I designed my last bouquet for 2019 today. A modest seasonal wreath to illuminate the ephemeral magic, radiate the beauty and calm, transmute the grit and grind of growing. It was an infusion of dried strawflowers, lavender, gomphrena, hot pepper, hops, hazelnuts, and thyme. I am continually amazed at the intensity of color and optimism present in blooms, even when dried. Supported by a wreath of grapevine, layers of evergreen, and plumes of switchgrass, and shaped by my hands and hearts, my mind daydreams to this past season.

Flowers are a distillation of Nature’s music. They help us tune in and fine-tune how we show up in the world. They are with us in celebrating and commemorating life’s milestones and to welcome strangers and family alike. My hope is that the flowers we grew for you this season brought joy and new connections and brought a bit of beauty and balance to your days. I hope you found your investment in our farm’s flowers worthwhile, enriching, and were inspired by nature and the relationships that emerged from the rays and rhizomes—bouquet feasts and brunches embedded within the hospitality of the land. This soil and soul love I find with flowers is indeed sustaining and has kept me going and growing on our farm for 12 years. It's quite a regenerative and humble place to be immersed in—all this flower power moving through the landscape that we get to share with you!

playing with the June flower palette. Photo by Treasure People

Here is how flowers sustained us in 2019:

Growing flowers and designing for weddings, events, and per custom request, is a way I can freely express my love for the Earth and share this with you. I am grateful for the time spent in the company of flowers, the customers they help me attract, the poems and designs they inspire, the opportunities for growth and learning, and the just in time flow they invoke from seed to vase.

Flower farming is not all rainbow petals, peace through peonies, and transcendent swag, there is a lot that goes into growing and designing bouquets. In summary here is how this played out in 2019: You may want to settle in with a warm cup of coffee/tea, as by now, even though I like to write poetry, you likely know that when it comes to prose, brevity is not a strongpoint.

Flowers By the by the #’s:

Market Channels:

• 12 Weddings, 2 Brunch n Blooms, 2 Night Markets, 2 Photo shoots (thank you Patricia with Treasure People Photography!), Custom Bouquets/other requests – 5

Design Breakdown (does not account for R & D i.e. bouquet play):

On the design front, we hope you enjoyed the diversity of blooms, textures and changing colors throughout the season. On our farm June brought a banquet of perennial blooms with peonies, delphiniums, and lilies demanding attention. In July and August, it was all about peak season blooms where anything goes with wildflowers, fruits, herbs, and cultivated cuts for floral feasts. We were bedazzled and left in the haze of blooms. In September and October, it was a deep dreamy formal harvest feasts of dahlias, lisianthus, celosias, and native grasses. Here is what emerged in designs:

• 359 Bouquets

• 51 Buckets of Blooms

• 84 Flower Coutre designs

• 9 Flower Structures and sculptures

Fellow flower farmer, designer, and inspiration, Diana Mikonowicz (and farmer Erin’s mom) showcasing a collaborative flower structure design at the 2019 Slow Flower Summit.

I could not have accomplished the all design work without the support from my mom, Diane Mikonowicz, and farm friends, Lisa Cochrane, and Linda Gillen. It’s a treat to work in the ‘bouquet zone’ with you all.

Bouquet Biodiversity:

Perennials are a permanent fix in our bouquets and on our farm. Their stabilizing effect with the soil represents staying power. This practice continues to be reinforced as we witness the impact of climate change on our fields and local watersheds. From an energy and conservation perspective, growing a diversity of perennials means a minimal footprint on the land, including: less time needed for site preparation; less soil disturbance and microbial disruption that comes with tillage; reduced need for investment in infrastructure such as hoop houses and greenhouses that use energy for heating and materials (plastics); increased soil and water holding capacity; increased diversity of pollen for our honeybees and native insects, birds, and bats that feast on flower 'power'; and (hopefully) increased intrigue and appreciation of what can be grown locally and withstand Wisconsin's fluctuating weather and growing season. They also embody the 'multiplier effect'. Start with 1 penstemmon, and by fall, during divide-and-transplant season, you now have 5 penstemmon plants.

Of the 133 different species (not counting the number of different varieties of the same species), that we intentionally cultivated and wildcrafted for your bouquets:52 were perennial cut flowers, 24 represented woody perennial fruit, shrubs, and vines, 49 were annuals, and 8 were vegetables. As a percentage of production, 58% of our flower production consisted of perennials; 37% was devoted to annuals/biennials; and 4% highlighted vegetables (for example hot peppers, okra, lettuce seed pods).

Different varieties/species notwithstanding:

· Ave # species/bouquet = 14

· Ave # species represented in weddings and events = 23

Flower Income:

Net Sales: $13,238.20

Flower Expenses (non-labor)

· $2,380.65 Input costs (seeds, plants, tools, design supplies etc.)

· $728.10 Sales Tax

I did not account for flowers’ percentage of overall farm expenses such as % of insurance, depreciable equipment expense, professional services etc. This is something that we assess in our end of season budget analysis. While we maintain lean overhead costs on our farm as part of our production model, the biggest expense is our labor. Here is a breakdown of time allocated to flowers from a Seasonal Perspective (mid-February – end of October):

Flower Labor:

Farmer Erin tending to the summer flower and herb beds. Photo by Treasure People Photography

• Plant Care, Flower Field/production and maintenance = 248 hrs

• ex: from seeding transplants to cover cropping

• Harvest time = 50.25 hrs

• Bouquet making = 64 hrs

• Delivery and event set up = 42 hrs

• Customer support/communication = ave 10 hrs

• 'Off season' marketing/outreach/communication = 22 hrs

• On-farm events/hosting (Brunch n Blooms) = 17 hrs

Total Time = 453.25 hrs

*Ave hourly wage = ~$22.34 before taxes

My goal is to optimally account for our flower offerings so that it does not need to be subsidized by other market channels on the farm. As I was assessing the numbers, reflecting on the season as a whole, there is always room for fine tuning in terms of operational efficiency and production that minimize time and input needs, the cost of which increased by 6% from 2018. I strive to find a healthy balance between supporting an optimal number of weddings and events, fair pricing for clients, and maintaining the dignity of our labor and our craft. I think fellow flower farm friend and designer, Mary Jo Borchardt of Five Green Acres sums it up well on her website: “Local, sustainable flowers from your farmer florist are not the budget or discount option. Think of them as artisanal. The premium prices reflected in our custom work speak to the intense care, management, and labor that goes into every piece we craft for you. If our relationship begins with enough notice, this work for you begins with the seeds we select, germinate, and then plant into the field, the visionary conversations we have about your floral dreams, and ends with the styling of every sprig in its place on your big day.”

Early September Bouquet for grown and designed for Leah and Simon. Audre Rae Photography

We share the same ethic and because we believe that everyone should have access to local, organic, seasonal flowers, we offer different levels of services to accommodate every budget.

What’s in Bloom: Opportunities to embrace the beauty, calm, and ephemeral magic of our flowers.

We are starting to book for 2020 weddings and events and if you know of friends, family, and others who are need of locally grown beautiful, bountiful blooms to help celebrate, please send them our way! For our farm, 12 weddings seems to be the sweet spot.

We are planning on hosting Brunch n Blooms which you are of course welcome to come and we can catch up, play with flowers and enjoy brunch! We are also taking our flowers to the street, putting the petals to the paper, and collaboratively designing flower art for Reedsburg’s Arts Crawl. And of course we always welcome the spontaneity of flowers—and will continue to offer custom bouquets and buckets of blooms for you. You can order directly from our website or contact me.

RSVP for June 2020 Brunch n Blooms

RSVP for August 2020 Brunch n Blooms

· Weddings and Events

· Custom Bouquets

· DIY Buckets of Blooms

· Brunch n Blooms – Set for June and again in August or September

· Poetry in Bloom – On-farm and in the street, look for ways to encounter poems + blooms

· Seeding the Cosmos Salon – Celebrating Art, Science and Flower Collaborations Date TBD

· Write Time Farm Retreats R & D, Stay tuned!

· Flower Coutre R & D

Trust and relationship continues the heartbeat of our farm. Rob and I work well together, notably because we recognize the need for both autonomy and interdependence. Rob spearheads the vegetable production and CSA flow (he’s steadfastly done this since 1993!). I take the lead on our flower program, and we come together in our orchard. Being part of our farm means being part of the mutually supportive relationships generated from seed to vase. All of this energy is integrated into the flowers and fruits for bouquets—planting, transplanting, and supporting systems that will outlast our lifetime. I am grateful to each of you for putting your trust in our farm, our flowers, and our future. I look forward to welcoming back flower friends and meeting new flower neighbors in 2020 and beyond.