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Hi, you two. Have you ever considered "contract growing" or growing flowers with functional purposes? You have lots of dried flowers taking up space... if you ever grow flowers that are relevant to local fabric dyers and/or herbalists and once they're all dried at the end of the season, or even at this point in late winter, then have a pop-up sale where local artisans who work with and prefer locally-grown flowers/herbs may like to snap them up and get them off your hands pronto. It's a matter of picking them. For herbalists, they may make use of the entire flower head and leaves, but not the stems. The point is that you pick them, but buyers process the dried flowers themselves (i.e., less processing time for you). Or have people pick them fresh near the end of the season... or you pick them fresh (with zero processing on your part) and people order/buy them from you. Seems a waste to compost flowers if you've taken the time to pick and dry them, give them space to dry, and then compost them. For serious dyers/herbalists, this beats ordering dried materials online and not knowing exactly where they're from or how old the materials is. For herbalists, dried materials are best used within a year. Just a thought on how to gain extra income from dried stuff or flowers/herbs with functional properties. :)
you're worried about the pricier bouquets, but florists around here charge 70-80$ (us) for a nice large arrangement with a vase. and people buy them. Maybe you could include glass vases for a larger more expensive bouquet to help "justify" the price point.
You guys are very good at your business! You sure can pivot when you need to adjust to customer demand. You're always learning and open to new ideas. I love when you tell us about the business and the decisions you make. I hope 2023 is an awesome year for you in every way: health, happiness, prosperity. Hugs for the kitties!
Freaking love this channel. Glad to see y'all doing so well. For the dried flowers: u could easily sell a 4 hour workshop where folks come, learn what flowers to pick for drying, pick them themselves, then teach them to make a bouquet. At the Sustainable living centre where I work, we sell courses like these for$100-$150 per person. Could easily get a $2k day out of each workshop. Not something you'd want to do all the time, but maybe once per season for a little boost and maybe a few extra in summer when you hit that selling slump. Good luck with next year!
I'm not sure if it's something you'd be interested in, but you could possibly expand into funeral bouquets with the option of local delivery? I don't know the prices there/local funeral flower culture, but we've paid up to $180usd to have a decent bouquet delivered to the funeral home when we couldn't make it, and most pretty ones are over $100. It could be a good option to make those large beautiful arrangements.
I think your lessons learned and end of year videos are some of the best. I love the transparency and honesty you have with us. Thanks for imparting the wisdom.
Your videos are treat for me..I wait for them each week... Just a small suggestion from a dedicated viewer I think you should also be regular with the uploads and upload date... I constantly check the channel for the videos but others might not and youtube also prefers regular uploads which might help the channel grow even more😊
Dried flower wreath/arrangement workshops...use the dried flowers without the labour to make them into bouquets or arrangements. This could be a good thing for mothers day or Easter.
Missing your 5th year recap videos! I imagine you guys are very busy getting spring flowers going but it would be nice to see you continue the trend of the yearly recap videos 😊
My husband found your channel about 4 years ago and we've been fans ever since. I am so happy for your successes and am very inspired by your process so far. We had a mini homestead .25 acres and we sold it all for 35 acres. We are so excited get started farming again but right now we are renovating a double wide on our UA-cam channel Suburban Garden Permaculture Style Keep up the good work and I hope you make your goal next year! 🌹🌼🌻⚘🏵💐
On the dried flowers, you could hold workshops to craft wreaths, hire someone to teach it, charge an all inclusive fee for supplies and instruction. Have you thought about selling dried flowers as as a wholesaler? Hire an employee to do the chores, so you can focus your time on the skilled/creative side of the business.
Good job! Thanks for sharing your wisdom. My idea is: ask us what would you do to increase product line with flowers? I have one right now! Idea: cut off the heads of all the flowers you should have composted and grind some and stir to breakup then....put them in a big crock or jar and sell them as potpourri. Use it as a freebie gift to buyers of $40 bouquets. Or sell them. Tell them how to add oils or other fragrances and to sew a bag, or place in jar with mesh lid to emit fragrance etc. Let them scoop their own and take home to craft with, to gift or make a pretty disokat in a bowl. A tussy mussy. Good luck.
Is there a way to make your road stand so that when someone takes a selfie your stand would be identifiable? That way if someone posts it, other people would know where to go to get your beautiful flowers.
I found this channel because I love gardening and seeing pretty blooms. I keep coming back because my husband and I have also started a small business and I love getting to listen to small business owners who are further along. Love the wisdom.
What about an evening (or Saturday) workshop with the dried flowers a couple of times a month? Exposure to new clients and a fun night out creating their own bouquet with friends? I'd sign up for that. Make new connections and build your network.
So wonderful to be a part of your journey! With the excess dried flowers, could they be made available as bulk pick up from your stand? There are so many brides looking for cost effective DIY center pieces for their weddings, that picking up a totally unlaboured bundle of dry flowers hits the perfect note as a 'deal' for them and cost effect disposal for you? The less 'worked on' they are, the more people will feel they've gotten a hidden deal. Just my two cents!
Y’all have done so well with achieving your goals over the last several years, and it’s been amazing to watch that happen over time! I genuinely can’t wait to see how much progress you make in year five.
Hello from Australia!! I love watching all your flower shenanigans, and those late night harvestings just remind me of how I work!! 😊 These 10 lessons are a great insight for the rest of us. I admire yoir self reflection and always looking to improve on your business. You guys are an inspiration. I also love learning about and looking at yoir beautiful flowers. Serena, I reckon you'd be fantastic at running flower bouquet and arrangement workshops. Id attend if I lived closer!! ❤
Nice one! You guys do a great job of considering and reconsidering your plans and patterns and especially for a business, that’s important. I have 2 thoughts further to your ideas (and you’re also welcome to disregard) 1. Pricing, if you’d like to sell more $40 bouquets, you might consider an additional higher one as well ($60, $80 whatever) from a sales psychology perspective, that suddenly makes the $40 price seem cheaper. So you might not see the uptake on the super expensive item, but you might see an increase in the midrange sales 2. The selfie spot! That so cool to see your customers excited about your flowers! You could even lean into this idea with a mural or some type of art purposely for the use of taking selfies. It may even attract none customers to pull over too! Great vid as always! You guys certainly deserve your upcoming vacation 👍
This was a fabulous video--perfect amount of time and to the point. But now making $40? $60? $80 dollar bouquets has me worried. I picture Serina at 2am in the morning-counting, going crazy trying to finish up making bouquets at different price points--so how about this idea: Save time and keep making the $20 bouquets: BUT HANG A SIGN: Buy 2 bouquets--and choose 2? 3? additional stems (from buckets you’ve prepared with a mix of flowers) AND THE VASE COMMENTS WERE RIGHT ON TARGET: Something to think about for 2023: People will probably not be going straight home, might be visiting somebody after they shop--it would be great to have the option of getting a vase. And I see the downside--Serina is not at the market and Ian will not want to be creating vase arrangements on the spot--(and is water for vases close by to the booth?).
@@occalgal5918 i agree that Serina working super late sucks. To increase sales, you either need more product or higher priced product. And the question is, do you want to make a ton of small sales (you need to find more customers) or make higher value sales. Serine’s schedule is more of an efficiency / time management situation; if not, her time is undervalued. Expanding and making a business profitable usually requires figuring out how to do more with less, whether it’s time or raw materials, usually both. But to expand their sales they’ll need to figure out how to get more flower stems out the door.
2023 will be your year! i love that the farm is selling only flowers...and there is money to be made! word of mouth spreads and both saturday at market and your farm stand out front will blossom and bloom for you!
The Okanagan is nice because it's so dry, you don't need to worry about very many diseases. But you can't grow anything without irrigation. We get a pretty long season too, especially once you are used to the weather patterns
Do you put any dried flowers in the roadside stand? Just sell them cheap and fast. Online too. Blowout sale. Giant flowers painted on your fence would sure draw attention. 🌸🌷🌻🌼 I love how you zero in and focus on what works. Thanks for posting a video!
Great video! I’m invested in your success and love your transparency! I appreciate how you are focused on what actually works for you both, physically, mentally AND financially.
I admire the courage of you two. So much respect to Serena and her ability to hone in the important aspects of your business to tweak toward perfection. Ian, hats off to you for trusting and embracing the changes Serena brings to the table. Keeping one's ego in check to further your goals as a couple is the hardest things and you have learned to navigate as if you've been together for decades! Mad love and respect for the content on this channel. Learning from other people's mistakes, and more from their successes. Hugs ❤ from California
Y’all ever thought of selling directly to hotels and restaurants? You could definitely get higher prices from businesses who want massive bouquets to fill a hotel lobby or something. Winery tasting rooms would also love to have local stuff to show off.
Have you read the book "Lean Farm" by Hartman? I'm going through it now, and he's making similar points. These are powerful insights. Keep up the great work!
Could you add a dried flower “buffet” in you farm stand so people could build their own dried flower bouquet? Just try a small corner to see if people bite on it
I love your channel! If I may, I would like to make a suggestion for the roadside stand. I think an investment in landscaping around it would attract more customers. I love seeing a huge beautiful display of flowers where I buy my bouquets. 😊
I am so impressed with your analysis and results! Incredible business know how + incredible plant and growing know how is 🤯I’m a home gardener and a CFO for lots of small businesses here in the states and based on my experience y’all are really amazing, analytical business people.
Great to see you moving on and doing well…watching you guys and nicole from the start and she’s getting on so well herself… your all hard working and inspirational 😊well done👍🏻
I love your honesty as always. With the huge amount of dried flowers. Could you sell them on wholesale to florists etc who do have time to sell them? Get them dried and then get them gone? I held on to mine too long in ‘22 and they went mouldy 😢… Can’t wait for the money one! All power to you guys for 2023!!x
You guys are amazing! I just returned from my Mexico vacation (Cancun) and the weather was soooooo beautiful! Such a pleasant change from the cold & dreary PNW 😃 I will learn some Spanish for my next trip too, not because I need to, but just because it is a Beautiful language!
I enjoy your 10 things you’ve learned each year. You are proving that “work smarter, not harder,” is better…not that you don’t work like crazy on your farm. I love seeing your growth as you’ve developed your business plan over the years. I’ve tried growing lisianthus seeds with zero germination for a couple of years. I’ll try the plugs this spring. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has had issues with them!
I started 72 lisianthus seeds in plugs in February of last year. I ended up with three plants that actually got into the garden. Of those three, 1 got a bud. That bud never opened but held on well after the first snow.
I definitely agree with you need bigger and fancier signs and the side of your property/fence is your marketing opportunity Other thing, if you have that stand already maybe rent a shelf or two for a candle maker, soap maker, some easy grab gift idea what goes with the flowers Who commented the funeral business, genius idea
I don't care about flowers nearly as much as you do but I truly appreciate how forthcoming you are with the business and thought process of things. It's really interesting and my goodness those flowers are beautiful. I wouldn't have even heard of some of those if you didn't introduce me. So just thanks. You guys are awesome.
Great video! Such a good lessons learned. Just a thought on all of your excess dried flowers. I know they would be great to contribute to your compost, but have you thought of creating some dried flower bouquets and donating them to places like nursing homes or food banks? Nursing home patients’ lives could be so blessed by this! And what a gift it would be for folks who need to go to a food bank to be able to pick up some thing beautiful to inspire them and bring them joy. ❤
You mentioned that some flowers dry better than others. Could you talk about that? Which flowers would you definitely dry? Which ones would you not? Thanks!! BTW, I live in Montana and went to Hobby Lobby and they had those clear Christmas bulbs for 90% off! I bought some and made ornaments with my grandkids. So much fun!!
Great video. I love watching these every year. I am very glad you had a successful year and that the risk paid off. As a side note, I enjoy your longer format pre-recorded content.
Looking forward to seeing the roadside stand this year. all along the fencing will look gorgeous! Everyone makes mistakes. So long as you learn from them, then it's not so bad. Something I need to do!!
I love watching your videos and learning about growing flowers and watching you make those beautiful bouquets. What are the beautiful blue flowers I see in the pictures you showed of your bouquets? I’m just a gardener that wants to grow beautiful flowers, and start growing food in raised beds this year. I ordered lisianthus from Johnny’s and sowed them the same day I received them. I failed last year, I didn’t get seeds planted until April last year. Thinking of starting hardly annual and perennial seeds here in zone 5b. Love watching you and seeing your critters, kitties.
I really appreciate how transparent you guys are. I love your videos for themselves - they are fun and as a flower lover I love to see what's selling and see beautiful things! But also on top of that you two are great, fun people and I love your channel for it. And the best UA-cam ad I've ever seen was your ad for Established Titles and I'll love you forever for it
Nice to see you so content and happy with where you are at! So inspirational! And thank you for sharing all of your experience with us! I want to start a farm business as well in the future and you help me see things more realistic.
Its seed buying time, one time you made a video on veggie varieties you grew for the farm and home and I LOVED salanova lettuce! It grows so well for me. Thanks for that recommendation and I sure wouldn't mind another video like that 😁😏
Love this video! Thanks for all the info. you give us. You are doing an awesome job on meeting your goals, and you need to pat yourselves on the back for it. Watching you make those decisions, following through, and getting the job done has helped you reach that money number. yes....still at a loss but gaining ground !!! A small market farmer myself, I have had to make some of those same decisions. Grow what sells and get a little help when you need it. I also left alot of the seed starting and went to plugs. Same reasons, ...also I need more help selling at higher prices because of that reason. So rural here..haven't raised my prices in yrs. I do sell a mid range. But they started selling over the larger bouquets. So, I just sell large and med. ---with a few small ones in between. YOU GOT THIS....I can see all your progress from here...no denying that.. Keep calm and carry on!!!
I wonder if you can find a florist to unload the dried flowers on wholesale -- they are very popular for wedding work. You could also sell in bulk on Etsy as craft materials
Great lessons learned! Thank you for the evaluation and sharing. Wishing you both for an awesome 2023. Do consider selling prints too for international viewers ❤️🌺🇲🇾
Do you think growing scented plants like rosemary and lavender could be an option, they can be used as fresh ones as well as dried in sachets (that could be kids' chore) year around?
For 2023 we are seeing food shortages in our local stores so we are trying to figure out how we can capitalize on that given that we don't think it will improve this summer. And are you concerned that if we go into a recession that people won't have $$ to spend on flowers which are a nice to have but not a need to have?
@@YouCantEatTheGrass I appreciate the response so much! I am currently sad because I saw that William Dam discontinued the martini cucumber :( take care from Waterloo :)
I'm really happy for you two! Although, this is making me wonder about what will be of the team veggie t-shirts... Hmmm... I hope this will be an even more prosperous year for you. Congrats on making it to this point and feeling an abundant future is ahead of you!
Yay!!! I have been impatiently awaiting a video. I keep checking UA-cam. (Do you track how often people click on your channel looking for new videos? Does UA-cam put value on that?) As you think about growing your flower “wall” for selfies (did you plant daffodils like I suggested?) think about incorporating a red roof. Either a painted one on the fence or a canvas one people can stand under, maybe metal? That way your name goes along with every picture. I think a sign will take away from the natural beauty you are growing but a red roof makes it your unique space.
What brand is your lock box for payment in the roadside stand and do you have a video on how you choose what you put into building the stand? I'm so thankful for your honesty on how difficult it is to earn money in the business unlike a lot of youtube "farmers".
Enjoy the lessons learned thanks for sharing. I miss the veggies realize flowers are your bread and butter but hope you can still do some items for your stand & yourself.
i wonder if you can sell the dried flowers wholesale to someone? people love dried flower crafts or resin projects, could you sell large boxes of assorted dried flowers on etsy or something? fb marketplace? it probably wouldn't be worth your time if i'm being honest, It just make me sad to think of all those beautiful flowers going in the compost :o
like for instance I see a farm on etsy selling a 10 oz box, 11"x8"x6", for 35$ plus shipping for a random assortment of dried flowers. i'm not sure if that's worth the time to you, but 35$ minus etsy fees for a small box of what would essentially be garbage otherwise, sounds not half bad to me
I'm going to keep the dried flowers to be able to sell to florists and bulk locally, but we are going to be more careful about what we dry in the future
Really great tips! I'm a farmers market grower too. 2nd year. Looking to do flowers this year too. I love growing herbs too. But doing flowers is interesting. Are you guys thinking about doing some wholesale sales to florists this year? I was also thinking you'd do amazing doing weddings... Thank you for continuing to share your knowledge ☺!
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Hi, you two. Have you ever considered "contract growing" or growing flowers with functional purposes? You have lots of dried flowers taking up space... if you ever grow flowers that are relevant to local fabric dyers and/or herbalists and once they're all dried at the end of the season, or even at this point in late winter, then have a pop-up sale where local artisans who work with and prefer locally-grown flowers/herbs may like to snap them up and get them off your hands pronto. It's a matter of picking them. For herbalists, they may make use of the entire flower head and leaves, but not the stems. The point is that you pick them, but buyers process the dried flowers themselves (i.e., less processing time for you). Or have people pick them fresh near the end of the season... or you pick them fresh (with zero processing on your part) and people order/buy them from you. Seems a waste to compost flowers if you've taken the time to pick and dry them, give them space to dry, and then compost them. For serious dyers/herbalists, this beats ordering dried materials online and not knowing exactly where they're from or how old the materials is. For herbalists, dried materials are best used within a year. Just a thought on how to gain extra income from dried stuff or flowers/herbs with functional properties. :)
This was your best video yet! Appreciate the content and shorter length. It's also great to see you both healthy and rested.
you're worried about the pricier bouquets, but florists around here charge 70-80$ (us) for a nice large arrangement with a vase. and people buy them. Maybe you could include glass vases for a larger more expensive bouquet to help "justify" the price point.
Agreed! I absolutely think they can sell larger bouquets, especially if they come with a decent vase. I buy plants aaaall the time just for the pots.
Taking glass vases back and forth to market would be sooooooooo difficult
Serena has such a gift for flower arranging. There are plenty of people selling vegs, go with your strength! Plus the videos become pure eye candy.
You guys are very good at your business! You sure can pivot when you need to adjust to customer demand. You're always learning and open to new ideas. I love when you tell us about the business and the decisions you make. I hope 2023 is an awesome year for you in every way: health, happiness, prosperity. Hugs for the kitties!
I'll give lots of kitten kisses from you, lol. Happy new year
Freaking love this channel. Glad to see y'all doing so well. For the dried flowers: u could easily sell a 4 hour workshop where folks come, learn what flowers to pick for drying, pick them themselves, then teach them to make a bouquet. At the Sustainable living centre where I work, we sell courses like these for$100-$150 per person. Could easily get a $2k day out of each workshop. Not something you'd want to do all the time, but maybe once per season for a little boost and maybe a few extra in summer when you hit that selling slump. Good luck with next year!
Now this is an excellent idea.
The ten lessons videos are always interesting. It’s crazy how much your farm has changed from year one!
I'm not sure if it's something you'd be interested in, but you could possibly expand into funeral bouquets with the option of local delivery? I don't know the prices there/local funeral flower culture, but we've paid up to $180usd to have a decent bouquet delivered to the funeral home when we couldn't make it, and most pretty ones are over $100. It could be a good option to make those large beautiful arrangements.
I think your lessons learned and end of year videos are some of the best. I love the transparency and honesty you have with us. Thanks for imparting the wisdom.
Your videos are treat for me..I wait for them each week... Just a small suggestion from a dedicated viewer I think you should also be regular with the uploads and upload date... I constantly check the channel for the videos but others might not and youtube also prefers regular uploads which might help the channel grow even more😊
“You can only do so much” is totally hitting the spot for me! Seeing your location is on my rather small bucket list.
Dried flower wreath/arrangement workshops...use the dried flowers without the labour to make them into bouquets or arrangements. This could be a good thing for mothers day or Easter.
This is a fantastic idea. I would love to do something like that with my mom, especially leading up to Mother's Day.
Missing your 5th year recap videos! I imagine you guys are very busy getting spring flowers going but it would be nice to see you continue the trend of the yearly recap videos 😊
My husband found your channel about 4 years ago and we've been fans ever since. I am so happy for your successes and am very inspired by your process so far. We had a mini homestead .25 acres and we sold it all for 35 acres. We are so excited get started farming again but right now we are renovating a double wide on our UA-cam channel
Suburban Garden Permaculture Style
Keep up the good work and I hope you make your goal next year! 🌹🌼🌻⚘🏵💐
On the dried flowers, you could hold workshops to craft wreaths, hire someone to teach it, charge an all inclusive fee for supplies and instruction. Have you thought about selling dried flowers as as a wholesaler? Hire an employee to do the chores, so you can focus your time on the skilled/creative side of the business.
Good job! Thanks for sharing your wisdom. My idea is: ask us what would you do to increase product line with flowers? I have one right now! Idea: cut off the heads of all the flowers you should have composted and grind some and stir to breakup then....put them in a big crock or jar and sell them as potpourri. Use it as a freebie gift to buyers of $40 bouquets. Or sell them. Tell them how to add oils or other fragrances and to sew a bag, or place in jar with mesh lid to emit fragrance etc. Let them scoop their own and take home to craft with, to gift or make a pretty disokat in a bowl. A tussy mussy. Good luck.
Is there a way to make your road stand so that when someone takes a selfie your stand would be identifiable? That way if someone posts it, other people would know where to go to get your beautiful flowers.
Great point! Ian made a comment on aesthetics. That is the first thing a customer looks for and keeps them coming back.
I found this channel because I love gardening and seeing pretty blooms. I keep coming back because my husband and I have also started a small business and I love getting to listen to small business owners who are further along. Love the wisdom.
i suggest you experiment with a 70 or 80 dollar bouquet at the market. Love your videos. Thank you.💐
Great idea!
What about an evening (or Saturday) workshop with the dried flowers a couple of times a month? Exposure to new clients and a fun night out creating their own bouquet with friends? I'd sign up for that. Make new connections and build your network.
So wonderful to be a part of your journey! With the excess dried flowers, could they be made available as bulk pick up from your stand? There are so many brides looking for cost effective DIY center pieces for their weddings, that picking up a totally unlaboured bundle of dry flowers hits the perfect note as a 'deal' for them and cost effect disposal for you? The less 'worked on' they are, the more people will feel they've gotten a hidden deal. Just my two cents!
Y’all have done so well with achieving your goals over the last several years, and it’s been amazing to watch that happen over time! I genuinely can’t wait to see how much progress you make in year five.
Thank you so much!!
Hi from south of the border! Using sprays instead of single flower stems---SO SMART!!!
Terrific business lessons, especially for kids starting out on their own. "Rome wasn't built in a day". Thanks for sharing.
Hello from Australia!!
I love watching all your flower shenanigans, and those late night harvestings just remind me of how I work!! 😊
These 10 lessons are a great insight for the rest of us. I admire yoir self reflection and always looking to improve on your business.
You guys are an inspiration. I also love learning about and looking at yoir beautiful flowers. Serena, I reckon you'd be fantastic at running flower bouquet and arrangement workshops. Id attend if I lived closer!! ❤
I love your honesty. Thank you for sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly!
So full of wisdom! I love that you analyze and then adjust.
Nice one! You guys do a great job of considering and reconsidering your plans and patterns and especially for a business, that’s important. I have 2 thoughts further to your ideas (and you’re also welcome to disregard)
1. Pricing, if you’d like to sell more $40 bouquets, you might consider an additional higher one as well ($60, $80 whatever) from a sales psychology perspective, that suddenly makes the $40 price seem cheaper. So you might not see the uptake on the super expensive item, but you might see an increase in the midrange sales
2. The selfie spot! That so cool to see your customers excited about your flowers! You could even lean into this idea with a mural or some type of art purposely for the use of taking selfies. It may even attract none customers to pull over too!
Great vid as always! You guys certainly deserve your upcoming vacation 👍
This was a fabulous video--perfect amount of time and to the point. But now making $40? $60? $80 dollar bouquets has me worried. I picture Serina at 2am in the morning-counting, going crazy trying to finish up making bouquets at different price points--so how about this idea: Save time and keep making the $20 bouquets:
BUT HANG A SIGN: Buy 2 bouquets--and choose 2? 3? additional stems (from buckets you’ve prepared with a mix of flowers)
AND THE VASE COMMENTS WERE RIGHT ON TARGET: Something to think about for 2023: People will probably not be going straight home, might be visiting somebody after they shop--it would be great to have the option of getting a vase. And I see the downside--Serina is not at the market and Ian will not want to be creating vase arrangements on the spot--(and is water for vases close by to the booth?).
@@occalgal5918 i agree that Serina working super late sucks. To increase sales, you either need more product or higher priced product. And the question is, do you want to make a ton of small sales (you need to find more customers) or make higher value sales.
Serine’s schedule is more of an efficiency / time management situation; if not, her time is undervalued. Expanding and making a business profitable usually requires figuring out how to do more with less, whether it’s time or raw materials, usually both. But to expand their sales they’ll need to figure out how to get more flower stems out the door.
@@KatesGarden I think the customers buying two or three are going them as gifts. probably worth asking them going forward.
You guys are crushing it! Loved watching you over the years on your journey! Love seeing the kids getting involved a little as well!
2023 will be your year! i love that the farm is selling only flowers...and there is money to be made! word of mouth spreads and both saturday at market and your farm stand out front will blossom and bloom for you!
100k or bust! lol
I love your team member mentality and dynamic.
Respect for growing in BC, looking at your videos i thought you were in a better climate because you do so well
The Okanagan is nice because it's so dry, you don't need to worry about very many diseases. But you can't grow anything without irrigation. We get a pretty long season too, especially once you are used to the weather patterns
Do you put any dried flowers in the roadside stand? Just sell them cheap and fast. Online too. Blowout sale. Giant flowers painted on your fence would sure draw attention.
🌸🌷🌻🌼 I love how you zero in and focus on what works. Thanks for posting a video!
Great video! I’m invested in your success and love your transparency!
I appreciate how you are focused on what actually works for you both, physically, mentally AND financially.
I admire the courage of you two. So much respect to Serena and her ability to hone in the important aspects of your business to tweak toward perfection. Ian, hats off to you for trusting and embracing the changes Serena brings to the table. Keeping one's ego in check to further your goals as a couple is the hardest things and you have learned to navigate as if you've been together for decades! Mad love and respect for the content on this channel. Learning from other people's mistakes, and more from their successes. Hugs ❤ from California
Data and analytics rules for small businesses as much as for big one ❤ Great work understanding your products and customers 🎉
Y’all ever thought of selling directly to hotels and restaurants? You could definitely get higher prices from businesses who want massive bouquets to fill a hotel lobby or something. Winery tasting rooms would also love to have local stuff to show off.
I love you two,your doing an awesome job. Best wishes for 2023
Your business accum is great!
Live and learn
I love you two.❤. You will be successful sending joy
Have you read the book "Lean Farm" by Hartman? I'm going through it now, and he's making similar points. These are powerful insights. Keep up the great work!
Could you add a dried flower “buffet” in you farm stand so people could build their own dried flower bouquet? Just try a small corner to see if people bite on it
All of y'all's videos are so extremely helpful. Thank you!
Excellent vidéo. Such much more useful than the other UA-cam flower farmers who don’t seem to worry about the bottom line.
I love your channel! If I may, I would like to make a suggestion for the roadside stand. I think an investment in landscaping around it would attract more customers. I love seeing a huge beautiful display of flowers where I buy my bouquets. 😊
Loved the video and the quality of your introspection. All the best of luck this coming season.
Love the Plugs lesson, I’m 100% on outsourcing the seed starting, if I can’t direct sow it I’ll buy plugs.
Love this video. You guys look so rested. The overhead videos are gorgeous.❤😊
It's great to hear that you are able to take a bit of a break this month due to your choice to buy more plug plants. Sounds like a great idea!
You guys are rocking it! All very great points!
I have really enjoyed watching you grow and succeed. Good luck and keep up the efforts in year five. 😃
I am so impressed with your analysis and results! Incredible business know how + incredible plant and growing know how is 🤯I’m a home gardener and a CFO for lots of small businesses here in the states and based on my experience y’all are really amazing, analytical business people.
Great to see you moving on and doing well…watching you guys and nicole from the start and she’s getting on so well herself… your all hard working and inspirational 😊well done👍🏻
I love your honesty as always. With the huge amount of dried flowers. Could you sell them on wholesale to florists etc who do have time to sell them? Get them dried and then get them gone? I held on to mine too long in ‘22 and they went mouldy 😢… Can’t wait for the money one! All power to you guys for 2023!!x
You guys are amazing!
I just returned from my Mexico vacation (Cancun) and the weather was soooooo beautiful! Such a pleasant change from the cold & dreary PNW 😃 I will learn some Spanish for my next trip too, not because I need to, but just because it is a Beautiful language!
So fun! I can't wait to get some sunshine
Can't wait for the $$$$$$ video!
Very interesting talk.
I enjoy your 10 things you’ve learned each year. You are proving that “work smarter, not harder,” is better…not that you don’t work like crazy on your farm. I love seeing your growth as you’ve developed your business plan over the years.
I’ve tried growing lisianthus seeds with zero germination for a couple of years. I’ll try the plugs this spring. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has had issues with them!
I started 72 lisianthus seeds in plugs in February of last year. I ended up with three plants that actually got into the garden. Of those three, 1 got a bud. That bud never opened but held on well after the first snow.
I wonder how the pro's get them to germinate.
I definitely agree with you need bigger and fancier signs and the side of your property/fence is your marketing opportunity
Other thing, if you have that stand already maybe rent a shelf or two for a candle maker, soap maker, some easy grab gift idea what goes with the flowers
Who commented the funeral business, genius idea
I don't care about flowers nearly as much as you do but I truly appreciate how forthcoming you are with the business and thought process of things. It's really interesting and my goodness those flowers are beautiful. I wouldn't have even heard of some of those if you didn't introduce me. So just thanks. You guys are awesome.
Great video! Such a good lessons learned. Just a thought on all of your excess dried flowers. I know they would be great to contribute to your compost, but have you thought of creating some dried flower bouquets and donating them to places like nursing homes or food banks?
Nursing home patients’ lives could be so blessed by this! And what a gift it would be for folks who need to go to a food bank to be able to pick up some thing beautiful to inspire them and bring them joy. ❤
You mentioned that some flowers dry better than others. Could you talk about that? Which flowers would you definitely dry? Which ones would you not? Thanks!! BTW, I live in Montana and went to Hobby Lobby and they had those clear Christmas bulbs for 90% off! I bought some and made ornaments with my grandkids. So much fun!!
Great video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
Great video. I love watching these every year. I am very glad you had a successful year and that the risk paid off.
As a side note, I enjoy your longer format pre-recorded content.
Looking forward to seeing the roadside stand this year. all along the fencing will look gorgeous! Everyone makes mistakes. So long as you learn from them, then it's not so bad. Something I need to do!!
I love watching your videos and learning about growing flowers and watching you make those beautiful bouquets. What are the beautiful blue flowers I see in the pictures you showed of your bouquets? I’m just a gardener that wants to grow beautiful flowers, and start growing food in raised beds this year. I ordered lisianthus from Johnny’s and sowed them the same day I received them. I failed last year, I didn’t get seeds planted until April last year. Thinking of starting hardly annual and perennial seeds here in zone 5b. Love watching you and seeing your critters, kitties.
Your enthusiasm will move you forward into the next and more profitable phase of your gardening lives…..congrats guys….very impressive.🎉😊
I really appreciate how transparent you guys are. I love your videos for themselves - they are fun and as a flower lover I love to see what's selling and see beautiful things! But also on top of that you two are great, fun people and I love your channel for it. And the best UA-cam ad I've ever seen was your ad for Established Titles and I'll love you forever for it
Nice to see you so content and happy with where you are at! So inspirational! And thank you for sharing all of your experience with us! I want to start a farm business as well in the future and you help me see things more realistic.
Its seed buying time, one time you made a video on veggie varieties you grew for the farm and home and I LOVED salanova lettuce! It grows so well for me. Thanks for that recommendation and I sure wouldn't mind another video like that 😁😏
Love this video! Thanks for all the info. you give us. You are doing an awesome job on meeting your goals, and you need to pat yourselves on the back for it. Watching you make those decisions, following through, and getting the job done has helped you reach that money number. yes....still at a loss but gaining ground !!! A small market farmer myself, I have had to make some of those same decisions. Grow what sells and get a little help when you need it. I also left alot of the seed starting and went to plugs. Same reasons, ...also I need more help selling at higher prices because of that reason. So rural here..haven't raised my prices in yrs. I do sell a mid range. But they started selling over the larger bouquets. So, I just sell large and med. ---with a few small ones in between. YOU GOT THIS....I can see all your progress from here...no denying that.. Keep calm and carry on!!!
Excellent video! Thank you. Have you decided what dried flowers are you going to keep???
Great video! A lot of good information packed into a perfect amount of time! Thanks for sharing your experience! 💚
I wonder if you can find a florist to unload the dried flowers on wholesale -- they are very popular for wedding work. You could also sell in bulk on Etsy as craft materials
Make pot pourrie with the dried flower heads!?
Great lessons learned! Thank you for the evaluation and sharing. Wishing you both for an awesome 2023. Do consider selling prints too for international viewers ❤️🌺🇲🇾
Have you thought of making flower confetti with your overflow of flowers? I’m going to make some for my daughters wedding.
We are probably doing that today, lol. And it will be in our next video
Ive been watching your videos for a little over a year. You've come so far and it's awesome to see! Blessings to you all
Do you think growing scented plants like rosemary and lavender could be an option, they can be used as fresh ones as well as dried in sachets (that could be kids' chore) year around?
Do you ever do bouquets for weddings or events? Maybe you can be a supplier for these people as part of your clients.
For 2023 we are seeing food shortages in our local stores so we are trying to figure out how we can capitalize on that given that we don't think it will improve this summer. And are you concerned that if we go into a recession that people won't have $$ to spend on flowers which are a nice to have but not a need to have?
This concern has kept me from going all in on farming flowers 😬
I am so proud of you guys!! Cant wait to watch you kill it this year! ❤️
Excellent video!!
OMGOODNESS! What yellow flower is that at the 9:00 mark....its perfect!
Those are procut sunflowers, grown tight to get small flower heads
@@YouCantEatTheGrass I appreciate the response so much! I am currently sad because I saw that William Dam discontinued the martini cucumber :(
take care from Waterloo :)
I'm really happy for you two! Although, this is making me wonder about what will be of the team veggie t-shirts... Hmmm... I hope this will be an even more prosperous year for you. Congrats on making it to this point and feeling an abundant future is ahead of you!
binge watching all your videos- love what you guys are doing! Hope UA-cam continues to help you guys too, bc you two are so hardworking and inspiring!
All the bouquets are amazing!!!! Which variety is this gorgeous rudbeckia in your bouquets?
Yay!!!
I have been impatiently awaiting a video. I keep checking UA-cam.
(Do you track how often people click on your channel looking for new videos? Does UA-cam put value on that?)
As you think about growing your flower “wall” for selfies (did you plant daffodils like I suggested?) think about incorporating a red roof. Either a painted one on the fence or a canvas one people can stand under, maybe metal? That way your name goes along with every picture.
I think a sign will take away from the natural beauty you are growing but a red roof makes it your unique space.
What brand is your lock box for payment in the roadside stand and do you have a video on how you choose what you put into building the stand? I'm so thankful for your honesty on how difficult it is to earn money in the business unlike a lot of youtube "farmers".
It was from Amazon ca. Options were pretty limited
Great video!
Thank you! Excellent discussion. Curious where you buy plugs? Is there a wholesale grower you prefer?
Enjoy the lessons learned thanks for sharing. I miss the veggies realize flowers are your bread and butter but hope you can still do some items for your stand & yourself.
Hi guys!! Glad to see a new video...I've missed watching your videos💜
You may be able to break down your flowers into potpourri bags!
i wonder if you can sell the dried flowers wholesale to someone? people love dried flower crafts or resin projects, could you sell large boxes of assorted dried flowers on etsy or something? fb marketplace? it probably wouldn't be worth your time if i'm being honest, It just make me sad to think of all those beautiful flowers going in the compost :o
like for instance I see a farm on etsy selling a 10 oz box, 11"x8"x6", for 35$ plus shipping for a random assortment of dried flowers. i'm not sure if that's worth the time to you, but 35$ minus etsy fees for a small box of what would essentially be garbage otherwise, sounds not half bad to me
I'm going to keep the dried flowers to be able to sell to florists and bulk locally, but we are going to be more careful about what we dry in the future
Good video once again, looking forward to following you this year (again) 😊
Really great tips! I'm a farmers market grower too. 2nd year. Looking to do flowers this year too. I love growing herbs too. But doing flowers is interesting. Are you guys thinking about doing some wholesale sales to florists this year? I was also thinking you'd do amazing doing weddings... Thank you for continuing to share your knowledge ☺!
Lol. You guys might not be the best, but you're learning! Besides, you're the coolest! 😎
Wow, impressive audio level and clarity!
What did you use to get the loudest clearest audio I've ever experienced on my Samsung tracfone.