Writing doesn't come naturally to me, but I liked the idea of documenting the journey of my flower growing adventure.
The process of a tiny seed or an ugly tuber (they really are the weirdest looking things) turning into a wonderful flower, is one that I find truly magical. Flowers have always been a big part of my life, growing up my Mum and Grandma had the most wonderful gardens and still do, in fact my Grandma and Grandad used to show their flowers in local village shows.
Although I've been growing flowers in my garden for years, last year was the first time I've grown to sell and that was exciting. I've had a dream of being a flower farmer for some time, following other people's journeys on social media only made the dream bigger. Don’t get me wrong it’s hard work and not all a fairy-tale of picking flowers on a sunny day and making them into a pretty bouquet, but it's the ‘mucky getting stuck in kind of work’ that I really enjoy.
As lock down started, I was furloughed like much of the country and found that I had more time on my hands. Earlier on in the year we’d been lucky enough to get a plot on an allotment locally, and with all the new space I’d planned an area to grow cut flowers.
As a family we found ourselves spending more and more time on the allotment. The flowers were growing in abundance and it soon became clear that being outdoors with my wellies on and my hands in the soil was where I was happiest. I knew if I didn't do it now I never would, so Little Wild Flower was created and the dream became a reality.
Putting myself out there was very scary. What if no one thought the flowers were as wonderful as I did. Fortunately, that wasn't the case and the response has been fantastic, better than I could ever have imagined. It seems the importance of knowing where your flowers are coming from and how they are grown is something that more and more people are interested in.
Whilst the allotment is a fantastic place to grow, it’s main purpose is to provide our family with our own source of fruit and vegetables. So whilst I will always grow some flowers there; as it appears the allotment bees loved them last year, there isn’t sufficient space to grow on the scale that will be needed. At the end of last year the opportunity came up to take on a field locally and this is where the next chapter of my little business will begin.
If you got this far, thank you for reading and I hope it's given you a little insight into my world. I have so many plans for this year and I can't wait to get started.
Gemma x