What is your first memory of flowers?

This is the question asked by Erin Benzakein at the beginning of her documentary ‘Growing Floret’ on HBO Max.

Such a simple question but with such a complex answer for me and one that sent me into tears. Not just your little tear drop with a sniff, sniff and a ‘pass me a tissue please’ tears. But a 'pause the show' full on breath catching sobs that went on for quite some time, only to be followed by swollen eyes for the rest of the day.

Why? Again, complex.

First memories of flowers… Rows and rows of flats full of so many colors, textures, shapes and smells. A sea of flowers in every variety. The squeezing of snapdragons, funny faces of pansies and the perfect shaped petals of impatiens. The deep sweet aroma of a hundred combined floral scents only to be followed by the beautiful musky smell of soil and sweat in the steamy greenhouses. Easter eggs hidden among the flowers on Easter Sunday wearing our best dresses and hats as we tried not to damage the flowers (tried). Thousands of ferns to hide behind and carts full of more to be placed out or loaded onto trucks.

You see, my memories are so many it’s hard to pinpoint just one. These were memories shared with my family as this was my father and his family’s greenhouses. A farm later turned into a wholesale nursery first started by my great-grandfather, than grandfather and later ran by my father and uncle. They were some of many local German farmers that settled in the late 1800's in the southern part of Indianapolis. In fact over 80 growers were once present in our area in the mid 1900's. Coming in second behind Cleveland as the largest lettuce and tomato producers in the country. Crazy!

So when Erin made her comment it took me back to those simpler, perfect days of my childhood. Of wonderful hot summers in and out of the nursery hanging out with the ladies at the sales desk, helping load trucks and trying to stay out of the way and out of trouble.

Having lost my father very unexpectedly back in 2008 when he was only 54, that flood of nostalgia sent me over the edge. But in a wonderfully loving, heart filled way. After snapping myself back to the present and using up the rest of the tissues, I continued ‘Growing Floret.’ If you haven’t watched it I highly recommend that you do. It’s a great documentary of a flower farmer’s journey through the amazing expansion of her farm. She has created quite a legacy and has really helped revolutionize the flower farming industry.

I first heard about Floret back in 2018 and came across her first book ‘Cut Flower Garden’ on the lovely Pinterest app when searching flower bed designs. After online stalking her, I had to get her book. It was so amazing to me that having been around flowers my whole life, I never even thought about the cut flower farmers. In fact it never even occurred to me that it was doable (head slap moment).

Well to say I was intrigued is an understatement. I started planning out what flowers to add to my ever growing Potager garden. The ever present problem I had (same with most gardeners too) when adding flowers is that I didn’t want to cut those glorious hydrangea, gladiolus and dahlia blooms. I absolutely loved looking at them in the garden. So, I needed to create a dedicated cut flower garden. Which meant it was ‘Time to add more beds,’ my husbands favorite phrase, ha!

As everyone has a story about 2020, during the dreaded Covid shutdown months, ours is no different.

Finally, we had time to do something with those 40+ old wood windows I had collected for

over 10 years in hopes of building a glass greenhouse. My poor husband was overwhelmed with all my ideas of how I wanted to accomplish this. Not to mention both of us being limited on our knowledge of actually erecting a building. We both are pretty DIY savvy and can figure things out but I will agree it was definitely a learning process (thank you YouTube and Pinterest for being our saving grace). He knew what material/tools we needed and I had the vision....

....Now I just had to put that vision down on actual paper and into structural design plans that we could follow and build off of. Oh and to try not to kill each other along the way too.

Once plans were set it was time to convert a corn garden behind our house (which was yearly tilled and planted by my father-in-law over many years) into my long desired Potager/English Garden. We started by first tilling (eh) the uneven land to try and level it out. Then lines were run and staked off for the outline of the beds.

Plus, loads of soil and compost were brought in again and again. I would later learn that even though the soil wasn’t horrible it still needed a lot of work.

Now it was time to build...

I was beyond thrilled and so ready to start, hubby not so much, ha! He was a trooper and knew it was something I was really passionate about. I forever longed for those childhood memories to share with our young son. To bring that sense of nostalgia to our NC home from years long gone. I wanted, no needed, our son to have some of those memories that I held so close to my heart.

Moving to NC in 2007 and than marrying an NC small town native in 2012, I was building roots in a new place away from family. I latched on deep to building a garden and growing veggies for not only ‘that’s what country folk do’ but because I had this strong desire to be surrounded by ALL plants. I needed to smell the soil, to delve deep into the cool earth and plant in order to feel at home. It was my anchor and balance in a new place and life. This was and is my version of meditation.

The building process went pretty quick but was hard and unbelievably hot with record highs for that April and May. Material wasn’t too hard to come by but honestly we were lucky with starting when we did, before the major rage of summer when everyone realized that things would be shut down longer than planned and that material would soon be unavailable. My husband was still working in office and I was to return to work in June. So the crunch was on to get things completed before that. We kicked butt and completed the greenhouse except for a few minor finishes by Memorial Day. The garden was planted and already taking off due to the crazy warm spring we had and I finally felt a sense of ease. That finally a chapter had started in this long awaited journey of trying to create our own little ecosystem. Our Potager and English Garden was coming together.

I returned to work that June and life began to resume for us. But that nagging feeling that I was leaving something behind wouldn’t stop. I longed to be outside in the garden. To plant seeds, pick veggies and, yes, pull weeds.

I love my job and what I do and have done for 11+ years and practiced for 20 years, but I needed this mental outlet and I desired to be more a part of nature. To nurture and plunge deep into that eco-system that we were and are striving to create. To know that we are just a minuscule part of something so massive and beautiful but that we can still make a difference in and do our part to make better. To not look for the easy and fast way to do something and to know that with time, patience and hard work we can create a sustainable, thriving life in the soil and provide food and habitats for wildlife and insects.

Which brings me to another question...

...What is your favorite scent?

What is your first memory of a scent that takes you to that wonderful place, person or time in your life when you get a whiff?

Mine is DIRT.

Yep that’s right, dirt.

Well better yet, soil, garden soil.

Goes right back to the question Erin asked about your first flower memory. My flower memory goes hand in hand with my scent memory, for you can’t have one without the other.

That deep scent of rich soil, or compost, it’s all the same to me. The scent was strong in the nurseries but also whenever I hugged my dad, he smelled of dirt. On his clothes, in his truck it was all around him like Pig Pen in Charlie Brown. That smell of being at home with family and long ago memories.

Every time I dig in the garden and that scent hits me, its like a hug from Dad. Its being in my childhood home garden planting the millions of impatiens and other annuals my mom would bring home from work to be planted in the beds.

Again, all of it, a hug.

I guess that’s why I've become so obsessed, annoyingly so, with soil health. The importance not only on the impact it has on plants but especially for helping restore it back to it's potential. I will have more to say on this later but not in this post.

So please join us on our farming journey were we plan to sell organic veggie and native plants along with starting our cut flower farm to provide organically grown local cut flowers to florist. All varieties are still to be determined for the coming year of 2023 as this is a trial year. A year for us to see what works best in our area and farm and what is really worth our time and money to grow and harvest. We will also be offering workshops on the farm from regenerative garden practices, floral arranging, garden design and much much more.

Stay tuned!!