Tom Precht frames out the greenhouse structure for their aquaponic flower enterprise in Poolesville , Maryland ..
a popular online course produced by Floret , a brilliant flower farmer based in the Pacific Northwest and avid Dahlia grower . Five minutes in and we were hooked .
We immediately went home , bought seeds , trays , soil , lights , tools , and whatever else we thought we needed and began to flower farm . Let ’ s quickly address a distinction that is important for clarity . Gardening is generally a practice that is for private use only ; you grow food or flowers for your own consumption and enjoyment . Whereas farming is generating these products for others to enjoy , and typically with the intent of making an income from that production and sale ( although donating is just as valid a farming validation too ). Okay back to the story !
We saw some early success , a few thousand dollars from selling our zinnias , cosmos , sunflowers , and other cuts . Then each successive year we saw more revenue ,
generated more relationships with floral designers and florists , incurred even MORE expenses , and expanded what flowers and foliage we grew . It seemed like this might be an actual career option . Would it ever pay as much as a lawyer , or a technical salesperson would make ? Uh , no , not likely . But we were at a point in our lives when meaning and passion held more value than the almighty dollar . So , we set out to start a real-life flower farm and make it our real-life job . And thus , Grateful Gardeners was born .
What about the environment ? We care deeply about it , we want to preserve it , we want to restore it . It was a core principle in our business ethos from the beginning . When we came up with our threeword mission : “ Local . Sustainable . Collaborative .”, we memorialized how important it was going to be in everything we did on the farm . We dove into organic and sustainable practices , figuring out how we could implement all new methods and technologies related to this type of farming . We read books , talked with other farmers , listened to podcasts , watched You- Tube videos and documentaries , took courses , volunteered on other farms , and absorbed every piece of information we could . In the end we took up many popular practices ; only using Organic Materials Review Institute listed products , worm tea fertigation , soil amending , reduced plastic usage , cover cropping , no-till , just to name a few . But one approach spoke to us , the art of growing plants in water , or hydroponics .
Upon investigating hydroponics further , we realized there was an even greener alternative to hydroponics , the less well-known aquaponics . Hydroponics has many ecologically friendly ramifications , not the least of which is dramatic reductions in water usage and the complete elimination of soil
plenty I summer growing 2022 13