Chances are, the flowers you buy from us today were growing in the field yesterday. Our flowers are cut in the early morning, when the air is cool and wet. This is when they are at their peak and will provide the longest vase life. They are immediately placed in buckets of cool water to hydrate their blooms, an important step to ensure longevity. After a little drying time, the buckets are placed in a walk-in cooler where they will continue to hydrate for twelve to twenty-four hours. Then they are sold to you. Our flowers don't travel far to reach you. A lot of time, they are sold a few hundred feet from where they were grown.
Our flowers grew in soil that was amended with compost, organic dry fertilizer, bone meal, dried leaves, and used bedding from our chicken coop. Rich soil is the key to growing strong, disease-resistant plants. Our fields are not sprayed with chemicals to kill insects. Instead, we rely on the birds and "good" bugs we attract to eat the flower-eating pests. We can grow healthy, more vibrant plants with "natural" solutions, and avoid damage to our home environment.
Compare this treatment to that of most of the flowers sold in grocery stores, florist shops, and online. Eighty percent of flowers sold in the U.S. are grown in South America, Asia, or Africa. Consider the conditions for growing in countries with less regulation. There is heavy use of pesticides and herbicides, without consideration to the impact on the environment or the field workers. After harvesting, the flowers are packed DRY, stacked in shipping boxes, and flown thousands of miles. Once on the ground, they'll continue traveling to inspection and distribution points. By the time imported flowers reach the grocery store or florist shop, they are already at least a week old.
Not harming our environment, reducing shipping emissions, and purchasing a superior product are three good reasons to choose local flowers over imported ones. You can find more on the subject than I have briefly mentioned here, but doesn't it just make sense that the same reasons we "shop local" for produce and other goods would apply to flowers as well?
Our flowers grew in soil that was amended with compost, organic dry fertilizer, bone meal, dried leaves, and used bedding from our chicken coop. Rich soil is the key to growing strong, disease-resistant plants. Our fields are not sprayed with chemicals to kill insects. Instead, we rely on the birds and "good" bugs we attract to eat the flower-eating pests. We can grow healthy, more vibrant plants with "natural" solutions, and avoid damage to our home environment.
Compare this treatment to that of most of the flowers sold in grocery stores, florist shops, and online. Eighty percent of flowers sold in the U.S. are grown in South America, Asia, or Africa. Consider the conditions for growing in countries with less regulation. There is heavy use of pesticides and herbicides, without consideration to the impact on the environment or the field workers. After harvesting, the flowers are packed DRY, stacked in shipping boxes, and flown thousands of miles. Once on the ground, they'll continue traveling to inspection and distribution points. By the time imported flowers reach the grocery store or florist shop, they are already at least a week old.
Not harming our environment, reducing shipping emissions, and purchasing a superior product are three good reasons to choose local flowers over imported ones. You can find more on the subject than I have briefly mentioned here, but doesn't it just make sense that the same reasons we "shop local" for produce and other goods would apply to flowers as well?