May: Coastal Connecticut

My piece of land is a little under an acre located in the town of Stonington in southeastern Connecticut. 

The area is semi-rural and coastal, with a population of approximately 18,000.  The town occupies a 43-square-mile area that borders the state of Rhode Island.  The locale is a favorite of the New York arts community, drawing both year-round and summer residents.

I purchased my property to fulfill a dream.  I wanted to grow cut-flowers for sale. The land is perfect for my purposes. Zoned for farming, it has a good well to supply water. The property was cleared of trees and planted to lawn.  Unfortunately, bittersweet, a vicious invasive vine, controlled what I called “the back forty.”  It took years to cut back vines and grub out roots.  Now the back lot is home to an ever-increasing number of beds for annual flowers.

At lunch the other day, I talked about my small farm with friends.  They remind me that an acre is about the sized of a football field. Though I own the whole football field, I cultivate only about a third of it.

Just picture this. Start at the end zone, just at the corner where the end zone meets the side line.  Now walk up to the 35 yard line, then across the field to the other side. Follow the sideline all the way back to the end zone.  Now cross the field to where you started.  Got the picture?  This is the amount of space I have planted to flowers. 

May: Flower trends

California remains the top cut-flower producer in the United States.  The state brings to market over 60 percent of the nation’s cut flowers -- an agricultural crop valued at almost $313 million.  Florabundance is a major wholesale player. The company, founded in the early 1990's by a group of cut-flower growers, is located on the California coast just south of Santa Barbara. While the company also represents international growers, it provide a special label, CA GROWN, to identify California based operations.

Imported flowers, however, dwarf our national production.  In 2005, the United States imported $709 million worth of cut flowers.  Roses lead the flood of imports, and most come from South America.  Colombia is the biggest rose producer, followed by Ecuador. 

As in every other category of commercial activity, China is coming up fast. Yunnan province in southwest China has become a leading center of flower cultivation in Asia.  The region’s flower production is worth $415 million, larger than California’s crop.  For now, China is content to sell to its own citizens and those of Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.  But as quality continues to improve and production continues to build, the United States will no doubt become a target market. 

Two other trends in the cut-flower market are important.  Organic flowers continue to gain popularity.  First introduced in the late l990's, organic flower sales continue to grow.  In 2003, organic flower sales were only $8 million. Between 2007 and 2008, sales of organic flowers soared 54% to $42 million. 

A second trend to watch is “certified sustainable flowers.” VeriFlora , a California company, is the leader here.  Requirements for sustainable production are less stringent, and less costly than organic production so retailers can sell “sustainable flowers” for less. Using its labeling system, VeriFlora hopes to reassure customers that “certified sustainable flowers” are produced in good working conditions, grown in an environmental friendly manner, and with minimal pesticides.

So where does my small farm fit into the big picture of American and international flower production? I am a poppy seed in a 50-pound sack of compost: small, inconsequential by some standards, yet viable. 

        

May: Flowers in small doses ...

               

American like their flowers -- especially lilies, tulips, and roses -- but only in small doses.  For the most part, we buy flowers for special occasions, so cut-flower sales cluster around four major holidays: Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, and Christmas. We buy flowers to congratulate, to console, or to apologize. A bouquet of flowers competes with a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates as the most appropriate hostess gift.  We buy flowers for both weddings and funerals.  Rarely, however, do American buy flowers for themselves; say to cheer up our home or offices or as a special floral pat on the back. 

Theodosia Shepard, a southern California housewife, started the American commercial cut-flower industry in the 1870s,  Just like me, she began by cutting and selling flowers from her own garden.  Soon other women in the neighborhood joined her, and an industry was born.  Women’s magazines in the 19th century encouraged the joys of domesticity, as they do today.  Scribner’s Monthly, published in 1871, contained an article of flower arranging with these timeless tips: alway use “clear glass, white or green vases since the vase must be subordinate to what it holds.  Blend colors with neutral tints.  And above all, avoid stiffness.  Let a bright tendril or spay of vine spring fourth here and there.”

An Acre Plus

Introduction: So many mistakes ...

I made my share of mistakes that first season.  March is much too late to plant morning glory seed.  They need a January start in a greenhouse to flourish in Connecticut.  Sweet peas are one of those plants I now designate “heartbreakers” -- so easy to love, so useless to grow.  And those poor tomatoes!  Early April is much too early to plant them.  I should have waited until late May when “all danger of frost is past.”  But even with all the errors, I was doing what I loved -- growing and selling flowers.

The second focus of my story is other local farmers.  Our lives follow the beat of the same metronome.  The Saturday morning Farmers Market in Stonington is central in each of our lives.  We share a passion for food and flowers, a commitment to the land and to our work.  We love being outside, love to grow things and insist on shaping our own lives.  I that sense, we are a subset of the quintessential American entrepreneur.  Our major resources are our land, our ingenuity, and a spell of good weather. 

My final task is to tuck all our local stories into the larger picture of American agriculture.  Well-educated, creative and extremely energetic men and women, we artisan-farmers are part of a nationwide, agricultural movement: 21st century small scale-farmers who produce speciality products and sell them directly to our customers.  Luckily, the United States Department of Agriculture publishes a census every five years so we can watch this movement grow. 

An Acre Plus

Introduction: A story in three parts ...

The story of An Acre Plus has three parts.  All three facets are interwoven and grow together like the clematis, Jack-in-the-Pulpits and azalea that frame the entrance to my small farmhouse.  The first topic is personal -- how I compose my daily life as an artisan-farmer. I give you six months of images, verbal and visual snapshots, of my New England flower farm.  I describe my small plot: its sights, sounds, and smells during a growing season.

My piece of land is about an acre.  There are three buildings on the property.  The main house is old but not distinguished.  The barn, three separate areas connected under a cluster of roofs, contains a workshop, a garden shed, and a renovated section I use to pot up seedlings in the spring and to arrange party and wedding flowers during the summer.  The third building, a small woodshed formerly used as a chicken coop, was so overgrown with bittersweet the listing Realtor didn’t even know it existed!

A friend tilled the first garden bed on the east side of the main house.  Feeling guilty, I watched as his rototiller bumped over stones just below the surface of the lawn.  In a short time, the bed was ready and the rototiller no worse for the work.  In March, I panted seeds of morning glory and sweet pea.  I noted in my garden journal that the day’s forecast called for six inches of snow.  At the end of April, I planted potatoes and tomatoes.  The weather remained cold.  Frost occurred on May 7 and May 9.  On June 15, I recorded one bloom on the sweet pea vine.  That same week, nasturtium seedlings appeared among the weeds.  By July, ten flower varieties were in bloom.  I cut six bouquets for clients one Friday -- the high count of the season.