Let’s Get Real
The not so glamourous side of flower farming
I follow a lot of accounts on social media. It’s funny how some flower farmers will stand with arms loaded down with flowers, showcasing rows and rows of beautiful blooms, in well-manicured gardens and picture-perfect little greenhouses. Hit the pause button right there. You must never believe all you see on social media! Choosing only the 5% of photos that show all the faultless things doesn’t give the full picture in the least. I personally appreciate those farmers that show me their failures as well as successes, their tough days as well as their stellar days and the human side of running a business that is focused on dirt and getting your hands dirty. I think 90% of my photos I look like I’m homeless or ready to hit the gym!
Sometimes we get knocked down
I think if having your own business was easy then everyone would be self-employed. For me it’s certainly not about the money at this point. It’s about the challenge. I want to prove to myself I can take my ideas and turn them into a reality. Remember the day last year when the wind knocked down my newly constructed flower stand? My heart sank! But instead of being defeated we picked it back up and moved on. Or two years ago, when I first started growing flowers, deer decided to wander through my giant sunflowers and ate nearly all of them?! It’s not going to be easy, and some days will be better than others, but I'm going to show you all of it, not only the good stuff!
And then you see this ...
After all the hard work is put in, the sweat has been poured and the hands muddied I see a sunrise like the one below and I remember the why in all this. In the end what this really is about for me is creating a product that makes a difference to someone. I know I’m not curing a disease here, but maybe I'm changing an attitude, bringing a smile to someone’s face or making a person feel appreciated. Isn’t a little bit of that what we all want?
Sunflower sunrise
