As the years go by I have now hit my 15th year of working in horticulture and am ending my 8th year as a full-time flowerfarmer. So please bare with my initial retrospective intro to this month’s article there is a point to it I promise.
I have watched many people enter the world of flower farming over the years some are still around and some have found alternative paths since. Some give it their all entering the growing world with realistic expectations on this career and some seem to think it’s going to be a walk in the park. But anyone who has spent a significant time earning a crust from being a flower farmer will tell you “It’s bloody well Knackering!”, (they might use more literary terms but that’s essentially the crux of it). This job is very physical and it can and does take a toll.
Following my frequent visits to my chiropractor this year, and a good sit-down chat with myself about how growing conditions were changing, I began to pick apart the future of what I was growing and why. It was while looking at photos of my floristry work that I realised something. Why the heck was I cultivating 1/3 of my field every year for growing annuals when they took the most time yearly to prep the ground for, buy seed and compost for, and have the highest feeding and watering needs? When I looked at and considered my creative work, I realised I work with perennials and shrubs much more than I realised.
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