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Farmer-florist Stacy Marshall recently opened her beautiful flower farm in historic Poulsbo, Washington, to host British sustainable design educator Rachel Wardley of Tallulah Rose Flower School. I spent a morning visiting with these two floral friends to learn about their recent collaboration to elevate local flowers, seasonal flowers, and sustainable practices.

Stacy Marshall says she has realized a long-held dream to learn floristry skills in an immersive setting from an experienced, talented designer. This past July, she hosted UK-based floral educator Rachel Wardley of Tallulah Rose Flower School, who traveled to Poulsbo, Washington, to lead an intimate, five-day session for a group of students, including Stacy, who hosted the workshop at Petal & Pitchfork Farm and also supplied many of the seasonal blooms for Rachel’s instruction and the students’ hands-on projects and installations.

The sold-out workshop attracted the attention of the local press, and Kitsap Sun daily newspaper sent a reporter and photographer to document the session. I was thrilled to see Slow Flowers mentioned in the context of Stacy’s story as a Slow Flowers member – see link to that story below.

Stacy and Rachel invited me to stop by for a visit, and it was a true delight to make the Saturday morning drive to Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula, to meet them, and record our conversation for you.

Here’s a bit more about both women:

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After a career in fashion and a busy London life Rachel Wardley turned her attention to the world of flowers. She trained at the renowned Jane Packer Flower School in 2005 and had the honor of meeting the inspirational founder, an introduction she is particularly grateful for. After relocating to Bath, Rachel opened a florist shop, a wedding and event business, and Tallulah Rose, a flower school dedicated to nurturing career change students.

Fast forward 16 years and Tallulah Rose Flower is now based at Levens Hall in Cumbria. The school continues to teach sustainable methods choosing to support local growers and using British flowers throughout the growing season. Rachel is proud to be a UK ambassador for the Sustainable Floristry Network.

Follow:

Petal & Pitchfork on Instagram

Talullah Rose Flower School on Instagram and Facebook

Stacy wrapped up her sentiments on a recent Instagram post: “If you’re a grower who aspires to learn floristry, do it now if you’re able. It’s hard to make time as a grower – it took me eight years and an email from Rachel fifteen months ago to make the leap. I’ve become more confident in my own style and expression.” She concludes by writing: “We create best when we express authentically.” I love that!

Read: “Prominent British Floral Designer makes a Poulsbo farm her one-stop on U.S. Tour

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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.

Thank you 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.

And thank you to Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Find the full catalog of flower seeds and bulbs at johnnyseeds.com.

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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

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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!

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Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Gasland
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

Lovely
by Tryad 
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentalshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
audionautix.com

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Today, you’re invited to join me on a quick visit to JARN Co., a 2nd year flower farm based in Monroe, Washington.

Even though they are based in my own backyard, I had to travel all the way across the country to the Boston area to meet flower farmer Tracy Yang, co-founder of JARN Co., at the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers conference this past August. I recognized her nametag because Jarn Co. had recently joined Slow Flowers Society as members. As we talked, I heard enough of Tracy’s story to prompt me to invite myself for a visit before the season ends.

Tracy farms with her partner Nick Songsangcharntara on four acres of land leased from a former bamboo nursery off of Hwy 2, the route that I’ve taken many times on trips east across the Cascade Mountains to places like Leavenworth and Wenatchee.

We filmed a quick tour of the dahlia fields and then sat in the shade to record this interview. Tracy and Nick say their story is rather peculiar because they never intended to be farmers.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything and suddenly, they found themselves understudies of Tracy’s mom (Mama Yang), learning everything they could about floriculture and agriculture. Jarn Co. was born — and you’ll hear the story behind their business name in today’s interview.

Thanks so much for joining us today. It’s clear that these two are passionate about local flowers and agriculture as they develop their business to supply the Seattle area and their local community with beautiful, sustainable flowers. Although not certified, Tracy and Nick use sustainable, organic practices to cultivate flowers and produce and they do not use pesticides or any kind of synthetic chemicals on their crops.

Turns out, I’ve been mispronouncing JARN Co. — It’s “Jahn” not “Jarn.” (so so sorry!)
As Nick and Tracy explain on their website: The ‘jarn’ in JARN Co. is pronounced “jahn.” ‘Jarn’ is the English romanization of the thai word “จันทร์.” จันทร์ translated means ‘moon’. The inspiration for our name came from Nick’s last name ‘Songsangcharntara’ which means ‘moonlight.’

Find JARN Co. on Instagram and Facebook
Subscribe to JARN Co.’s Newsletter

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Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $10 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually. Discover more at farmgirlflowers.com.

Thank you to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

Thank you to Red Twig Farms. Based in Johnstown, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.

Thank you to the 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.

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This Week’s News

It’s October and we’re kicking off this month as our Slow Flowers Member Appreciation Month. Check out more details in our October newsletter – that just dropped this week. Top things to note:
Tuesdays in October, you can join me on IG Live at @slowflowerssociety noon Pacific/3 pm Eastern.
Thursdays in October, join our membership and community engagement manager, Tonneli Gruetter of Salty Acres Farm, at the same time — noon Pacific/3 pm Eastern in the Zoom Room for a lunchtime membership chat.
As we say in our Welcome to October video, We are so grateful to our Members like YOU — because Slow Flowers Society members ARE the Slow Flowers Movement! 

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Thanks so much for joining us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 900,000 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 and consider making a donation to sustain Slow Flowers’ ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button at slowflowerspodcast.com.

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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.

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Music credits:

Capering; Turning on the Lights; Gaena
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

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Fifty States of Slow Flowers continues today with a full episode devoted to Washington, my home state. As I mentioned last week, this year-long project is coming to a close and it has been so rewarding to bring you diverse voices and stories of passionate Slow Flowers Members.

Washington’s Slow Flowers Community is one of the most active, for many reasons. One of which is that I have been writing about and working closely with Pacific Northwest flower farmers and floral designers for the past decade, beginning when I was writing The 50 Mile Bouquet between 2009 and 2012. During that time, in 2011, in fact, I met today’s guest, Rebecca Slattery of Persephone Farm.

The idea of Slow Flowers as a book, or any other format, had yet to be hatched. But I was thrilled to be invited to Persephone Farm in Indianola, Wash., a ferry ride across the Puget Sound from Seattle or Edmonds. I actually kind of volunteered my services to help with making centerpieces and bouquets for a friend’s daughter’s wedding, which took place at a nearby wedding venue on the Kitsap Peninsula. That bride had persuaded Rebecca to let her out-of-town family and friends set up floral design production on tables next to the barn, and of course, to purchase flowers from her fields.

When I arrived, I met Rebecca, but also her husband Bill Richards. In one of those very small-world surprises, Bill and I were acquainted with one another through Seattle’s newspaper world. I knew Bill for his byline in two local dailies, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer where I was a home and garden columnist during the first decade of the 2000s. Having earlier worked on the editorial teams for the Wall St. Journal and the Washington Post, Bill was legendary in local journalism circles. I remember having a nice chat with Bill while my friends set up their flowers.

As you will hear Rebecca and I discuss, Bill died in 2014, and his spirit is still very much evident at Persephone. I was so touched to have met him and equally grateful that I could return to Persephone to share a meal with Rebecca, takea walk through the late autumn landscape and growing grounds, and have a beautiful conversation with her, which you will now hear.

Here’s a bit more about Persephone Farm. The 6.5 acre farm in Kitsap County includes a little less than 2 cultivated acres, a yurt meadow, barn, packing shed, wooded area, open fields and habitat for birds and other wildlife. Biodiversity is key to the farm’s success. As Rebecca says, Persephone provides customers with a wide array of vegetables and flowers while maintaining a balanced ecosystem in the gardens.

The Persephone Farm logo (left) + a watercolor of Rebecca’s farmers’ market stall, painted by a local plein air artist

Rebecca uses careful crop rotations, homemade compost, cover crops, beneficial insectaries and patient observation to avoid synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Though not certified organic, her practices are stricter than the national organic standards. Deep ecology, closed loop systems and sustainability are the aim. And I love her term: “moreganic.”

Persephone Farm has been a pioneer in the Community Supported Agriculture movement— starting with 11 subscribers in 1991, making it one of the longest-running programs in the country. From the first week of June through the end of October, subscribers receive an armload of fresh-picked seasonal vegetables, herbs and flowers from Persephone Farm.

No traditional florist can match the just-picked quality of seasonal blossoms straight from the garden. Rebecca and her crew grow many dozens of varieties of annuals, perennials, herbs, bulbs, shrubs, ornamental grasses and unusual specialty botanicals — for local weddings and events. In addition to designing for wedding clients, Persephone farm offers fabulous fresh flowers by the bucket to the DIY customer. A highlight for many couples is a visit to the farm to stroll through the fields, selecting favorite flower combinations a week or two prior to the wedding. Brides, grooms, mothers and others have all told us that, in retrospect, their visit to Persephone Farm was the most enjoyable check mark they put on their wedding To Do list.

Thanks so much for joining me today for a visit to Persephone Farm. What a special, extended episode and experience for me – a luxury to return and to have a leisurely conversation to share with you.

Find and follow Persephone Farm at these social places:

Persephone Farm on Facebook

Persephone Farm on Instagram

I can’t close out today’s episode without a reminder to you that we’re in the midst of an Early Bird promotion for the Slow Flowers Summit.

You’ll want to take advantage $100 off the Member or General registration for the 2020 Slow Flowers Summit and purchase your ticket to the Slow Flowers Summit by December 31st.

Check out more details and all the exciting news about our partnership with Filoli Historic House and Garden, our venue for days 1 and 2 of the Summit (that’s June 28 &29) and our fabulous speaker lineup.

By the way, Day 3 is an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour led by our friend Christina Stembel, CEO of Farmgirl Flowers.

This is rare access, folks, available only to Summit attendees. As I said, check out those details in today’s show notes.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 556,000 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 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.

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. Our partnership is such a valuable one, providing a forum for beautiful and inspiring editorial content in the #slowflowersjournal section – month after month. Thanks to Florists’ Review, you can now order a subscription for yourself + give one as a gift this holiday season. Set your 2020 intention to enrich your personal and professional development! You can find the Buy-One-Gift-One special offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.

Our first sponsor thanks goes to Mayesh Wholesale Florist. Family-owned since 1978, Mayesh is the premier wedding and event supplier in the U.S. and we’re thrilled to partner with Mayesh to promote local and domestic flowers, which they source from farms large and small around the U.S. Learn more at mayesh.com.

NW Green Panels. Based in Madras, Oregon, NW Green Panels designs and constructs a wide array of wood-framed greenhouses offering versatility, style and durability. Their greenhouses are 100% Oregon-made using twin-wall polycarbonate manufactured in Wisconsin, making NW Green Panel structures a great value for your backyard. The 8×8 foot Modern Slant greenhouse has become the essential hub of my cutting garden — check out photos of my greenhouse in today’s show notes or visit nwgreenpanels.com to see more.

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

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:
Glass Beads; Betty Dear; Gaena
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://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                                                                                                                                                       

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So often I record my episodes of the Slow Flowers Podcast over the phone or a Skype connection.

My guests voices are real and engaging, but we aren’t even able to see each other, let along the flowers and farms we’re discussing.

So you can imagine how fun it is to record in real time seated across the table or in a comfy corner in adjacent chairs.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I actually carved out a day for an on-location episode, with my visit to Laughing Goat Farm in Enumclaw, Washington.

The farm is owned by Amy and Steve Brown and they are passionate caretakers of a 10-acre former dairy farm in the shadow of Mount Rainier, southeast of Seattle.

While we live 30 minutes from one another, it took traveling to Fairbanks, Alaska in the dead of winter for the three of us to meet.

It was January 2017 and the Alaska Peony Growers Association invited me to speak at the winter conference. I met Amy and Steve and knew their farm’s name because they had just joined Slow Flowers. Their curiosity about peony farming drew them to the conference.

Since then, the couple has planted hundreds of beautiful peonies, as well as ornamental woody shrubs, perennials, annuals and edibles at Laughing Goat Farm. It is an emerging farm with big ambitions and the talents of two people who have realized business success in other fields – Steve in Real Estate and Amy in the fascinating world of ballroom dancing. So this new chapter is one they cherish because they can do it together.

As Amy writes on Laughing Goat Farm’s FB page, “we grow organic seeds for flowers, as well as food, and are members of Slow Flowers. Our sustainable farm is geared towards organic and permaculture practices.”

You’ll find their story so fascinating — farming drew both Amy and Steve to this place where flowers grow in orderly beds and tunnels and they cherish the sustainable, delicious and fragrant life they are building together.

I’m so happy to share this conversation with you. Enjoy photos of the farm, the goats, the flowers and the fields at Laughing Goat Farm.

I’m predicting big things for this young farm. Selfishly, I’m so happy it’s close to me. Laughing Goat Farm is selling some of its harvest through the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market and direct to florists closer to the farm.

Thank you so much for joining me today. After I spent the day with Steve and Amy, including joining them for an incredibly delicious and satisfying lunch together at one of their veggie clients’ restaurants, I came home with a bucket of red charm peonies, white orlaya and blue bachelors’ buttons. What do you think I intended to do with those stems? Yes, I spent a pleasant afternoon creating red-white-and-blue floral arrangements in anticipation of American Flowers Week.

Join me in creating a R-W-B bouquet of your own! There are many ways you can participate in American Flowers Week, coming up June 28-through-July 4th. I can’t wait to see what you plan and product — and I’ll be searching for your stories and posts with the hashtag #americanflowersweek.

As you’ve heard me discuss for months, the Slow Flowers Summit is our LIVE celebration of American Flowers Week, scheduled for Friday, June 29th in Washington, D.C.

Only a few seats are left and I’d love your presence at the Summit, as we seek to bring together a diversity of voices, practices and personal stories that together make the Slow Flowers Community so vibrant.

Take advantage of last-minute ticket promotions, including our plus-one discounted ticket — buy yours and bring a friend along at a special rate — share the day with a colleague and your ideas will multiply! I promise you an inspiring lineup of speakers, gorgeous flowers, fun and interactive design activities and of course, a chance to stretch your imagination in a thought-provoking and stimulating environment.

I am grateful to all our entire 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 at debraprinzing.com in the right column.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 328,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening, commenting, liking and sharing! It means so much.

Thank you to our sponsors who have supported Slow Flowers and all of our programs.

Florists’ Review. 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 offer for a free trial issue.

Arctic Alaska Peonies, a cooperative of passionate family farms in the heart of Alaska providing bigger, better peony flowers during the months of July and August. Visit them today at arcticalaskapeonies.com.

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Find them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com

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.

Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Check them out at johnnysseeds.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.

Mayesh Wholesale Florist. Family-owned since 1978, Mayesh is the premier wedding and event supplier in the U.S. and we’re thrilled to partner with Mayesh to promote local and domestic flowers, which they source from farms large and small around the U.S. Learn more at mayesh.com.

Certified American Grown Flowers. The Certified American-Grown program and label provide a guarantee for designers and consumers on the source of their flowers. Take pride in your flowers and buy with confidence, ask for Certified American Grown Flowers.  To learn more visit americangrownflowers.org.

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. Special thanks to Stephen Yaussi for taking over editing duties for the coming weeks while Andrew is abroad.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

In the world of self-promotion in which we all live (or some may say “endure”), it’s always refreshing to meet someone who just lets his or her work speak for itself.

I’m married to someone like that and since I’m a clinical extrovert, I sometimes find frustrating to see someone who is so incredibly talented, someone who actually possesses an innate gift, who doesn’t want to broadcast their story to the world.

Maybe that’s the job of the Slow Flowers Podcast — to share stories of those modest, unsung heroes who are doing amazing work in our profession.

So today I want to share one of those voices with you and let you hear his story. His name is Gonzalo Ojeda and he and his wife Maria own Ojeda Farms in Ethel, Washington. Ethel is located southeast of Washington State’s Mt. Rainier–more importantly for customers of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, it’s about 1 hour 45 minutes south of Seattle — on a good day. Gonzalo or one of his farm crew makes at least one if not two round-trips a week to deliver a huge selection of healthy flowers to the market floor, driving on I-5 – one of the worst traffic corridors on the West Coast. You never hear him complain, though. He’s a passionate grower who started cut flower farming as a side gig while handling a full-time job at a commercial nursery that grows ornamentals for local big box retailers.

This is Gonzalo’s bio from the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market “about us” page:

Gonzalo was born and raised on a farm in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico. His family grew volumes of tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers and onions for many generations and sold them to large-scale wholesale buyers.

When southern Mexico began experiencing major droughts a few decades ago, vegetable production went into decline and Gonzalo came to the U.S. to work for a short period so he could help pay off his family’s farm debts. He was just 21 and his mother worried for him because he only knew a few words in English. “I knew how to say ‘chicken’ and ‘table’ and that’s about it,” he recalls. Gonzalo arrived in Washington State, got himself just enough schooling to learn how to ask for a job in English and began working picking strawberries and raspberries.

Within the year, he had secured a job working in greenhouses, propagating ornamental plants. He liked the work and has stayed with the same company for nearly 20 years. At first, he always thought he would return to Mexico, but the droughts continued… and then he met his wife Maria. They bought their Ethel farm in 2000. Gonzalo began experimenting with growing perennials in his spare time after work and on weekends–starting with a few hundred feet of astilbes, soon adding several acres of peonies and other perennials. Through hard work and a strong drive for quality, Gonzalo and Maria now have ten acres of perennials in production. Like their beautiful flower crops, the Ojedas have become firmly rooted in Washington State, with their three sons, Ricky, Fernando and Esau.

Because of our schedules, I rarely run into Gonzalo when he’s at the Market (ie, he’s in and out long before I’m up and about).

But I’ve been wanting to visit his farm and record an interview for this podcast. I made time for that visit in mid-June when I had a trip scheduled to Portland for another assignment. And because it was Saturday, Gonzalo was home with the boys but Maria was not — she has begun to sell their flowers at the nearby Olympia Farmers Market, a year-round farmers’ market, open every Saturday, with extended Thursday-through-Sunday hours in the peak season.

I turned on the recorder and Gonzalo and I began by walking around the vast farm, starting with a peek inside the high tunnels and hoop houses. We moved to the fields of woody ornamentals, perennials and annuals, a beautiful quilt of bloom color and healthy, vigorous plants. Along the way, I asked Gonzalo about his life as a flower farmer, about specific varieties and about how he manages two jobs and tens of thousands of stems.

I hope you enjoy our conversation and be sure to follow Ojeda Farms’ new Instagram feed here.

Here is a gallery of the Ojeda Farms’ Peonies.

Thanks for listening! Rumor has it that Gonzalo and Maria will open up their farm for a private Seattle Wholesale Growers Market tour next spring during the peak of peony season, so if you’re a buyer’s card holder, you’ll be lucky enough to get in on that event. You can find Ojeda Farms’ lush, Salmon Safe flowers at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market right now — and I promise you — the farm cranks out super healthy, fresh flowers. I want to add that Tammy Myers of First & Bloom, a Slowflowers.com member and past guest of this podcast, wrote a blog post last summer about her visit to Ojeda Farms, which you can read here. Something Tammy wrote is worth repeating here:

“Optimal flower picking time is in the early morning or late evenings, especially during the summer months.  Not only is it easier for the farmers to work in cooler conditions, but it’s also best for the crops.  The flowers, commonly referred to as cuts or stems, are picked from the fields and immediately placed in coolers.  As soon as a flower starts to warm up in warmer temperatures, it begins its blooming cycle. The longer the cut stays in cooler temperatures, the longer it stalls the blooming cycle.  From the moment that flower is cut from the field, it’s an absolute race to get them from field to florist to customer.

I wasn’t going to mention it…. BUT…… can you actually say that about imported grocery store varieties????  

I don’t think sooooo!

This crucial step in flower farming and probably agriculture in general, is just part of the everyday grind flower farmers face.  Yet, there was something so special and personal about Ojeda Farms, I had to know more.”

 

Like Tammy, the curious urge to “know more” is an emotion that leads many of us to consider the faces of farmers behind faces of flowers. Thank you for joining us today.

Recently I was encouraged to add a “donate” button for this podcast. I sheepishly did so and this week we received our first  contribution — from listener Ann Carper of Washington, D.C.

I’m not sure I know Ann, or whether we’ve met in the past. That she would make a small donation to sustain the production and broadcast of the Slow Flowers Podcast was a lovely thing.

We spend out-of-pocket about $5,000 each year to record and produce 52 episodes. Thanks to the financial support of our four sponsors about half of that is underwritten, but it still doesn’t come close to covering my travel or time spent to bring you stories of flower farmers and floral designers in as many geographical areas as possible.

So if you value the content you receive each week, I invite you to show your thanks and support the Slow Flowers Podcast with a donation — the button can be found on the home page at debraprinzing.com.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 111,000 times by listeners like you. We ended the month of July with our second-highest episode download count ever — 5,015 times. That’s amazing considering we’re at the peak of flower farming season and I know people are busy! THANK YOU to each one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Thank you to our lead sponsor for 2016: Certified American Grown Flowers. The Certified American-Grown program and label provide a guarantee for designers and consumers on the source of their flowers. Take pride in your flowers and buy with confidence, ask for Certified American Grown Flowers.  To learn more visit americangrownflowers.org.

More sponsor thanks goes to Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

A big bouquet of thanks goes to Longfield Gardens… providing 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 lfgardens.com.

And finally, thank you Arctic Alaska Peonies, a cooperative of 50 family farms in the heart of Alaska providing high quality, American Grown peony flowers during the months of July and August. Visit them today at arcticalaskapeonies.com.

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 and Hannah Brenlan. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.