Why start a flower farm?

I always feel a bit embarrassed when someone asks me why I started a flower farm. I read other people’s ‘whys’ and they’re all so worthy and humbling ... To fulfil a lifetime dream; to spend more time at home with the family; or just to bring joy to others through flowers. My reasons are much more cliched and entirely selfish. And there are a few of them.

Getting my hands in the dirt during the COVID-19 lockdown

The lockdown led me - and 6,999,999 other people - to get back into gardening. We built two raised beds in the back garden and sowed some vegetable seeds. Having commuted to an office job for decades, catching the train at 6am and rarely getting home before 7pm at best, it had been a long time since my hands were in the dirt. And I found it really therapeutic.

There are, in fact, lots of studies to back this up. One, by Preventative Medicine Reports, for example, found that gardening can reduce depression and anxiety, improve fitness, and increase quality of life. Others go further, saying that digging in the dirt stirs up microbes which stimulate serotonin production, making you feel happier and more relaxed.

Whatever. It works for me.

A long time love of flowers

I have always loved flowers. With all the horror that happens in the world, I find it reassuring that flowers just carry on doing their thing. I am continually amazed that a tiny seed I sow can turn into the most amazingly beautiful bloom. And I defy anyone not to feel a shot of happiness when presented with a bunch of flowers.

So the veggies we started with were, over time, completely displaced by flowers. Two raised beds became four, and then twelve.

The death of a very good friend

Then one of my best friends was diagnosed with a brain tumour and, tragically, died just six months later. It was a shocking reminder that you never know what’s around the corner. I could carry on building my pension, waiting until I felt comfortable enough to retire - probably in my 60s. But I’d be even older then, even less fit, and maybe not able to do whatever I wanted. And I wanted to start a flower farm.

So, in 2023, I roped my husband, Roger, into my plans. We extended again, building another seven 12 metre long beds, and had a trial year.

Alongside our full time jobs, we tested whether we could grow consistently high quality flowers and foliage in a sustainable way for a full season. We refined our growing plans and methods, tested different varieties of flowers and foliage, and worked out how we could get even more regenerative.

Things are certainly not perfect. We have had, and continue to have, issues and failures, but we love the learning experience and have made most things work pretty well.

A wish to do something just for me

I had a good job in a great company with fantastic people, but I felt like I’d lost a lot of the passion I’d once had – or possibly just had it smothered by spending decades in a bureaucratic, corporate environment. I’d always given 150% to my job, but ultimately for someone else. It was hard to get my opinion heard and harder still to be listened to. If only I ruled the world! Maybe working for myself I could. At least my small part of it.

We have now scaled up again to a quarter of an acre and are starting flower farming as a small business.

I’ve packed in my job and taken what I’m calling a gap year – maybe two – and we’ll see how it goes, expanding the plot a little each year.

Living life fully, bravely and beautifully

My companions are imposter syndrome and fear of failure. I see so many other flower farmers out there, many with bigger plots, who seem to know exactly what they’re doing.

I’m scared I’m going to sow loads of seeds and nothing will grow. Or too much will grow and I won’t be able to sell it. Or I’ll sell it, but never be able to make a profit.

And I’m an introvert by nature. Networking, putting myself out there on social media, getting ‘salesy’, are all well out of my comfort zone.

But, “one life on this earth is all we get … and we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can”. At best, I’ll be a role model for anyone else considering a change in career, proving that it is possible. At worst, it will be a lot of fun. The reality will probably be somewhere inbetween.

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