Episode 395: Petals and Alpacas at Gholson Gardens in Walla Walla, Washington, plus State Focus: Idaho

Walla Walla flower farmer and alpaca farmer Elaine Vandiver

Last weekend I spent 2 days in Walla Walla, Washington, located in the Southeast corner of the state, where I joined the Washington-Grown Flowers promotion team at the Washington State Farmers' Market Association conference.

Opening slide for our presentation at the Washington State Farmers Market Assoc. Conference

The Flower Promotion effort was funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant and is being jointly administered by the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture's Regional Markets Program and the Washington State Farm Bureau. They invited me to co-present on my Slow Flowers Insights, as well as about local flower promotion strategies for Farmers' Market managers -- what  a great opportunity to bring local and seasonal flowers to the forefront of the farmers' market world!

Farmers' Market managers gathered to learn how to make pin-in flowers and flower crowns, an activity which we encouraged them to bring to their own venues.

Thanks to Laura Ridenour and Laura Raymond of WSDA and to Suzanne Carson of the Farm Bureau for including me in this program, and to Emily Asmus of Welcome Table Farm, my co-presenter, who was super inspiring as a local flower farmer with great advice about seasonality and best practices for market managers who may not be as familiar with floral crops as they are with food crops.

Mike and Elaine Vandiver at Gholson Gardens

While in Walla Walla, I also had time to visit Gholson Gardens, owned by Slow Flowers member Elaine Vandiver and her husband Mike Vandiver.

Elaine and Mike are members of the Homegrown by Heroes organization, which supports veterans in agriculture careers.

Gholson Gardens is a small,

10-acre farm located in southeastern Washington state, in the quintessential

rural community of Walla Walla.  Mike and Elaine are both U.S. Army

veterans turned first generation farmers.

Gholson Gardens and Old Homestead Alpacas share the Walla Walla farmland and historic barn buildings.

As they share on their web site, "with no previous agricultural experience, we purchased the farm in May 2014 as a way to start anew after learning a traditional family wasn't in the cards for us.  We didn't have any immediate plans for the farm, which was mostly in pasture.  We simply hoped to enjoy the beautiful red barn, sweeping views of the Blue Mountains from the farmhouse porch, and maybe get some critters to complete the country scene."

Elaine's mobile farm stand -- fashioned from one half of a vintage Studebaker pickup.

Another farm stand often used by Elaine -- a VB van that carries and displays a lot of flowers!

The story unfolds in my

interview recorded in the farmhouse's dining room kitchen where Elaine and I

sat comfortably while Mike kept their two Greyhound rescue dogs entertained

outside.

Dye flowers and alpaca wool in the studio

This is a very personal,

inspiring story for anyone who views growing cut flowers as a new way of life,

perhaps as a catalyst for all sorts of change.

Farmhouse and flowers at Gholson Gardens.

For Elaine and Mike, growing flowers

is the latest chapter of their agricultural lifestyle, one that began with a

llama and too many adorable alpacas for me to accurately count, continued to a

flower and herb garden to grow plants that produce natural dyes for the wool,

skeins and garments made with the alpaca fiber, and expanded just over a year