Field & Garden

Let's remember and keep in focus the big picture of what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why we are doing it. It's so easy to fall into rabbit holes and to become completely derailed from our "why" we are doing this in the first place!

My big picture garden considerations aren't: How will I tear this down? How will I maintain it day to day? Will it sell easily? On the business side of things, pausing to remember "why" I am doing all this and am I getting there helps to keep me on track.

Links & Mentions:

Excited about our partnership with the Growing For Market Magazine. Use the coupon code: WORKSHOP to get 25% off any subscription.

"Bug Talk" podcasts with Lisa & Rhonda: Field & Garden episode #112, episode #121

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

An introduction to these showy greenhouse-grown spring blooms from Steve & Gretel Adams of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. They cover lots of important topics, including:

• When to order corms for best selection
• Building relationships with your vendors
• When to plant (and successions)
• Best varieties for beginners
• Basic growing & harvesting tips

Links & Mentions: Request the PDF: Ranunculus Harvest Stages Request the PDF: Favorite Ranunculus & Sources Request the PDF: Favorite Anenomes & Growing Tips Flower Farming School Online: Growing Cut-Flower Crops in Hoops & Greenhouses More from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm: Website Instagram TikTok The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

In this episode, we're revisiting an interview that Lisa did in October 2020 on The Flower Podcast, with host Scott Shepherd. Scott and Lisa covered a broad range of topics, including:

• Where Cool Flowers can be grown and how they can increase your farm's production dramatically
• Marketing: finding your niche in "outside the box" selling opportunities
• Understanding how learning via courses saves time and money
• Creating a business model that suits your lifestyle
• Lisa's Top 5 Warm-Season Annuals

Links & Mentions:

The full-length episode on The Flower Podcast

Online Courses & Schools offered by The Gardener's Workshop

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

In this episode I am sharing the bottom line friends: you are the only one that can change the way things are going for you and your flower farming business.

If we think back to why we started our own business:

To be in control To do things the way we think is best To make the choices To guide the way To do what we want to do, when we want to do it

Now we have to exercise the muscle that can help us get there: the choices we make and how we respond to failures.

The difference between success and failure can be this simple.

Hope this gives some food for thought!

Links & Mentions:

Course: Flower Farming School Online: The Basics, Annual Crops, Marketing and More!

Book: Vegetables Love Flowers

Podcast: Jennie Love & Dave Dowling discuss Tulips

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

Ellen Frost joins Lisa to discuss the unique business model of her floral design studio, Local Color Flowers, and how it has continued to evolve over time. Topics include: supporting local flower farmers, community building through regular studio events, and ramping up subscriptions.

Links & Mentions:

Ellen's Design Studio, Local Color Flowers: Website Instagram Facebook

Florists Buying Local: Facebook Instagram and #floristsbuyinglocal

Course: Florist School Online: Growing Your Business with Local Flower Sourcing

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

In October 2021 Lisa was featured on the Joe Gardener podcast. She joined host Joe Lamp'l to discuss how nature can balance itself when you incorporate flowers and native plants in and around your garden space, attracting beneficial insects and providing them with a consistent habitat. They covered topics such as:

• Succession plantings of flower "recipes" to overcome common pests, weeds, and diseases
• Variety selections for cut flowers, supporting taller flowers, and harvesting tips
• The importance of providing habitat (both food & shelter) for beneficial creatures in spring, summer & fall

Links & Mentions:

Full Joe Gardener Episode #231 Blog Post Available Here

Request Lisa's Free Resource: 6 Steps to a 3-Season Cut-Flower Garden

Online Courses published by The Gardener's Workshop

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

In this episode, Lisa Z and Collectives 101 instructor Amelia Ihlo discuss what it takes as a flower farmer to be ready to join or start a floral collective. They touch on common indicators for success, such as knowing your market & your customer's needs, examining your grower network & relationships, thinking about short and long-term plans, and building resources.

Links & Mentions:

Collectives 101 On-Demand Online Workshop *AVAILABLE NOW*

Considering using Rooted Farmers for your collective? More info Here

Book: A Complaint Is a Gift

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

Today, Rhonda Graves returns to join Lisa for another "Bug Talk." And beneficial creatures too! They all have a purpose in a balanced ecosystem. Rhonda & Lisa discuss how to invite and maintain these beneficial creatures in your garden or on your farm, including pollinator garden plots, native tree and shrub plantings, "Beetle Banks" and "Habitat Islands." Together they share the joy of getting to know the beneficial creatures in your garden and how to create a year-round habitat to keep them nearby.

Mentions:

Bugguide.net

iNaturalist app

Book: Attracting Beneficial Bugs To Your Garden by Jessica Walliser

Book: Wasps by Heather Holm

Book: Grow Organic by Doug Oster & Jessica Walliser

Lisa's book: Vegetables Love Flowers

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

Today I have more "keeper clips" from Clubhouse for you! Lisa hosts a chat on Clubhouse each Wednesday to cover various flower farming and flower business topics as well as answer listener questions. This episode has some great clips covering the topics of Early-Season Sunflower Growing and Prepping your Beds for Weed Prevention. Lisa offers some great tips here that can make a BIG difference for your farm or garden. So here you go!

Links & Mentions:

Sunflower Seeds in our Online Shop

Bio360 Install Video

Video: Weeding with a garden hoe

Blog: Weed-Free Direct Seeded Beds

Are you on the Clubhouse phone app? Join Lisa's club, called Flower Farming, to be notified when she schedules new chats!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!

In this episode, I am exploring the question: "What is a floral Collective, and how is it different from a Co-op?" I discussed this and so much more with Amelia Ihlo of Rooted Farmers. Amelia lays out the ins and outs of this flower selling model that I believe is a key piece of the future locally-grown cut-flower industry.

Amelia has plenty of boots-on-the-ground experience with this business model as a flower farmer herself. She was part of starting a collective several years ago to better serve her customers and to work with other growers in the Boston area. She went on to start RootedFarmers.com, an online marketplace connecting flower buyers with flower sellers. Rooted Farmers now works with collectives nationwide.

Today we introduce the launch of Amelia's on-demand workshop published by The Gardener's Workshop, called Collectives 101: A Guide for Joining & Selling through Regional Wholesale Hubs. Read more about Amelia and her new on-demand online workshop here.

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-wining 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!