Update from Sunny Mary Meadow: Expanding, Planning, and Growing with Purpose

As summer starts to wind down I wanted to share some insights into what’s been happening on the farm, the challenges we’ve faced, and the exciting new ventures we’re planning. Whether you’re a seasoned flower farmer or just starting out, I hope you’ll find some useful tips and inspiration from this peek behind the scenes.

The Layout and Flowers of Sunny Mary Meadow

Sunny Mary Meadow has grown into a vibrant, bustling flower farm. Our farm consists of 19 rows, each 60 feet long and 6 feet wide, covering between a fourth and a third of an acre. We’ve meticulously planned our space to maximize production and ensure the health of our flowers. We use fabric on the edges to control weeds, creating a clean, organized environment for our plants to thrive.

We grow a wide variety of flowers to keep our offerings diverse and cater to different customer needs. Some of our favorites include zinnias, snapdragons, status, jewels of opar, basil, gomphrena, amaranth, strawflower, cosmos, celosia, scabiosa, peonies, blue thistle, and Veronica. Each of these blooms brings its own unique charm to our bouquets and arrangements.

High Tunnels and Succession Planting

To extend our growing season and increase the variety of flowers we can offer, we’ve invested in two high tunnels. These structures are crucial for succession planting, allowing us to grow flowers like tulips, ranunculus, lisianthus, eucalyptus, and focal scoops scabiosa. By staggering our planting times, we ensure a steady supply of fresh flowers throughout the season, keeping our customers happy and our farm profitable.

Navigating Challenges in the You-Pick Section

One area we’ve had to carefully manage is our you-pick section. While we love giving our customers the opportunity to pick their own flowers, it comes with its own set of challenges. Premium flowers like lisianthus and dahlias are often picked incorrectly, which can damage the plants and reduce future yields. To prevent this, we’ve decided to keep these delicate blooms out of the you-pick section and instead focus on more resilient flowers that can handle a little more handling. We still offer them to the customers, but out of buckets we have already harvested in a safe way as to maintain our crop as best we can while still providing the best stems possible. 

Crop Planning and Revenue Generation

Crop planning is at the heart of our farming strategy. By meticulously recording our sales and adjusting our planting schedules accordingly, we can grow just the right amount of flowers and minimize waste. This careful planning extends to our revenue streams as well. We’ve diversified our income through subscriptions, nursing home sponsorships, stem bars, wholesale sales, and weddings. Each of these avenues helps us build a stable, profitable business year round, while spreading the joy of flowers to a wide audience.

Exciting News: A New Floral Shop and Event Space

Perhaps the most exciting news I have to share is our plan to build a new floral shop and event space! This addition will not only triple our farm’s revenue but also provide a versatile venue for classes, courses, and special events in our community. We’re thrilled about the potential this space has to elevate our business and bring our community together in new and meaningful ways.

New Bonus Content 

Lastly, I’m excited to announce two new bonus episodes on the podcast: the Back to Better Book Club and the Flower Farmer Forum Friday Featured Flower Farmer. These segments are designed to foster personal and business growth, as well as connect flower farmers from all over. I encourage you to tune in every Friday, get involved, and share your experiences with our growing community.

As always, I’m here to answer your questions and share in the joys and challenges of flower farming. Remember, we’re all in this together, and by sharing our knowledge and experiences, we can help each other grow better and bloom brighter.