Dead Dirt

Years ago I read a book by chef, Dan Barber, called The Third Plate. It was shortly after my two sons were diagnosed with celiac disease. Managing the disease is super simple–just don’t ingest gluten! Discovering why celiac disease and other autoimmune disorders are on the rise was a little more complicated, but I felt a lot of clues were in Dan Barber’s book. Barber writes about living soil (as opposed to dead dirt) and thriving heritage crops (as opposed to genetically modified crops sustained by chemicals).

Living Soil

The more research I do, the more I am convinced that creating and sustaining healthy living soil through regenerative farming practices is the key to so much of what ails us and our planet. If you want some inspiration on how transformative healthy soil and regenerative farming can be, just watch Kiss the Ground and The Biggest Little Farm!

This blog post from Heirloom Soul Florals outlines these practices and the benefits that they bring: 

“Very literally, ‘Regenerative’ Farming means we are rebuilding and rejuvenating life on earth. The ‘re-’ is critical for our understanding, because our land, at one time, was full of incredible life. We humans have spent millennia, and most notably the past few decades, effectively destroying life on earth. Through Regenerative farming and gardening, we can restore that lost life. We won’t be able to fully restore it to what it once was, but we can make it 100-fold better than it is now and guarantee a habitable planet for our future generations.”

Local Flower Farmers

The local flower farms we purchase from through Old Dominion Flower Cooperative are all organic and many incorporate regenerative practices such as no-tilling and cover-cropping. This short but illuminating video by Grateful Gardners, one of our local flower farmers, does a great job of explaining how and why farms like theirs make a difference. 

By supporting our local family-owned flower farmers, we are supporting the bigger initiatives of regenerative farming and moving away from a dependence on flowers flown in from other countries. Local flowers are not inexpensive, but we feel the uniqueness and quality of the flowers as well as the monumental benefits of regenerative farming practices are worth every penny we invest. 

Stay tuned for part three!

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pixabay on stockvault

As winter melts into spring, the flower growing season is upon us! Here at Fantasy Floral, that means we start receiving shipments from Old Dominion Flower Cooperative, a group of local women-owned flower farms that practice organic sustainable farming. With most of our cut flowers coming from overseas, the US floral industry is in dire need of more sustainable practices. This is the first of three articles in our series on Sustainability.  

Buying Local

“Locally-grown” doesn’t just apply to the veggies you get from the farmer’s market! Supporting local flower growers is a big step towards sustainability in the flower industry. For a couple of years, Margie and Trevor imagined ways to work with local flower farmers as a source for cut flowers. None of the options seemed feasible, but it continued to be on our wish list.

At the same time, local flower farmers imagined ways to work with local florists, but none of the options seemed  feasible. This is one of the silver-linings of the pandemic! It inspired creative solutions and thinking-outside-of-the-box. In this case, a local flower farmer cooperative was born. By combining their farms, knowledge, and resources, flower farmers overcame the two biggest hurdles–reaching enough florists and offering enough variety.

According to Modern Farmer, in 2015, “80 percent of all flowers sold in the U.S. [were] imported, primarily from South American industrial flower farms that have a history of using harsh chemical fertilizers, toxic pesticides and unfair labor practices.” 

From a sustainability aspect, buying local eliminates the need for airplanes and the chemicals needed to preserve the flowers during transport. From an economic aspect, buying local strengthens the local economy by keeping our dollars here instead of sending them overseas. From a humanitarian aspect, buying local means supporting families, not large corporations with questionable labor practices.

Buying local also increases a sense of community. We are meeting our neighbors who supply the flowers and learning what goes in (or more importantly what doesn’t go in) the flowers we are purchasing. We learn about other florists in the area who are also embracing more sustainable practices. Through social media, we are connecting with the larger flower farmer and florist community–one farmer and florist at a time–throughout the country. It’s a larger community than we imagined and totally dedicated to sustainability. We’re proud to be part of it!

Douglas Perkins on Wikimedia Commons

Higher Quality

Imported flowers are sometimes harvested weeks before florists receive them. This leads to a decreased quality and vase life according to Farm Bureau Financial Services. You can especially witness this decline in quality during Valentine’s Day. Because of the high demand for red roses, farmers start cutting their red roses weeks earlier than normal in order to meet the demand during Valentine’s Day week. The result is red roses that often do not meet our normal standard for longevity. This year we actually steered our customers to other arrangements for that reason. 

A recent arrangement by Kristi!

In contrast, flowers coming from local farms are harvested just days before we receive them. Partnering with local farmers through Old Dominion Flower Cooperative allows us to use the freshest possible flowers in our arrangements. When we do have to purchase from overseas farms, we carefully select the farm for flowers with the highest quality and longevity. When cared for properly, our flowers last much longer than those purchased at the grocery store!

In the same article, FBFS outlines some other benefits to buying local. One in particular is access to seasonal flowers that thrive in your climate! This is super important to us at Fantasy Floral, as we love the variety we get from ODFC. You can read more about what we do with flowers from the co-op in Margie’s blog post! 

Hussein Twabi on Wikimedia Commons

Protect our Pollinators

Local flowers also help sustain pollinator populations. Many species of insects, especially bees and butterflies, are going extinct at an alarming rate. According to Brightly, habitat loss, pesticides, climate change, and disease all contribute to declining pollinator populations. Local flower farms help ensure that bees and butterflies have flowers to pollinate, and they also ensure that those flowers aren’t sprayed with harmful chemicals! 

Buying local is just one step! Stay tuned for the next two blog posts in our sustainability series!

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