Field & Garden

Meet Torrie Anderson of The Flower Farm at Youngs Mill in Newport News, Virginia. Having recently graduated from Lisa's online flower farming course, this year Torrie and her husband took the leap into urban flower farming after being vegetable gardeners for many years. In this interview Lisa and Torrie commiserate about the life of a brand new flower farmer, sharing the excitement, realities, challenges, fails, surprises, and how remembering your "why" can keep you going through that first year.

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Connect with Torrie on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Website

More about Nicole of Flower Hill Farm

Join the waitlist for October enrollment! Flower Farming School Online: The Basics, Annual Crops, Marketing, and More! with Lisa Mason Ziegler

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The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

You know which Cool Flowers seeds to sow directly into the garden and when, but what steps should you take to ensure a thick, healthy stand of direct-seeded plants come springtime? Join Lisa Mason Ziegler and Layne Angelo as they share practical tips and tricks for successful outdoor sowing. They discuss proper bed preparation, watering, weed prevention, thinning, sowing poppies and bells of Ireland, and more. Listen to the podcast, grab your hoe, and prepare for direct seeding success!

The video version of Lisa and Layne's conversation featuring a slideshow of the questions discussed will be posted to our YouTube channel. If there is a question or topic you would like to hear discussed on a future episode of "Seed Talk", please fill out the form linked below. We would love to hear your suggestions!

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Stand-up Garden Hoe

Cool-Season Seed Category

Seed Starting Equipment

"Seed Talk" YouTube Playlist

Book: Cool Flowers

The Cool-Season Flower Chronicles

On-Demand Workshop: Cool Flowers, Beyond the Book for Flower Farming

"Seed Talk" Topic Suggestion Form

YouTube Channel

TGW iPhone App (iOS App Store)

TGW Android App (Google Play)

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

I was forced to learn about seasonal growing. After growing outdoors in a garden with no hoop or greenhouses I learned that embracing the seasons is the best, most cost-effectively, and highest quality way to grow.

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We are so happy about our partnership with the Growing For Market Magazine! A tremendous resource. Use the coupon code: WORKSHOP to get 25% off any print or digital subscription.

Field & Garden Episode #98: Growing Snapdragons with Dave Dowling

Join the waitlist for October enrollment: Flower Farming School Online: The Basics, Annual Crops, Marketing, and More! with Lisa Mason Ziegler

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

In this episode we visit with owner Lisa Mason Ziegler and two of her longest-standing employees, who also happen to be her dear family members. From the very beginning when Lisa started an urban cut-flower farm with her husband Steve's support, to the thriving business it is today, Lisa and her family continue to support each other while offering the supplies and educational resources that are fueling a new generation of flower farmers. Listen to some funny stories and learn more about the family behind The Gardener's Workshop.

Book: The Flower Farmer by Lynn Byczynski

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The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Interested in growing larkspur, bachelor buttons, or bells of Ireland? Did you know that some of spring's most coveted flowers – including these beauties – actually prefer to be sown directly outdoors rather than started indoors as transplants? Join Lisa Mason Ziegler and Layne Angelo as they cover some of the most frequently asked questions about sowing seeds directly in the garden. They discuss some of the advantages and challenges when direct seeding, tips and tricks for sowing this group of plants in fall and very early spring, succession-planting bupleurum, and more. Listen to the podcast and prepare to sow some of your Cool Flowers seeds directly into the garden!

The video version of Lisa and Layne's conversation featuring a slideshow of the questions discussed will be posted to our YouTube channel. If there is a question or topic you would like to hear discussed on a future episode of "Seed Talk", please fill out the form linked below. We would love to hear your suggestions!

Mentions:

Cool-Season Seed Category

Seed Starting Equipment

Book: Cool Flowers

The Cool-Season Flower Chronicles

On-Demand Workshop: Cool Flowers, Beyond the Book for Flower Farming

"Seed Talk" Topic Suggestion Form

YouTube Channel

TGW iPhone App (iOS App Store)

TGW Android App (Google Play)

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Do you only know half of the Cool Flowers concept? Lisa shares that while fall planting is a great option, it's not for everyone. Learn about the often missed cool season hardy annual planting opportunity for those with deep cold and heavy snow winters: very early spring plantings.

Mentions:

We are so happy about our partnership with the Growing For Market Magazine! A tremendous resource. Use the coupon code: WORKSHOP to get 25% off any subscription.

Free Resource: The Cool-Season Flower Chronicles

Lisa's Book: Vegetables Love Flowers

Join the waitlist for October enrollment: Flower Farming School Online: The Basics, Annual Crops, Marketing, and More! with Lisa Mason Ziegler

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

For this edition of Bug Talk, Lisa and Rhonda are joined by special guest Dr. Barb Abraham, an ecology professor, bee researcher and Chair of the Bee City USA - Hampton steering committee. Today they're talking about native bees. Did you know that you can have an average of 100 different bee species in your yard? And that native bees typically are not aggressive and do not sting? You may have seen some that look like gnats, flies or wasps and not even realized they were actually bees! Learn how you can support your native bee populations by avoiding pesticides, offering a consistent water source, a providing nesting habitat.

Recommended Bee Books: All of these are profusely illustrated with stunning photographs...

Holm, Heather. 2017. Bees. An identification and native plant forage guide. Pollination Press, LLC. Minnesota.

Holm, Heather. 2014. Pollinators of native plants. Pollination Press, LLC. Minnesota

Embry, Paige. 2018. Our native bees. Timber Press. Portland, OR.

Frey, Kate and Gretchen LeBuhn. 2016. The bee-friendly garden. Ten Speed Press. Berkeley.

Wilson, JS and OM Carrill. 2016. The bees in your backyard. Princeton University Press. Princetonand Oxford.

Xerces Society. 2016.100 plants to feed the bees. Storey Publishing. North Adams, MA.

Xerces Society. 2011. Attracting native pollinators. Storey Publishing. North Adams, MA.

This one is heavy reading for the avid apiphile, few colored illustrations...

Danforth, BN, Minckley, RL, and JL Neff. The solitary bees. Biology, evolution, conservation. Princeton University Press. Princeton and Oxford.

Other Links & Mentions

Bee City USA - Hampton, VA: Website Facebook

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social!

Your Cool Flowers seeds have sprouted – now what? Join Lisa Mason Ziegler and Layne Angelo as they discuss some of the most frequently asked questions about caring for your Cool Flowers seedlings. They discuss grow lights, ideal air temperatures, transplant size, and more. Listen to the podcast and learn how to give your Cool Flowers seedlings the conditions they need to thrive!

The video version of Lisa and Layne's conversation featuring a slideshow of the questions discussed will be posted to our YouTube channel. If there is a question or topic you would like to hear discussed on a future episode of "Seed Talk", please fill out the form linked below. We would love to hear your suggestions!

Mentions:

Seed Starting Equipment

Cool-Season Seed Category

Book: Cool Flowers

The Cool-Season Flower Chronicles

On-Demand Workshop: Cool Flowers, Beyond the Book for Flower Farming

"Seed Talk" Topic Suggestion Form

YouTube Channel

TGW iPhone App (iOS App Store)

TGW Android App (Google Play)

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Warning: lots of flowers, plants, seeds, and dollar bills were lost, injured, and killed in the process of getting here. In fact, success doesn't happen overnight for any business really.

There. True story. Hope this helps,

Lisa

Mentions:

We are so happy about our partnership with the Growing For Market Magazine! A tremendous resource. Use the coupon code: WORKSHOP to get 25% off any subscription.

Join the wait list for Flower Farming School Online: The Basics, Annual Crops, Marketing, & More!

On-Demand Course: The No-Till Micro-Scale Flower Farm with Jonathan & Megan Leiss

Biodegradable film for garden beds

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Today Steve & Gretel Adams (of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm) talk with Lisa about this farming lifestyle they have chosen. They share what they enjoy most about it, what it currently looks like for them, as well as a look back at how far they've come.

Download the FREE PDF featuring the Sunny Meadows list of favorite summer field-grown annuals, the bread and butter of bouquet season! Link below.

Mentions:

Learn more about and connect with Steve & Gretel Adams and their business, Sunny Meadows Flower Farm.

Get Gretel's free guide: Favorite Summer Field-Grown Annuals

Join the Wait List - annual enrollment opens 11/19! Flower Farming School Online: Growing Cut-Flowers in Hoops and Greenhouses

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener's Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa's Story and connect with Lisa on social media!