SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is one of the most important aspects of our farm. It affects every part of our business, from farming to design.
FARMING
These are some of the ways we are striving towards sustainability in our farming practices:
Never use harmful pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides
Instead:
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Use weed barrier to reduce weeds
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Provide ideal nutrition to plants to encourage good plant health, enabling them to fight off pests & pathogens themselves
Use drip irrigation to water plants
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Reduces water use compared with other irrigation forms because the water goes straight to the roots and evaporation is minimized
Compost all green waste
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This keeps green waste out of landfills, which contributes to methane production
Improve soil quality by adding organic material in the form of compost from our county supply
Use compost tea as a drench & foliar spray to provide nutrients for our plants as they grow
Re-using weed barrier fabric, flower netting, drip tape, stakes, and earth staples for many years
Sourcing floral buckets from our community which were otherwise destined for the landfill
Foraging greenery from highly invasive plants like autumn olive & asian bush honeysuckle from our farm before they go to fruit & are spread further by birds.
FLORAL DESIGN
These are some of the ways we are striving towards sustainability in our floral design practices:
Craft our designs with flowers & greens grown exclusively on our farm
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Source any additional flowers & greens needed from like-minded farms and businesses in the US, concentrating on Midwest growers first
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This means that carbon emissions are kept to a minimum, as traditionally sourced flowers are largely flown into the US from South America, Africa, & Australia. They are then fumigated with chemicals to ensure that pests and pathogens from foreign countries are not entering the US.
Use floral foam alternatives like compostable Agrawool and Oshun Pouches
Use recyclable/compostable bouquet sleeves stamped with biodegradable ink tied with compostable twine
Avoid single-use plastics
Source used vessels for vase arrangements from thrift stores & our community to reduce our purchase of new goods
GOALS
We want to be fully transparent in our pursuit of sustainability.
Here are some of the things we are working on:
Integrating low- to no-till farming practices
Implementing cover crops in the off-season
Sourcing ribbon made with natural fibers & dyes instead of synthetic materials
Sourcing non-plastic floral jewelry bases