Planning the work— working the Plan

To be clear, Allan and I never thought we’d start a flower farm let alone a nursery when we purchased our property on beautiful Orcas Island. We bought a little boat (Booty) to shrimp and crab, got some kayaks, and went for hikes every day. But Allan and I just can’t help ourselves.

Very much alike when it comes to grand projects, we looked at the hay field out in front of our new home and started imagining what that three acres could look like. Having always gardened to provide habitat for native bees and birds, we discovered concepts like edible gardens and permaculture.

As you can see, we had a lot of lawn and a whole lot of fallow hay field growing a ton of tansy weed. I started making calls and eventually, we partnered with Alex Tomayo Wolf and Emmet Wood to develop a proper plan. The initial mind map was focused on permaculture and included an orchard, berry patch, wine grapes, table grapes, hardy kiwi, and a small area for flowers. Infrastructure included a greenhouse, barn, pond, and a well.

That planning phase took about eight months of thoughtful consideration of light, terrain, views, and what it would take to transform our soil, which was very depleted from decades of hay. I don’t think Alex or Emmet had any idea how quickly Allan and I would literally dig in and get at it. The day that plan was finished, Allan built a fence (a hearty thanks to those of you who have honked encouragement) and we have been working our tails off ever since, bending and molding that plan to new ideas and opportunities.

I come from a long lineage of gardeners. My grandmother on my father’s side continued to garden even after poking her eye out on a garden stake. My other grandmother grew fields of poppies and vegetables in Santa Barbara. My father had a whole composting system so that my mother could have gardens dedicated to cacti and succulents, giant beds of perennials, shade gardens exploding along the back of our house, and vegetable beds where she’d scream and chase the peacocks taking dust bathes out in her flower beds.

And so I carried the tradition forward, transforming an entire acre of grass in Santa Maria, CA into an oasis, planting over 40 trees and banks of perennials, and winning a county award. Years later, Allan and I moved to Salt Lake City and immediately got into beekeeping (notice me with no gloves).

Our house in Salt Lake City also went from lawn to zero-scape, which just blew everyone in the neighborhood away and inspired others to do the same. Let me tell you, getting the Blue Fescue into perfect rows was a triumph.

Laura Walker, my friend and President of the Garden Club here on Orcas Island, suggested I take Floret’s online course on flower farming and that got me thinking about growing way more flowers. I haven’t met a perennial I didn’t like and about half the farm is dedicated to roses, daylily, iris, hellebore, dahlia, peonies, and an entire shade garden with a huge variety of shade-focused perennials we can use to make meadow bouquets in workshops. But I have also committed to annuals and will dedicate half an acre to cut flowers and annual hanging baskets, potted collections, and plants for sale.

With irrigation in mind, the pond was dug, a giant disaster that turned into a magnificent asset to our property (another blog post). Frank Gates (nothing happens without Frank Gates— another post), moved dirt and brought load after load of soil and rock while Allan and Dave toiled on infrastructure starting with that fence to keep the deer out, a workshop, my glass greenhouse— a veritable growing powerhouse— a chicken coop that had to be moved (also another blog post), a hoop house, barn and then Mark dug a well with his green machine and hit gushing glorious water at 118 feet.

Initially, I wanted to simply focus on offering cut flowers, eggs, and You-Pick bouquets. But when Lorna closed and then Skagit Hort closed, I focused on growing plants from seed and plugs. Stay tuned as we forge ahead with our Little Nursery, Farm Stand, and Sweet Pea Patch for You Pick! As always, thanks to all the folks who support our little venture, The Little Farm on Olga Road. —Carol