Inspire

We take inspiration from a lot of excellent people and resources. For farm practices we enjoy listening to Charles Dowding and Richard Perkins and believe that in long term, the benefits of not tilling our soil, at our scale are overwhelming.  We won’t call the gardening cops on you if you decide otherwise but we are always up for a good conversation on the practice.  These two are among many who are leading the charge on practicing no-till. We had the pleasure of meeting Richard at a conference in January of 2019, and his passion is overwhelming.  He reminded us that if we pay attention to our soil, feed it when it needs nourishment, let it process the ingredients it has in a natural way, that we can grow anything, and grow it well.  This doesn’t mean we don’t listen to our plants too. We try to be kind and water when they need it not necessarily on a schedule that fits our lifestyle. Charles made us aware of the old adage of “one years seed is seven years weed”, boy oh boy is more truth than anyone will admit.  No one likes to weed their garden but getting it done at the right time saves years literally over the course of your farming career.

We used to go crazy with spreadsheets to make sure everything was being done and succeeded properly. Now we have found TEND AG©  and use this software to the fullest of our capabilities.  We both believe that finding ways to decrease costs and waste is the third leg of the stool when it comes to being a profitable sustainable farm and TEND AG  gives us the best bang for the buck we can find.

There are many great flower farmers out there. If you are going to pick an influencer to follow, or emulate for that matter, of course at the top of everyone’s list is Floret. Erin Benzakain clearly is “the one to watch”, and strive for.  Floret consistently is at the top of their game. As the new evolution of flower farming continues to expand at exponential rates, Erin clearly has a long term plan and executes at such a consistently high level.  We applaud the fact she normalized our craft into such a desired way to make a living.

Obviously for us we have a special place for those families who chose farming as a way of life. Raising kids with a special understanding of how to grow, how to raise animals, and how to help your neighbour makes us feel good about the future. So when it comes to running not one but two business on the farm, we find Mary Heffernan at 5 Mary’s Farm very relatable.  Mary’s Instagram feed brings daily inspiration and lessons that remind us others are “doing it” so whatever stands in our way can be overcome.  We only dream of being to make it look so smooth and of being able to perfect our brands like Mary has and still have a full home life.