Join us at the Flower Shop on Buchanan, Sunday February 21st from 3:00 to 5:00 • We'll learn how to put together a romantic centerpiece, paying homage to the spring bulbs about to emerge. We'll discuss the different types of flowers used and their origins to take home a little knowledge as well. Oh and as always- we'll be sipping on some wine too. Only 8 spots available! Buy tickets here.
Wildflowers of The Lost Coast
Although slightly negligent of me, I'm glad I waited a few days to put this post up. My heart became so fond of Northern California that it starts to ache when I speak of it's redwoods, mountains, lost coast and wildflowers. You don't realize how much you needed to get away until you step out of your everyday tornado of tasks to remember to breathe and take in the sunsets.
It's almost as if our stars aligned with the folks we visited on this trip, stumbling into loved ones in a redwood grove, the opportunity to go up in a friend's plane... California allowed us to explore her from high and low with love all around us.
Redwoods at Richardson Grove
Black sand beaches of the 'Lost Coast' about 10 miles north of Sinkyone Wilderness State Park
One of the most breathtaking moments of this trip was stumbling upon the wildflowers of Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, nestled in what is claimed as the "Lost Coast" where very few roads lead through the mountains that are settled right next to the Pacific Ocean. Although California is going through a terribly irreversible drought (which also makes this heart ache), nature has continued to prevail with it's hearty wildflowers. Yellow dancing in the background of blue Pacific, dusty succulents finding refuge in the rocks of the beaches, pastels crawling up the rock face. I hope these beauties inspire you as much as they have me.
Sinkyone Wilderness State Park requires a sturdy car and 45 minutes dedicated to windy, dirt, mountain side, cliff creeping roads. It offers a safe haven for elk and birds alike with little access to the outside world. Two elk had snuck up on us in a eucalyptus grove just as we rounded the trail to the ocean, which startled me at first. They blew in and out of their noses trying to get a sense of our scent as I slow footed around them to take pictures. Im so thankful they were patient with me, theres nothing more beautiful and sacred than an interaction with a wild animal.
#ConsiderTheLocalFlwrs Flower Recipe
To continue with our weekly collaboration with Consider The Wldflwrs, here is a bouquet whipped up this morning from last night's harvest on our farm, Six Boots Growers Collective.
Follow the recipe to see if you can re-create this local beauty with a touch of your own!
5 Sunflowers: Autumn Beauty and Strawberry Blonde
6 Stems of Astilbe (from a pal's yard)
8 Zinnias: Polar Bear (large white) and Persian Carpet (little pops of yellow)
3 Branches of Flowering Tomatoes
5 Stems of Flowering Mint
8 Echinacea (common cone flower)
Interested in growing these on your own?
All seeds can be found at one of my favorite resources: www.johnnyseeds.com
The Farmer's Florist Pop-Ups / Sisters of Nature + CTWF
Been on a roll with these Pop-Ups! What's more fun than hanging out with your friends promoting local flowers, playing dress-up and playing with beauties grown by Humble Flowers? I can't think of a dang thing. Here are some snapshots taken by the incredible Meghan Newsom who was amazingly in town all the way from Savannah, GA to join us at Sisters of Nature. Sisters of Nature embodies the spirit of nature we thrive off of, empowering folks to choose local and become more conscious of their consumer choices.
Photos by Meghan Newsom
We also joined Consider The Wldflwers for their 2 Year Anniversary, where we sold arrangements paired with hand-crafted pottery from Handmade Studio TN. SO many inspiring + creative women here in Nashville! Thanks to all who made this past weekend so much fun!
Photos by Emily of CTWF
I'll be posting more pop-ups + workshops soon, including an awesome collaboration with Lululemon coming up in August! Interested in hosting a pop-up or workshop! Email: thefarmersflorist@gmail.com or hit me up through the "Contact" page.
Little Boots Farm Camp at Six Boots
It's been an amazing week hosting Little Boots Farm Camp at Six Boots with the children from our local Waldorf school here in Nashville. I had the joy of teaching flower harvesting and arrangement making and couldn't be more proud of these kids. Seeing their excitement on the farm each morning was nourishing, and their constant questions kept me on my toes with flower knowledge. Exploring our farm with a child's eye was the best thing about this week, well, and re-discovery of our creek's cool water...
Here's to taking advantage of summer and hoping for another camp session in 2016.
#ConsiderTheLocalFlwrs
We've teamed up with Emily of Consider The Wldflwrs, a local jewelry line handcrafted in here in Nashville, to bring you #ConsiderTheLocalFlwrs. Join us through Instagram and her blog Wldflwr.ink on our weekly local farm tours as we bring you each weeks seasonal arrangement featuring that farms flowers.
On our latest #considerthelocalflwrs adventure, Ruthie Linsdey and I traveled to Bon Aqua, TN where we find Turnbull Creek Farm. With sunflowers and cosmos in full bloom, we harvested with enormous smiles and quite a few drips of sweat from the humid southern heat.
It started with a field...
It started with a field... In which I pressed my face against the grass taking the sweet smell in, at my family's farm in Maryland. My retreat from New York City. It was the moment I realized I required dirt under my nails, soil on my hands and a life of farming.
To pay bills while attending school in NYC, I worked for Flower Girl NYC, a then little shop in Nolita about the size of a closet, picking up a Taxi-cab full of flowers off 34th St. and creating some of the most intricate arrangements, honing in on the style I adored. Shortly after my stint in NYC I left for Nashville, TN, where a good friend introduced me to some incredible farmers at Bear Creek Farm. I've always had a background in raising animals (mostly horses) but being a lover of food and the fair treatment of animals, I became a livestock farmer.
Spring forward a year, and I was accepted for an apprenticeship at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture (Back to NY!) for Livestock, where I discovered my love for sheep and flowers. Although my time was mostly filled with all things animals, my off moments were spent with Shannon Algiere, the flower manager at Stone Barns, her two apprentices Leah and Erin, who all quickly became my flower mentors for the season.
Spring forward another year and now I reside in Nashville, Tennessee with a flock of sheep and a flower patch. Being a part of Stone Barns Center and farming in general has opened me up to the importance of supporting the local agriculture scene and purchasing directly from your farmer. My community of Bells Bend right outside of downtown Nashville has an abundance of thriving farms, run by young farmers hoping to support their dream. Working directly with these farmers has opened up the opportunity to create The Farmers Florist, where we profile the importance of Seasonal and Local.
It will be hard to change the ways of the flower market, but creating this direct relationship between farmer and florist has never brought more joy to my heart.