Who are you?
My name is Louise MacLarty. Last year I set up The Flower Field at Crasky, a small field and tunnel to grow cut flowers on our farm based in the Black Isle, about 15 miles north of Inverness. At the moment I sell posies, jam jars and the occasional bouquet in my local area and have also started to sell to a few local studio florists.
How long have you been in business?
April 2020 was when my first flower for sale bloomed but I was working towards setting this business up from May of 2019. Here on the farm we have never grown anything more exotic than turnips and kale in the last 20 years, so this is an exciting diversification!
Why did you sign up to The Business of Growing flowers?
In May 2019, I met Paula at her ‘Introduction to Flower Farming’ course and this was the day that gave me the push and the inspiration to start flower growing. Shortly after this, I joined Flowers From the Farm and when the The Business of Growing Flowers course was advertised, I knew from having met Paula and a taste of her teaching, that this course would be full of the information and advice that I was going to need in order to succeed in my new venture. I have also signed up to Paula’s short online course on rose growing.
What did you like most about the course?
The course is structured into manageable topics with a number of different learning techniques, many of which involve interaction on the private chat group which is super helpful! Over the winter is a great time to do the course as there isn’t much good weather or daylight, especially in a Highland winter, so outside work is limited. The course worksheets and templates have been a great help to organise my mind, seed stash and calendar. I confess that the marketing modules seemed less relevant to me last winter as I had not yet grown or sold any flowers but I think in the next year or two this will be where my focus will shift.
I am a very practical and visual learner and my favourite parts of the course were the videos. I also have benefitted hugely from the Facebook group. Not only do I love the polytunnel tours from Claire, Carol and Paula and other growers but being able to ask a question (no matter how ‘daft’ it might seem!) on the group chat and get experienced answers and opinions is INVALUABLE!
One of the recurring themes of the course is the importance of good ‘Record Keeping’ and finding what works for you. I use a mixture of methods. I use a white board in the polytunnel to write down what I have sown/harvested/planted etc that week then take a picture of the white board at the end of the week. I also have been doing my own polytunnel videos, wandering round talking to myself and videoing the flowers is not only lovely to look back on but also a very helpful visual record.
What have you learned to do differently?
As a new business, it’s been tempting to try and do everything at once and this can be overwhelming at times but from the course I’ve come to realise that you can’t do this and you have to prioritise your time and use it where it what matters most. I am trying my best to ignore the weeds where I can and making a list of jobs I can do over winter which will hopefully make life a little easier next year like laying paths and organising kit. This is a constantly evolving project and the field and the tunnel will never be ‘perfect’ and will never be the same two years in a row! It’s about learning to roll with this and adapt as the need arises.
This course helped me to focus and organise my enthusiasm and time in my first year and I would recommend anyone looking to develop their business and streamline their growing to consider this course. I am looking forward to doing the course again as part of the alumni group as I feel that now I have some growing experience under my belt, that I will be able to apply the lessons even more effectively!