Market Farming

["Shelley Pasco" <whistle AT halcyon.com>]

Title: Re: cut flowers...bunches or mixed bokays?

Mary,
I don't grow only cutflowers, but I hope my addition helps someone.

When I started my CSA I included flowers in the subscription price. I tried to make nice bouquets for everyone, but once we were up to 50 subscribers it became a nightmare. Because I promised flowers, we ended up including big bunches of easy annuals, which I wasn't pleased with. Lots of people liked the bunches, but more people wanted real bouquets. So this year we're charging extra for the people who want nice bouquets--that is, we're doing flower shares. Hopefully we'll get fewer people who want the flowers, and we'll be compensated for taking more time to make them big, beautiful bouquets that are worth their money. We don't sell flowers at farmers markets because our markets here are inundated with flowers already, and we've decided to focus on the vegetables.
I've found that not many people care if their flowers are grown organically, especially florists. Price and volume, and quality are more important to them.
Shelley
Whistling Train Farm

Kent, WA