say no to the chance to visit Free Range Flowers in person last week. It’s a beautiful, sustainable cut flower farm and design studio just miles away from the Canadian border outside Bellingham. I’m so happy to share my conversation with farmer-florist Celeste Monke recorded after we walked through the fields and high tunnels where dahlias were exploding and the landscape’s autumn palette glowed with rudbeckia, zinnias, amaranth, lisianthus and much more.
A few weeks ago, I previewed the South and Central ASCFG Regional meeting with Slow Flowers members and veteran flower growers Chet and Kristy Anderson and their son Chet Anderson Junior, of The Fresh Herb Co. – I hope you enjoyed that episode as much as I did. Today, I’m previewing another upcoming ASCFG regional meeting with Celeste Monke and Jay Roelof own Free Range Flowers outside Bellingham, Washington.
Longtime Slow Flowers members who cofounded the farm in 2016, Celeste and Jay bring their amazing, high-quality floral crops, to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, which is how I’ve become acquainted with them and their shared passion.
Free Range Flowers are organically grown and rainwater fed, raised on Nooksack land in a larger farm project of environmental and social sustainability. Celeste is all about her hands in the dirt and heart on her sleeve. She has a penchant for seeds, herbs, and organization, while Jay is a plant reader with laser vision who can engineer almost anything. He keeps the equipment maintained and the plant babies happy from seed to harvest while setting the whole team up for success.
They believe their shared actions of cultivating healthy soil, sowing seeds, propagating plants and harvest create a sense of belonging and connection to place.
I’ve been wanting to visit Free Range Flowers for years, and the occasion of the upcoming ASCFG regional meeting in Bellingham, which includes a tour of Free Range Flowers, was the impetus to travel north from Seattle last week to do just that. I joined Celeste and Jay, and shared the farm lunch with them and two of their crew members, Abbie and Shef – imagine working for several hours and then sitting down to a delicious, home-cooked meal featuring veggies and herbs from the farm. Thank you Celeste and Jay!
Find and follow Free Range Flowers on Instagram and Facebook
A special note about the ASCFG Meeting, taking place September 24 & 25 in Bellingham.
In addition to Celeste’s presentation: Profitability for Cut Flower Farmers, attendees will learn from several other Slow Flowers members, including Joan Thorndike of Le Mera Gardens and her daughter Isabella Thorndike Church of Jacklily Seasonal Floral Design, who will present “Le Mera Gardens over the Decades”; and from Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm, whose presentation on “Making the Road as We Go,” reflects on the amazing story of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market. Erin McMullen of Rain Drop Farms will be there to welcome everyone as she has been serving as the regional director for ASCFG. It will be a wonderful two days for our community who attend.
Listen & learn from these talented women — all are past guests of the Slow Flowers Podcast:
Episode 213: Rain Drop Farms of Oregon’s Willamette Valley
Thank you to our Sponsors
This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.
Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.
Our next sponsor thanks goes to Longfield Gardens, which 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. Check out the full catalog at Longfield Gardens at longfield-gardens.com.
Our final sponsor thanks goes to Rooted Farmers. Rooted Farmers works exclusively with local growers to put the highest-quality specialty cut flowers in floral customers’ hands. When you partner with Rooted Farmers, you are investing in your community, and you can expect a commitment to excellence in return. Learn more at RootedFarmers.com.
I’m so glad you joined us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com
I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. 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. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!
Music Credits:
Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Shift of Currents
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue
Lovely
by Tryad
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
In The Field
audionautix.com