Episode 449: Walt Krukowski of Vermont’s Mountain Flower Farm and his Story of Resilience; plus Lisa Ziegler of The Gardener’s Workshop

Hydrangea harvest with Walt Krukowski of Mountain Flower Farm (c) Taken by Sarah This is the 350th episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, nationwide online directory to florists, shops, and studios who design with American-grown flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. In feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about how the coronavirus pandemic will alter our beloved floral marketplace, perhaps forever, it soon became clear to me that sharing individual stories from our members is one way I could help our community. I don't have many answers and each voice you hear on the Slow Flowers Podcast may not either, but collectively, as we continue to speak honestly about our challenges and successes, we hope to encourage and support one another. Walt Krukowski of Mountain Flower Farm, leading a tour of his growing fields in late September 2019 (c) Taken by Sarah Our featured guest this week is flower farmer-entrepreneur Walt Krukowski of Mountain Flower Farm in Warren, Vermont. Walt joined me via Skype to talk about his amazing farm and I'm honored to add his voice to our Stories of Reslience series. I met Walt last September when I joined a floral sourcing workshop hosted by Kelly Shore of Petals by the Shore and Mary Kate Kinnane of The Local Bouquet. A group of 10 of us gathered for two days of education, including a full day with Walt as he walked us through the beautiful rows of late-summer ornamental crops grown for flowers and foliages. Hydrangeas, viburnum and forsythia for miles, it seemed. A stunning setting and an organic farm where bespoke flowers are grown with care. Sarah Collier of Taken by Sarah photographed the workshop and design sessions and she's shared some lovely photographs of Walt, his farm and his flowers. A selection of hydrangeas grown by Walt Krukowski (c) Taken by Sarah Here's a bit more about Mountain Flower Farm:Nestled in The Green Mountains of Vermont’s Mad River Valley, the family farm is focused on quality, sustainability, and community. For over 20 years Mountain Flower Farem have served discerning floral designers nationwide with grower direct overnight shipping. Our reputation has been founded on producing exceptional quality seasonal crops, like Peony, Lilac, Snowball Viburnum, and Hydrangea. The farm adheres to sustainable agriculture techniques like cover cropping, companion planting, and nurturing beneficial insect habitat to provide the backbone of our #beyondorganic farming operations. Crops are grown in vibrant, healthy soil, with a balanced biological ecosystem, certain to contain abundant nutrients, minerals, and live soil microbes. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides are never used. Mountain Flower Farm is located in Vermont's Mad River Valley (c) Taken by Sarah Mountain Flower Farm's bloom schedule is delayed by Vermont’s slow-to-come, cooler summers. When most sources for seasonal cuts have finished for the year, Walt and his crew are just getting started! Of particular note, the farm's peony crop is harvested from mid June - mid July. COVID 19's disruption in our world coincided at almost the same time Walt typically announces Mountain Flower Farm's seasonal crop availability and opens up the pre-order system for peonies. His communication with his customers via email really struck me as extraordinary and I asked him to join me on the podcast to discuss Mountain Flower Farm's present, past and future. I know you'll find it encouraging. One exquisite bloom (c) Taken by Sarah Thank you so much for joining me for this special conversation! I believe that now, more than ever, the messages of sustainability and seasonal and locally-available flowers is top of mind -- among consumers, flower farmers and florists. Walt wrote this in his first newsletter of the season, dated March 31st: " . . . one thing for certain is that we will be here toiling away, with our hands in the dirt, flowering fiercely for the future. Mountain Flower Farm is already in action, and we will be here doing whatever it takes to safely put flowers in your hands. Our model of grower direct overnight shipping was made for these times! Social distancing. Door to Door Delivery. Top quality product. Consistency. Value. "These are not new themes for us . . . in fact, this is what we have trained for and what we have been streamlining and perfecting for over 20 years! We stand ready to help our customers succeed through challenging times." The tour continues with Walt at Mountain Flower Farm (c) Taken by Sarah Just one week later, he continued the story, and this is what inspired me o invite Walt to share more with you today. "A week ago, in the midst of great uncertainty, we stuck to our schedule and published this season's cut flower availability. Sending that email was for me, a moment that I was dreading. Questions and doubts were bountiful. We all know by now, life has been turned upside down. The economy is reeling, and the floral industry is one of many hard hit segments. "It brings me incredible comfort and hope to be able to check in today and report that the response we've received has been nothing short of incredible. For that, I am absolutely thankful and humbled. Our community is strong. There is hope, not only for @mountainflowerfarm, but for all of us trying to make it through this time. Thank you all for your generous orders. For your faith in our farm, our team, and our collective future. One thing that really struck me, that I want to share, is the nature of the orders we received." He continued, "As many of you know, we preceded our cut flower inventory release with a sliding scale discount offer created to help floral designers persevere. Customers could choose which level of discount they needed. I was very happy to see people taking advantage of this offer. I was also surprised, when I started to receive orders with notes attached saying 'Thank you so much for this offer. I don't need any flowers for my shop, but I'm placing this order for peony roots for our home garden,' or others saying 'Thank you for thinking of us florists and trying to help . . . I've placed orders for the season, but chose to not use any of the discount offers.'" Walt Krukowski, presenting at last September's floral sourcing workshop (c) Taken by Sarah In the 24 hours after releasing Mountain Flower Farm's discount offer, Walt received literally hundreds of emails. All of them full of appreciation, hope, and positivity. He responded, writing, "For that, I want to stand on the tallest peak and shout "THANK YOU!!!" "THANK YOU!!!" "THANK YOU!!!"We've come to a point where, it's really not abount sales or money anymore. It's about humanity. It's about hope. It's about resilience. Like everyone, I have legitimate fear and worry right now. The outpouring of support that has been received this past week has helped to calm my worries and point my focus towards the future. Our floral community is strong. We are all connected, and for that I am absolutely grateful." Find and follow Mountain Flower Farm here: Mountain Flower Farm on Facebook Mountain Flower Farm on Instagram Tulips grown by Gonzalo Ojeda of Ojeda Farms, a farmer I know and trust. As I said last week, I want the Slow Flowers Podcast to be a companion to those of you in isolation, away from your physical community of peers, neighbors, customers and friends. I hope today's interview was as inspiring to you as I found it to be for me. The Gardener's Workshop Cut Flower Farm: Lisa Ziegler and her family and crew. Before we wrap today, I want to share a bonus interview with Lisa Ziegler of The Gardener's Workshop, our newest Slow Flowers Podcast sponsor, announced last week. Lisa is a fellow garden writer, author of Cool Flowers, published by St. Lynn's Press, the same publisher behind my books, Slow Flowers and The 50 Mile Bouquet. Lisa is a flower farmer, based in Newport News, Virginia, where The Gardener's Workshop is also home to an online shop offering seeds and supplies for home gardeners and a growing curriculum of online courses for flower farmers and farmer-florists. I invited Lisa to give us an overview and update on The Gardener's Workshop. Sign up to be notified about future course releases here Follow The Gardener's Workshop on Facebook The Gardener's Workshop on Instagram Thanks so much for joining me today as we heard from two flower farmers who have developed their businesses to reflect their passions and fit their lifestyles. And truly, that is what I wish for each of you and your floral enterprise. Last week we held our third Virtual Member Meet-Up on April 10th. We had a great group in attendance and I thank you for joining us; A special thank you to Holly Chapple of Chapel Designers, Holly Chapple Flowers and Hope Farm, for her guest appearance to talk about how she is adapting during the Coronavirus. You can find the link to the Zoom replay video here. Thank you to each of you who attended! https://youtu.be/RxQTbbuuep8 Join us! Here is the Zoom Replay Video from April 10th Please join this week's Slow Flowers Virtual Meet-Up on Friday, April 17th at 9 am Pacific/Noon Eastern. Please join here. We'll also share the Zoom Meeting Link in our Instagram Profile and on Facebook (Slow Flowers FB Page and Slow Flowers Community Group). Thank you to our Sponsors Florists' Review magazine. I'm delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists' Review. Read our stories at slowflowersjournal.com. Longfield Gardens, which provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Check out the full catalog at Longfield Gardens at longfield-gardens.com.