The Backyard Bouquet Podcast: Cut Flower Farming Podcast for Flower Farmers & Backyard Gardeners

Episodes

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  Ep. 103: Fall Soil Health for Flower Farmers with Matt Powers 22.10.2026 1h 18m

  Fall is the season most of us treat as cleanup. Pull the spent plants, rake the beds, stop thinking about the ground until spring. Matt Powers makes the case that those months are the most important soil window you get all year, and the one most growers hand back without realizing it. In this episode he walks through what to actually do with your beds between frost and spring planting. Why bare ground costs you. What the sun and the wind pull out of compost you leave uncovered. Why leaves beat wood chips. How to treat a compost pile before you spread it so the nutrients stay where you put them. What a cover crop can still do for you this late in the season. And what soil microbes have to do with how long a cut flower holds in the vase. Much of what he recommends costs very little. Some of it is free and already sitting in your yard. What you'll hear in this episode: * Why covering bare ground is the first thing to change this fall, and the cheapest way to do it * The case for leaves over wood chips, and why leaves are still feeding your soil four years later * How to treat compost before you spread it so you keep what you paid for * What's happening underground that decides how long your flowers hold in the vase * Whether you farm twenty acres or tend one raised bed in the backyard, there is something here you can do this week. About our guest Matt Powers has written more than twenty books about soil and regenerative growing. They include The Permaculture Student, a classroom curriculum he gives away free to anyone who cannot pay, and Regenerative Soil. He was a touring bass player in New York and then a high school English teacher in the Sierra foothills of California before any of this, and he came to soil looking for the healthiest food he could grow for his family. Today he teaches soil science and soil microscopy to growers around the world. Where to find Matt * https://regenerativesoil.com [https://regenerativesoil.com/] * https://regenerativesoilscience.com [https://regenerativesoilscience.com/] * https://www.thepermaculturestudent.com [https://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/] * https://www.instagram.com/mattpowerssoil * https://www.youtube.com/@MattPowersSoil Stay Connected With The Podcast * Web: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/the-backyard-bouquet-podcast/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebackyardbouquetpodcast * Newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/backyardbouquetpodcast
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  Ep.102: Forcing Tulips for Winter Blooms with The Tulip Workshop 15.10.2026 1h 6m

  Most of us think of tulips as a spring flower. Emily von Trapp and Linda D'Arco built their businesses on proving otherwise. Emily grows 200,000 tulips a year in Waitsfield, Vermont, all of them in crates, in soil, blooming in the dead of a Vermont winter. Her first stems come around January 7th. Linda grows in Jay, New York, up in the Adirondacks. She forces hers hydroponically, and she started in the basement of a little farmhouse. They met in a Facebook group. Linda saw Emily's photo of tulips blooming in January and asked what the magic was. Then she talked Emily into teaching it. Today they run The Tulip Workshop together. In this episode we get into: * What forcing actually is, explained for farmers and backyard gardeners both * What 5C and 9C mean, and why the variety matters as much as the number * Soil versus hydroponic, from two growers who each chose differently * The three mistakes that cost people their crop * Why your bulb order got canceled this fall, from someone who imports them If you have bulbs showing up at your door this month, this episode is for you. ABOUT OUR GUESTS Emily von Trapp grows flowers in Waitsfield, Vermont, on land her family has farmed for three generations. Her grandparents bought it as a dairy farm in the late 1950s, and her parents ran a retail nursery there for 42 years. She was selling bouquets at the local farmers market by the time she was twelve. Today she grows around 200,000 tulips a year for a winter CSA with 350 members across 13 pickup sites, plus up to 15 markets and shops throughout Central Vermont. Her tulips run January through June. Her lilies run April through January. Connect with Emily: * Website: https://vontrappflowers.com [https://vontrappflowers.com/] · * Instagram https://instagram.com/vontrappflowers Linda D'Arco grows on two and a half acres in Jay, New York, inside the six million acre Adirondack Park. She spent fourteen years in independent schools as an art and design teacher and a faculty dean before flowers took over. She learned forcing at one of Emily's first workshops in 2018, went hydroponic after a research trip to the Netherlands, and now runs Ampersand Bulb Co, a wholesale bulb import company. Connect with Linda: * Website: https://littlefarmhouseflowers.com [https://littlefarmhouseflowers.com/] · https://ampersandbulbco.com [https://ampersandbulbco.com/] · * Instagram: https://instagram.com/littlefarmhouseflowers Find them together: * Website https://thetulipworkshop.com [https://thetulipworkshop.com/] * Instagram https://instagram.com/thetulipworkshop Connect with Jennifer, Host of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast: * Website: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefloweringfarmhousehttps://www.instagram.com/thefloweringfarmhouse/ * Follow the Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/thebackyardbouquetpodcast/ * Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
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  Ep. 101: Growing Dahlias in Texas with Robin Blood of B.Blumen Flower Farm 08.10.2026 1h 9m

  Everyone says dahlias need cool nights, and Robin Blood grows them in Godley, Texas, where the summer hits 105 and the grasshoppers came in like a plague her second year. When Robin sent off her first soil sample, the lab wrote back that they did not recommend growing there, with no organic matter, no phosphorus, and a pH of 7.9. She and her husband Jeff had already stood up old telephone poles for a fence, so they stayed and built the soil instead. Today B.Blumen is a flower farm and wedding design studio serving Dallas Fort Worth, with a team of designers Robin trained herself. In this episode you'll hear: * How Robin shades her dahlias through a Texas summer with no trees on the property, why she lets them rest in July, and why ball varieties hold up when dinnerplates struggle * The rabbit manure that rebuilt her soil, and how she traded labor to get it * The second season she lost nearly every dahlia, and what it taught her about stressed plants and pests * How a well shed turned into a design studio once she realized design made every stem she grew worth more If you've ever been told your climate or your soil makes dahlias impossible, this conversation is for you. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode, and send this one to a grower who needs it. About Robin Robin Blood is the founder and creative director of B.Blumen, a flower farm and floral design studio in Godley, Texas. Her German mother called her Blumen, the German word for flowers, when she was a girl. Robin grew up in a German household with a lot of gardening, and one of her first jobs was picking snails off her mother's plants for a penny apiece. She spent her early career in small businesses, became a director of sales at twenty, and left it all in 2020 to farm eleven acres of limestone and sand. Today B.Blumen grows without pesticides, no-till, and serves weddings across Dallas Fort Worth with a team of designers Robin trained herself. CONNECT WITH ROBIN * Instagram: https://instagram.com/b.blumenflowerfarm * Personal: https://instagram.com/thebloomboss * Website: https://bblumenflowerfarm.com [https://bblumenflowerfarm.com/] Connect with Jennifer, Host of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast: * Website: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefloweringfarmhousehttps://www.instagram.com/thefloweringfarmhouse/ * Follow the Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/thebackyardbouquetpodcast/ * Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter Robin and I talked about the Dahlia Design Summit in this episode. If you missed it live, All-Access Replay Tickets are still available here: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/dahlia-design-summit  [https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/dahlia-design-summit]
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  Ep.100: Arnold Wittkamp of Thursd: Inside the Global Flower Industry 01.10.2026 1h 9m

  About eighty percent of the flowers sold in this country are imported, and I have said for years that local growers are not competing with each other, we are competing with that eighty percent. So this week I wanted to understand it better, from someone who knows it from the inside. Arnold Wittkamp is the founder of Thursd, the global online magazine for the flower and plant industry, and he came to it after thirty five years in the trade that started on the floating flower market in Amsterdam when he was fifteen. This is a different kind of episode for this show. On this podcast we typically focus on local flowers and the growers who grow local flowers, and this episode looks into the whole global system instead, into imports and exports and what a flower farm actually builds in a village in Kenya. I asked him the hard questions and he answered all of them. Some of what we get into: * Why Arnold believes our industry told the wrong story about sustainability, and what he thinks we should have said instead * What the flower trade has built for families in Kenya, Ethiopia, Colombia and Ecuador, told through one farm he watched change over ten years * Why he says anyone handling imported flowers every day should be wearing gloves * The oldest flower shop in Amsterdam, and the four words its owner said to every stem he unwrapped This podcast still believes wholeheartedly in local flowers, and nothing in this hour changed that. We believe that they matter for our communities, they matter for the environment, and they matter for the people growing them. Keep asking where your flowers came from, find your local flower farmer, and support them. About Arnold Wittkamp Arnold Wittkamp is the founder of Thursd, the global online magazine for the flower and plant industry, which he launched in September 2019 around the line Thursd is good for you. Thirty five years in the trade took him from the Amsterdam floating flower market to his own export company to importing scented garden roses into a European market that did not want them. Thursd works with growers, breeders and industry organizations including the Kenya Flower Council, the Ethiopian producers' organization, Asocolflores and Fairtrade. He is building Thursd Shop, a direct to florist sourcing platform that will be partly owned by the growers themselves. He also hosts a Dutch language podcast with more than sixty episodes on how people really feel about flowers. Connect with Arnold: * Thursd: https://thursd.com [https://thursd.com/] * Thursd author program: https://join.thursd.com/solutions/author-program * Arnold on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoldwittkamp/ * Arnold's personal site: https://arnoldwittkamp.nl [https://arnoldwittkamp.nl/] * Email Arnold: [email protected] Connect with Jennifer, Host of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast: Website: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefloweringfarmhousehttps://www.instagram.com/thefloweringfarmhouse/ Follow the Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/thebackyardbouquetpodcast/ Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
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  Ep. 99: Sustainable Floristry and Foam Free Design with T.J. McGrath 03.09.2026 1h 13m

  T.J. McGrath spent years in advertising, marketing, and retail before he ever touched a flower professionally. He was one of nine kids and never had a garden growing up. Then his partner told him he was miserable, pointed him toward a little shop with a flower cooler two towns over, and everything changed. Today T.J. runs an entirely foam free studio in New Jersey, grows his own flowers at a cutting garden called Jardin de Buis, and teaches designers around the world how to work without single use plastic. In this conversation he is honest about all of it, including the part where he was the one who brought floral foam into the shop in the first place. In this episode: * Why T.J. walked away from a job offer with medical benefits in the middle of a pandemic, and what his partner said that made the decision for him * The real reason floral foam is only a small piece of the sustainability picture, and what the industry keeps missing * What he tells students who freeze at the design bench because they are afraid of doing it wrong * The single most powerful thing a flower lover can do to change the floral industry, and it takes about thirty seconds If this conversation moves something in you, share it with a friend who needs to hear it. And if you have not yet, follow The Backyard Bouquet Podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode. About T.J. McGrath T.J. McGrath is the founder of T.J. McGrath Design, a sustainable floral studio in Long Valley, New Jersey. One of nine children and raised without a garden, T.J. came to flowers by an unlikely route: a literature and philosophy degree from Rutgers, followed by years in advertising, marketing, and retail. In 2015 he quit a job that was making him miserable and took a part time position at a flower shop to learn the trade from the inside. He helped grow that shop into a sought after event studio. In 2020, with $700 in savings and a pandemic underway, he opened his own business. Today T.J.'s studio is entirely foam free and built on locally and American grown flowers. He grows his own at Jardin de Buis, a micro flower farm on a friend's property in New Jersey. Teaching is now the largest part of his business, and he leads workshops across the country and internationally, from Colorado to Brazil to Costa Rica. Connect with T.J.: tjmcgrathdesign.com [http://tjmcgrathdesign.com/] | Instagram @t.j._mcgrath_design  [https://www.instagram.com/t.j._mcgrath_design/] T.J. heads to Costa Rica the first week of September to teach at Iberiata 2026, held at Hotel Los Lagos in the La Fortuna region. It is a celebration of forty years of a Latin American floral school, and his session is on designing a dinner table. ***Grab Your Dahlia Design Summit Ticket. Join us September 13 through 18. Six days of dahlia design taught by fourteen farmer florists and floral designers. Whether you're growing your first row or you're already selling to florists, every session is about doing more with the dahlias you already have in the ground. Live Pass is $147. All Access is $247 and you keep every session for life. Come join us: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/summit  ***
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  Ep.98: Ellen Frost: The Florist Who Went All In on Local Flowers 12.08.2026 1h 9m

  Some of the most beautiful lives begin by accident. Ellen Frost was gifted a bag of tulip bulbs for her wedding. She had never planted a thing. She read the directions, put them in the ground, and when they came up that spring, something in her shifted. She grew up in a working class town in Buffalo with no connection to flowers or gardens or nature, and yet that one small spring miracle set the course for everything that came next. Today Ellen runs Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, one of the early pioneers of the local flower movement in this country. Every stem she uses is grown within a hundred miles of the city. But this conversation is about so much more than sourcing. It is about being a bridge between farmers and the people in your community. It is about the courage to say no so you can say a bigger yes. And it is about the relationships that turn out to be the real harvest. Ellen shares the moment she read Flower Confidential and understood the global flower system for the first time, the year she peaked at 150 weddings and nearly broke her body doing it, and the decision to scale down to 30 that saved her business. She talks about the farmer-florist relationship like the matchmaking it really is, and she gets honest about what she believes now that she did not believe when she started. Connect with Ellen and Local Color Flowers: * Website: https://www.ellenfrost.com/ * Local Color Flowers: http://locoflo.com/ * YouTube (weekly videos, her main home): https://www.youtube.com/@ellenfrostflowers * Substack, Flower Nerd: https://ellenfrostflowers.substack.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenfrostflowers ***Grab Your Dahlia Design Summit Ticket. Join us September 13 through 18. Six days of dahlia design taught by fourteen farmer florists and floral designers. Whether you're growing your first row or you're already selling to florists, every session is about doing more with the dahlias you already have in the ground. Live Pass is $147. All Access is $247 and you keep every session for life. Come join us: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/summit  ***
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  Ep. 97 Erin Clark of Muddy Hill Flower Farm: Growing 5,000 Dahlias in Snohomish County 03.07.2026 1h 10m

  Some stories start with a grand plan. Erin Clark's started with five dahlias and a need to get outside. In 2020, home with a new baby and a world gone quiet, Erin went looking for an outlet. She found it in a 60-square-foot patch of dirt. A neighbor walked by, saw her planting, and the next day her husband gifted Erin a whole tray of tubers. That neighbor turned out to be a dahlia hybridizer who lived right around the corner. That small act of generosity grew into Muddy Hill Flower Farm, where Erin now grows more than 5,000 dahlias on a field her husband once mowed for his dad's cattle. In this episode, Erin and I talk about the messy, beautiful middle of building a flower farm. We get into soil tests and powdery mildew and the great vole wars. We talk about why she refuses to spray her field, what the Snohomish County Flower Collective means to her, and the brand-new community event she is helping bring to her town this fall. And at the end, Erin shares something tender about what this work has given her. It moved me. I think it will move you too. Key Takeaways * Generosity is contagious. One neighbor's gift of tubers started an entire farm. * You do not have to start big. Erin began with five dahlias in 60 square feet. * Local flowers are not the same product as imported flowers. Freshness, vase life, and how they are grown all matter. * Growing without chemicals is possible. Nematodes, lacewings, neem oil, and patience do a lot of the work. * Community beats competition. Flower farmers who buy and sell from each other serve their customers better. * The biggest reward is not the money. It is the confidence and courage that grow alongside the flowers. Resources and Links Mentioned * Muddy Hill Flower Farm: https://muddyhillflowerfarm.com [https://muddyhillflowerfarm.com/] * Instagram / Facebook: @muddyhillflowerfarm * Snohomish in Bloom (September 12, 2026): https://www.snohomishinbloom.com/ Guest Bio Erin Clark is the farmer and florist behind Muddy Hill Flower Farm in Snohomish, Washington. She grows locally loved cut flowers without herbicides or pesticides on three acres just outside town, and she is best known for her dahlias, with more than 150 varieties. Erin sells through her farm stand, DIY buckets, local wholesale, and the Snohomish County Flower Collective, and she is helping bring the first-ever Snohomish in Bloom celebration to her community this September. Related Episodes * Episode 86 with Melissa Stewart of Sweet Bloom Farm  * Episode 61 with Jennifer Joray (the two-part conversation on ticks and organic, no-spray solutions) ***Grab Your Dahlia Design Summit Ticket. Join us September 13 through 18. Six days of dahlia design taught by fourteen farmer florists and floral designers. Whether you're growing your first row or you're already selling to florists, every session is about doing more with the dahlias you already have in the ground. Live Pass is $147. All Access is $247 and you keep every session for life. Come join us: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/summit  ***
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  Ep. 96: Growing Regenerative Cut Flowers in a Vineyard with Jocelyn Bentley-Prestwich of Cluster Flock Farms 04.06.2026 1h 12m

  Jocelyn Bentley-Prestwich plants peonies, daffodils, and alliums underneath her grape vines, and she has quadrupled the value of every linear foot of her vineyard by doing it. She runs Cluster Flock Farms and Vineyard on twenty-five acres in Husum, Washington, where she grows wine grapes for some of the best winemakers in the Columbia Gorge, raises chickens and ducks and geese, runs flower subscriptions and a flower stand on Highway 141, and books a la carte wedding florals. She is also a queer female farmer who walked into a male-dominated wine industry that did not make room for her, and refused to leave. In this episode: * What it looks like to be a female farmer in a male-dominated industry, and the moment Jocelyn started saying "tell me I can't and I'll show you I can" * The regenerative companion planting strategy that increased the value of every linear foot of her vineyard by four times * The day she stopped calling her farm Blue Elk Farms and renamed it Cluster Flock, and how naming the mess set her free * "Side of the road mode," the lesson Jocelyn's mother taught her about letting go of what you cannot control * What she would tell the version of herself from ten years ago who did not yet know if she belonged If you have ever felt behind, or like you do not quite belong, or like you are barely holding it together this season, this is your episode. Share it with another farmer who needs to hear it. Guest Bio Jocelyn Bentley-Prestwich is the owner of Cluster Flock Farms and Vineyard in Husum, Washington. She has been stewarding twenty-five acres in the Columbia Gorge since 2014 alongside her wife Lacy. Raised by a botanist mother and an organic chemist father, Jocelyn has been in plants her entire professional life. She started in horticulture as a teenager, worked in garden design and at-risk-youth education in the San Francisco Bay Area, and made her way to the Pacific Northwest with a long list of land requirements and a dream of building something diverse and regenerative. Today she grows Tempranillo, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Syrah grapes for Gorge winemakers, runs flower subscriptions, an a la carte wedding florals business, and a flower stand on Highway 141. She is a queer farmer, a mother, and a self-described nerd who believes everything is connected. Connect With Jocelyn * Website: https://clusterflockfarms.com [https://clusterflockfarms.com/] * Instagram: @clusterflockflowers [https://www.instagram.com/clusterflockflowers/] For Show Notes And More Podcast Details: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/the-backyard-bouquet-podcast/ Sign up for our newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/backyardbouquetpodcast Save the Date: The Dahlia Design Summit is coming September 13-18. Join the waitlist now for early-bird ticket access: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/dahliadesignsummitwaitlist
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  Ep.95: Soil Health for Flower Farmers with Jen Aron of Blue Raven Farm 14.05.2026 1h 11m

  Today's guest is the woman I call when I have a real soil question. Jen Aron is a regenerative farmer and soil agronomist at Blue Raven Farm in Corbett, Oregon, and she has spent the last decade quietly proving that soil is its own ecosystem with its own voice. In this episode we walk through what is actually happening beneath our feet, why compost may not be the answer you have been told it is, and the mantra she has taught me to repeat when farming feels too slow: trust and stay the course. In this episode: * Why "no-till" is not the one-size-fits-all answer the internet wants it to be * The ball pit analogy that finally made soil structure click for me * Why too much compost can actually invite disease into your plants * The single tool Jen would buy on day one if she could start her farm over Guest Bio Jen Aron is the founder of Blue Raven Farm in Corbett, Oregon, where she has been farming regeneratively for ten years. She is an agroecologist, farmer, and educator. Before Blue Raven, Jen spent seven years with Oregon State University Extension, running a beginner urban farming program where she trained over a thousand new farmers. Today she consults with flower farmers, food farmers, and growers across the Pacific Northwest, helping them build soil that can actually hold a farm up. Connect with Jen * Website: https://www.blueravenfarm.org [https://www.blueravenfarm.org/] * Instagram: @blue_raven_farm [https://www.instagram.com/blue_raven_farm/] Related Episode With Marion Boswall: * Episode 52 with Marian Boswall [https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2025/03/26/ep-52-the-kindest-garden-and-regenerative-gardening/] Sign Up For Podcast Newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/backyardbouquetpodcast
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  Ep.94: Graeme Corbett on Life in Bloom: From TV to a Cutting Garden in Kent 30.04.2026 1h 3m

  What does it actually look like to leave one career behind and walk into the one that's been waiting for you? In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Graeme Corbett, the grower and storyteller behind Bloom & Burn, just weeks after the release of his brand new book Life in Bloom. Graeme spent years working in television in London, casting contestants for shows like The Voice and Celebrity Big Brother, before flowers found him. He talks about the long line of side projects that almost worked, the friend who told him to go to flower school, and the ten-year journey from a £7.50 posy at a London coffee shop to a cutting garden in Kent. What you'll hear: * Why he calls himself a florist first and a grower second * How a £99 online course turned into his most powerful funnel * The honest story of writing a book when you don't come from money * Why "people can only say no" is the line that changed everything If you have ever felt stuck in a career that doesn't quite fit, this one is for you. Life in Bloom by Graeme Corbett (available in the UK and US through your local bookstore or online) https://amzn.to/3QFDCPv Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/05/01/ep-94-graeme-corbett-life-in-bloom/ Guest Bio Graeme Corbett is the founder of Bloom & Burn, a floral design studio based on a converted cow shed in Kent, England. After ten years in television casting, he pivoted to flowers in 2016 and has since built a workshop business that draws students from around the world. His first book, Life in Bloom, was released in April 2026. * Instagram: @bloomandburn [https://instagram.com/bloomandburn] * Website: bloomandburnflowers.com [https://www.bloomandburnflowers.com/] Sign Up For Podcast Newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/backyardbouquetpodcast
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  Ep.93: Should Flower Farmers Be Using AI? 25.04.2026 55m

  I've been using AI on my flower farm for over a year, and up until recently, I've only told a handful of people. Today I'm opening a conversation I haven't heard many in our industry having. It's a conversation every farmer deserves to be part of, whether you end up using AI or not. In this solo episode, I share what I actually use AI for in my business, what I refuse to touch, and the ethical questions I've been living with: the data centers threatening the Hood River watershed, the training data taken without consent, the job displacement that's already real. I'm not here to convince you of anything. I'm here to make sure you have enough understanding to make the choice that's actually yours. I talk about why the plow is the perfect metaphor for this moment. Why rare is going to matter in the age of AI-generated content. Why two things can be true at the same time. And why, on May 2nd, I'm hosting a workshop for flower farmers who want to learn how I use these tools to get back in the dirt. Key Takeaways: * AI isn't new. What's new is the speed and the agentic leap. AI used to answer questions. Now it takes action. * The farmers who care most about the earth should not be the last ones at the table. They should be the first. * You can't advocate for or against a tool you have never touched. Curiosity is how you earn your seat in the conversation. * Two things can be true at the same time. AI can give small farmers their time back, and the data centers that power it can be threatening our watersheds. Both are real. * Boycotting is also a form of advocacy. The farmer who chooses not to use AI is doing something meaningful, and that choice deserves respect. * When everything online sounds the same, the voice that sounds like a real human is going to matter more than ever. Like a unicorn dahlia. Rare. Real. One of a kind. You're Invited to Join Us For A 2 Hour AI Workshop on May 30th: On May 30th I'm hosting a workshop called AI That Gets You Back in the Dirt. Two hours. Five tools. Live demos on a real flower farm business. No tech jargon. No rocket ships. It's $47 to attend live, or $97 for VIP access which includes the lifetime replay, my Flower Farmer's AI Prompt Vault with over 50 prompts written for our industry, and my Voice Profile Builder so when AI helps you with your work, it keeps you sounding like you and not like every other AI-generated post on the internet. Whether you decide to use AI or not is your decision alone. I respect whichever option you choose. What I do believe is that this is a conversation our industry needs to have. We need a voice at this table. And to have one, we have to understand what we are talking about. Save your seat for May 30: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/AI-That-Gets-You-Back-in-the-Dirt [https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/AI-That-Gets-You-Back-in-the-Dirt] Connect With Jennifer * Website: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com [https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/] * Instagram: https://instagram.com/thefloweringfarmhouse * Newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/backyardbouquetpodcast * Substack: https://substack.com/@thefloweringfarmhouse Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/04/25/ep-93-should-flower-farmers-be-using-ai/
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  Ep. 92: Growing Tulips & Dahlias in Holland with FAM Flower Farm 23.04.2026 1h

  There are some places on earth that flower people put on a bucket list and never quite cross off. Holland's flower bulb region is one of them. The fields outside Keukenhof, where tulips bloom in waves of color every spring and tourists from around the world stop their cars on the side of the road just to take a picture. For Linda and Marlies of FAM Flower Farm, that landscape is daily life. Linda and Marlies grew up as friends in middle school, both surrounded by flowers. Linda married Henk, a tulip grower whose family has farmed the same land for 240 years. Marlies married Hubert, whose grandfather was a dahlia man and whose fields now produce millions of dahlia tubers a year. For most of their adult lives, the two friends watched their husbands grow flowers that traveled the world without ever knowing where they ended up. Then, around a dinner table about seven years ago, an idea was born. Why not show people the beauty of the farm? Why not build a direct relationship with the gardeners who plant these bulbs? FAM Flower Farm became that bridge. A consumer brand built on top of two separate family farms, run by two women who can finish each other's sentences. In this conversation, we talk about everything from harvesting tulips with machines that mow entire fields in a few hours, to selling complete dahlia clumps instead of dividing them, to what it means to be authentic in a world flooded with AI. We also talk about their new slogan, "Grow Your Own Happiness," and what they want every gardener to feel when they open one of their boxes. What you'll hear in this episode: * How two lifelong friends built a global brand on top of two separate family farms * The magic of Holland's sandy soil and sea climate (and why most dahlia tubers in the world come from a few small kilometers) * Why FAM ships full dahlia clumps instead of cutting them apart the U.S. way * How AI, robots, and authenticity are reshaping flower farming in Europe If this episode stirs something in you, share it with a friend who dreams of growing flowers, or visiting Holland someday. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Show notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/04/23/ep-92-fam-flower-farm-growing-tulips-and-dahlias-in-holland/ Resources & Links Mentioned * FAM Flower Farm Website: famflowerfarm.eu [https://www.famflowerfarm.eu/] (ships within Europe only) * Instagram: @famflowerfarm [https://www.instagram.com/famflowerfarm/] Guest Bio Linda and Marlies are the lifelong best friends behind FAM Flower Farm, a consumer flower brand rooted in two Dutch family farms in Holland's famous flower bulb region. Linda married into the Vanderslot family, where her husband Henk grows tulip bulbs and cut flowers on land the family has farmed for 240 years. Marlies married Hubert, whose family farm produces over 200 varieties of dahlias for export across Europe. Together, the two women have built a global flower community by sharing the beauty, the seasons, and the real life behind the fields most people only ever see in photos. Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
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  Episode 91: Dahlia Hybridizing with Kristine Albrecht of Santa Cruz Dahlias 16.04.2026 1h 5m

  There are people who grow dahlias, and then there are people who spend two decades quietly shaping what dahlias can become. Kristine Albrecht is one of those people. From a weed-choked quarter acre in Santa Cruz, California, Kristine has built an extraordinary breeding program, growing 1,500 seedlings a year and selecting only about 50 to carry forward. Her cultivars (all marked with the K.A. prefix) have won some of the highest honors in the dahlia world, including multiple Daryl Hart Awards and the Stanley Johnson Medal. She was the first California breeder to receive that honor. In this conversation, Kristine walks us through how she got started (giant pumpkins played a role), what hand pollination actually looks like in the field, why she keeps organza bags on everything in August, and what traits she's breeding for right now. We also get into soil health, virus testing, the Juicy Fruit gopher trick, and why your soil test matters more than any recipe you'll find online. Key Takeaways * Hybridizing is a numbers game and a patience game. Kristine starts with 1,500 seedlings and keeps about 50 by season's end. * Hand pollination gives you more control over traits. Open pollination from bees adds genetic diversity. Both are valuable. * First-year seedlings are incredibly vigorous, and most are virus-free when grown from seed. * About 87% of older dahlia varieties carry virus, which is why new, clean varieties matter so much. * There is no universal soil recipe for dahlias. Get a soil test and feed based on what YOUR soil actually needs. * Kristine practices no-till farming with cover crops, building soil biology over time rather than tilling each year. * She carries a bleach solution in a wearable pack to sanitize cutting tools between every plant. * Patience is everything. Some breeding goals take 4 years. Some take 15. Resources & Links Mentioned * Santa Cruz Dahlias website: santacruzdahlias.com [https://santacruzdahlias.com/] * Kristine's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santacruzdahlias/ * Kristine's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristinealbrecht3560 * Book: Dahlia Breeding for the Farmer, Florist, and the Home Gardener https://amzn.to/4sEjn1Q * Book: Dahlias: Seed to Bloom https://amzn.to/4myYF25 * Stonehouse Dahlias (licensed seller of K.A. varieties. Sales are every other Saturday from March 21 through May 16.) https://stonehousedahlias.com/ Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/04/16/ep-91-dahlia-hybridizing-with-kristine-albrecht/ Guest Bio Kristine Albrecht is a dahlia hybridizer and grower at Santa Cruz Dahlias in Santa Cruz, California. She's been growing dahlias since 2006 on a quarter-acre suburban plot that's home to over 2,600 dahlias. Kristine is vice president of the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society, author of two dahlia books, and a tireless advocate for excellence in dahlia cultivation. Her K.A. cultivars have earned national recognition including multiple Daryl Hart Awards, the Stanley Johnson Medal (she was the first California breeder to receive it), and the Les Connell Medal. Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
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  Ep. 90: Sarah Raven, The Woman Who Changed How We Grow Flowers 08.04.2026 1h 5m

  She left medicine to grow flowers at her kitchen table. Thirty years later, Sarah Raven has written fourteen books, built a garden empire at Perch Hill, and changed how a generation thinks about cut flowers. In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Sarah to talk about her journey from wildflower-obsessed child to one of the most respected voices in the gardening world. They dig into the science of cutting (and why your garden actually gets better when you harvest from it), the magic of dahlia hybridizing, lessons learned from contaminated compost, and the heart behind Sarah's newest book, A Year of Cut Flowers. What you'll hear in this episode: * Why "liveheading" is Sarah's secret to a more productive garden * The pinching rule that changed everything: "If in doubt, pinch out" * How the local flower movement is reshaping the industry on both sides of the Atlantic * What Sarah's new book offers gardeners at every level (and why her own daughter finally picked it up) If this episode inspires you, share it with a friend who loves flowers. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Resources & Links Mentioned * Sarah Raven's Website: sarahraven.com [https://www.sarahraven.com/] * Sarah's Book: A Year of Cut Flowers https://amzn.to/4vhXc41  [https://amzn.to/4vhXc41] * Sarah's Podcast: Grow Cook Eat Arrange [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grow-cook-eat-arrange-with-sarah-raven-friends/id1550764907] * Sarah's Instagram: @sarahravenperchhill [https://www.instagram.com/sarahravenperchhill/] | @sarahravensgarden [https://www.instagram.com/sarahravensgarden/] Guest Bio Sarah Raven is a gardener, teacher, author of fourteen books, and the founder of a gardening brand rooted at Perch Hill in East Sussex, England. Trained as a doctor, she transitioned to full-time growing after the birth of her second child. For more than thirty years, she has championed seasonal, locally grown cut flowers through her writing, teaching, and her weekly podcast, Grow Cook Eat Arrange. Her latest book, A Year of Cut Flowers, is a month-by-month guide drawing on three decades of growing, trialing, and arranging at Perch Hill. Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/04/08/ep-90-sarah-raven-a-year-of-cut-flowers/ https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/the-backyard-bouquet-podcast/
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  Ep. 89: Flower Farming in Australia's Barossa Valley with Katie Arena 26.03.2026 1h 1m

  She started with zero qualifications, a personal trainer husband, and six dahlia tubers from the hardware store. Now Katie and her husband Rob run Little Lyndoch Flower Farm in Australia's Barossa Valley, growing just three crops on under an acre, and building a business that actually brings them joy. In this episode, Katie shares how they sold everything during COVID to fund the farm, why growing fewer crops made them more profitable, and what it really looks like to build something from the ground up with your partner. What you'll hear in today's episode: * Why Katie and Rob narrowed their entire farm down to just three crops, and how that one decision changed everything * The story of Uncle Lucky's greenhouse and how six dahlias became 3,500 * How they figured out outsourcing when they couldn't keep wearing all the hats * Katie's honest take on marketing, showing up authentically, and why the quick 3-second reel always outperforms the one that took 2 hours Resources & Links Mentioned * Little Lyndoch Flower Farm: littlelyndochflowerfarm.com.au [https://www.littlelyndochflowerfarm.com.au/] * Instagram: @littlelyndochflowerfarm [https://www.instagram.com/littlelyndochflowerfarm/] About Katie: Katie is the co-founder of Little Lyndoch Flower Farm, a seasonal flower farm and creative studio in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. Alongside her husband Rob, Katie has built a business that includes wholesale cut flowers, dahlia tuber and ranunculus corm sales, floral design for weddings, and a 3-day retreat called Bloom. She's currently developing the Bloom Academy for online learning. With no formal training in floristry, farming, or business, Katie and Rob are completely self-taught and share their journey openly to inspire growers and creatives around the world. Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/04/08/ep-89-flower-farming-in-australia-little-lyndoch-flower-farm/ If this episode resonates with you, would you share it with a flower friend? And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
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  Ep. 88: Farming as Meditation: What Mindfulness Taught Chelsea Willis About Growing Flowers 17.03.2026 56m

  Chelsea Willis is the kind of farmer who notices the frogs in the dahlias. She's the owner of Sweet Delilah Farm on Sauvie Island, just 15 minutes outside Portland, Oregon. But her path to farming wasn't traditional. With a background in psychology and youth counseling, Chelsea originally wanted to find a way to get young people out on the land, because she saw how much easier it was for them to open up when their hands were busy and their feet were in the dirt. Then a piece of land became available. And then another. The second one, a former lavender you-pick farm, she closed on in two and a half weeks. She'd never planned to buy property at that moment. But it felt right. Today, Sweet Delilah Farm is a space where community gathers. Chelsea hosts dahlia workshops, floral design classes, plant dye days, and end-of-season u-picks. She's growing over 88 varieties of sweet peas for seed production, tending close to 250 roses, and dreaming about bringing yoga and meditation back to the farm. For Chelsea, farming isn't just about production. It's about presence, connection, and leaving space for whatever needs to come up, whether that's a pest issue in the field or a conversation that needs to happen. If this episode stirs something in you, I'd love for you to share it with a fellow flower friend. And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss a new conversation. Resources and Links Mentioned * Sweet Delilah Farm: sweetdelilahfarm.com [https://sweetdelilahfarm.com/] * Instagram: @sweetdelilahflowerfarm [https://instagram.com/sweetdelilahflowerfarm] * Wild Craft Studio (Portland, plant dyeing classes) * Sweet pea varieties mentioned: Piggy Sue, King's Coronation, Prince of Orange * Rose varieties mentioned: Dainty Bess, Coco Loco, All Dressed Up, Fun in the Sun Guest Bio: Chelsea Willis is the owner and farmer behind Sweet Delilah Farm on Sauvie Island in Portland, Oregon. With a background in psychology, trauma work, and meditation, Chelsea brings a deeply human approach to everything she grows. Her farm is home to workshops, intimate weddings, u-pick events, plant dye classes, and a beloved flower truck. She grows over 88 varieties of sweet peas, tends close to 250 roses, and is passionate about creating space where people can connect with the land and with each other. Show notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/03/17/ep-88-sweet-delilah-farm/ Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
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  Ep. 87: Jenny Rae Swan: Ten Years of Flowers, Failures, and Finding Joy 26.02.2026 54m

  Some of the best flower farming stories start with a moment that changes everything. For Jenny Rae Swan, it was losing her mother at a young age and realizing that the only place she felt truly at peace was in a garden. That grief, paired with a wild amount of courage, led her to quit a stable career in higher education, rent a small plot on a local blueberry farm, and start growing flowers with no land of her own and very little money. She told everyone she knew she was going to be a flower farmer. Most of them thought she was out of her mind. Ten years later, Flower Well is an ever-evolving operation with multiple acres, a dedicated team of women, a thriving wholesale business, a wedding design studio, dahlia tuber sales, holiday wreath classes, and a garden-inspired design style that's earned her a reputation for movement, texture, and color. Jenny Rae is proof that you don't need to have it all figured out to start. You just need to start. Key Takeaways * You don't need land, money, or a perfect plan to begin. Jenny Rae started on a rented plot with savings from selling antiques on Etsy. * Telling people your dream out loud builds accountability. Jenny Rae told everyone she was going to be a flower farmer before she had any idea how. * Farming and floristry feed different parts of the creative soul. Jenny Rae needs both to feel fulfilled. * Hiring help is scary but essential. Your team members will bring strengths you don't have. * The real cost of flower farming is far beyond what most people expect. Tractors, delivery vehicles, equipment, land preparation. It adds up fast. * Gardens are the greatest design teacher. Jenny Rae designs by thinking about how a garden moves, clusters, and breathes. * Joy is the through-line. On the hardest days, an evening walk through the flowers brings everything back. If this episode encourages you, would you share it with a friend who needs to hear Jenny Rae's story? And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss a new episode of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast. Guest Bio Jenny Rae Swan is the owner and founder of Flower Well, a cut flower farm and floral design studio in the countryside of Rochester, New York. A first-generation farmer florist, Jenny Rae started Flower Well in 2015 on a rented plot at a neighboring blueberry farm. Her work is known for its garden-inspired design, focus on color and texture, heirloom varieties, and the way her arrangements move. She recently welcomed her second son and celebrated 10 years of growing flowers. Connect with Jenny Rae at Flowerwell: Website: https://www.flowerwellny.com [https://www.flowerwellny.com/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowerwellny Show notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2026/03/12/ep-87-jenny-rae-swan-10-years-of-flowers-failures-and-joy/ Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
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  Summit Speaker Series: Kamille Scellick, Kamille's Flowers 26.02.2026 20m

  If you've ever looked at a dahlia and wondered "what if I could create my own variety?" Kamille is the person you need to learn from.   Her session is unlike anything else at the summit. She's taking us on the journey of a seedling from its first bloom to its official debut and showing how the art of hybridizing is so much more than science.  It's about mentorship, community, and opening your garden to others.  What I love about Kamille's approach is that she believes the most beautiful varieties come from shared wisdom. Growing something new doesn't have to be a solo journey.   Kamille is speaking on Day 2 AND joining our live Q&A panel that afternoon so you'll have the chance to ask her your questions directly.  📅 Day 2 | March 4th | 1:00 PM PST  📅  Q&A Panel | March 4th | 3:00 PM PST   🎟️ Live Access: $99 | All Access: $199 Learn more and grab your ticket: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/profitabledahiliasummit Connect with Kamille on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kamillesflowers/
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  Summit Speaker Series: Charlotte Smith, The Marketing & Mindset Coach for Farmers 24.02.2026 18m

  Charlotte is a 5th generation farmer and mindset coach and there's a reason she's one of our first speakers on Day 1 of The Profitable Dahlia Summit. Everything starts with mindset. You can learn every strategy in the world for selling dahlias, but if you don't believe you're worth charging for them, none of it matters. Charlotte is going to get your head right so you can take full advantage of every single session that follows. She's tackling the "broke farmer trap," the pricing guilt, the scarcity thinking, all of it. And she's replacing it with the confidence you need to actually build a business that pays you. If you've ever thought "I just feel bad charging people for flowers"... Charlotte has something to say about that. Charlotte is speaking on Day 1  of the summit, March 3rd  at 9:00 AM PST Grab your summit ticket at the link in the show notes. Tickets start at $99. https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/profitabledahiliasummit Connect with Charlotte Smith: https://www.instagram.com/charlotte.m.smith/
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  Summit Speaker Series: Heather Cain on Selling Dahlias to Florists 23.02.2026 17m

  In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my Instagram Live conversation with Heather Cain of Petal Pink Flower Farm. We talked all about selling dahlias to florists and she shared so much that I know you're going to want to hear her full session at the summit. Have you ever thought about selling your dahlias to florists but weren't sure where to start? What do they actually expect? How do you price for wholesale? How do you even approach them? Heather is answering all of it at the Profitable Dahlia Summit. From what florists look for when they buy dahlias, to how to scale your operation, price your blooms, and pack them like a pro. If you're looking for a consistent, reliable revenue stream for your dahlias, selling to florists could be the game changer. And Heather is the person to learn from. Heather is speaking at the Profitable Dahlia Summit on March 3rd at 2:15 PM PST where she's going even deeper on this topic. The Profitable Dahlia Summit is March 3-5 with 13+ speakers covering every path to profitable dahlias. Tickets start at $99.  Grab your ticket at the link in the show notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/theprofitabledahliaschedule Connect with Heather of Petal Pink Flowers: https://www.instagram.com/petalpinkflowers/