you-pick flower farm

[KWRB]

I have a 4-acre former pasture that I've been working on for three years. I spent two years brush hogging, then I plowed the sod over last fall. This spring and through this summer I've been tilling it with a disc harrow to loosen up the clayish soil to prepare a good seedbed and kill the weeds as they germinate. The original plan was to plant wildflowers there, so I wouldn't have to mow it and then my fiance and I were going to get married there too. It turns out, it's just as expensive to rent a tent and tables and chairs and stuff, as it is to just have a wedding at a venue. So we're not getting married there now. I had the idea of planting chufa there, but she still wants the flowers.

It's an expensive project so it would be nice to get some of that money back. Of course, I didn't complain when it was an excuse to buy a plow, buy a harrow, buy a broadcast spreader. But to make a little money, I'm considering having a small pick-your-own farm there. In talking to the scheduler for the wedding venue, she said if I were to book "events" where the bridesmaids could come and pick their own wedding flowers, it would get interest.

Does anyone know anything about, or have any opinions on pick-your-own flower farming? I found a few on the web, and next week my fiance and I are going to go to one we found in Rhinebeck, NY -. I wanted to reach out here and see what you all thought.

For that matter, does anyone here have any experience with planting wildflowers at all? I'd love to hear opinions, advice, etc.

Thanks!

 

[smstonypoint]

Penn State has a useful publication on small-scale ag. Here's the section on flower production: Cut Flower Production — Ag Alternatives — Penn State Extension.

Good luck.

Steve

 

[/pine]

...For that matter, does anyone here have any experience with planting wildflowers at all? I'd love to hear opinions, advice, etc.

FWIW...
For the last ten years or so I've planted wild flowers in both cultivated areas and strewn seed along our gravel road shoulders...weeds are a big problem in cultivated areas...
I buy seeds in bulk and mostly plant cosmos, zinnias and a few sunflowers... occasionally I throw in straw flowers/bachelor buttons and poppies....all do well here...The SDOT plant a similar mix on the highway medians here and can be something to behold...!

Good Luck...

 

[smstonypoint]

.The SDOT plant a similar mix on the highway medians here and can be something to behold...

Before my retirement, I collaborated briefly with an agronomist who was a native plant enthusiast. On our travels together, he would have a conniption every time we passed one of those wildflower plots because they contained non-native species. :confused3:

Steve

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

In talking to the scheduler for the wedding venue, she said if I were to book "events" where the bridesmaids could come and pick their own wedding flowers, it would get interest.

Two things come to mind:

1. I would not take ag business advice from a wedding planner.
2. I don't see much draw for u-pick wildflowers. Maybe if they were more desirable, i.e., "conventional" flowers that people recognize....

The recipe for a successful business has always been, "Find a need and fill it."

"Create a product and hope somebody wants it." usually ends in bankruptcy.

 

[KWRB]

Two things come to mind:

1. I would not take ag business advice from a wedding planner.
2. I don't see much draw for u-pick wildflowers. Maybe if they were more desirable, i.e., "conventional" flowers that people recognize....

The recipe for a successful business has always been, "Find a need and fill it."

"Create a product and hope somebody wants it." usually ends in bankruptcy.

It's not really ag business advice. I'm doing the wildflowers regardless, because I have a 4 acre back yard that neither my bride to be nor I feel like mowing. The wedding event lady only says "it would get interest". I'm not counting on any huge financial gains. In fact, that's part of the reason it's taken so long. I am only investing at a rate my disposable income can handle.

At most, I have thought this might be a good get-her-feet-wet idea for my 13-year-old stepdaughter. She already asked if she could manage a roadside stand with the flowers. I'll definitely let her do at least that. I'm just wondering if there might be even more opportunity for her/us too.

There's not really any more need for a pick your own flowers than there is for pick your own pumpkins, and there are pumpkin patches that absolutely kill it. There is something to be said for having something people don't need, but are easily convinced they want. Flowers are something of a classic. I don't think they're going away anytime soon.

 

[justinramani]

With the way the world is today I probably wouldn't allow my child to sell anything along the road unless we were there to supervise. Its sad - but people are crazy these days.

 

[KWRB]

:

FWIW...
...weeds are a big problem in cultivated areas...
Good Luck...

It's worth a lot. Thanks for taking the time.

This makes me nervous because I've been cultivating the snot out of this field, trying to kill weeds after every (tiny) rain this year. My hope is that I can get a few cycles of germination and consume as many of those dormant weed seeds as there are in that field before I plant. Now that we aren't getting married there, I may even push it another year, just to keep killing vegetation. I was also thinking about chilling out on the tillage around the end of August, and spray the field once. This would in theory kill everything growing, but not disturb the soil so as to cause more weeds to germinate. Then I'd spread in the fall and (of course) picture perfect wildflowers the next summer...
:fortuneteller:

semi-related: I come from a long line of farmers, but I never farmed a darn thing until now, if that's what you call this project. And of course it's the only "drought" Oswego County, NY has seen in my lifetime.

 

[KWRB]

With the way the world is today I probably wouldn't allow my child to sell anything along the road unless we were there to supervise. Its sad - but people are crazy these days.

I should clarify. She'd be managing it. It'd be an on-your-honor type of stand with product and a cash box. She'd cut the flowers and put them out, and then collect the money at the end of the day. I agree with you whole heartedly. Although she's 5'10" and she can just about whip my ace, she won't be dealing with strangers. This wasn't too far from here recently: disgusting

 

[2458n]

A friend grows statice, which he sells dried to florists. Started out well and then found help hard to come by. Same problem with small square bales for horses. German Baptist sell sweet corn and tomatoes in their front yard stands.