Hanna Rose Muller of Full Belly Floral (c) Sarah Ching Photograph
Today's guest have been on my wish list to interview ever since we met in person at a Slow Flowers gathering in 2018, hosted by Scott Paris of High Hand Nursery, past guest of this podcast.
Please meet Dru Rivers, co-founder of Full Belly Farm, one of the first certified organic farms in California, and her daughter Hannah Rose Muller, who created their sister venture Full Belly Floral. They are based in Guinda, in Northern California's Capay Valley. Full Belly is committed to fostering sustainability on all levels, from fertility in their soil and care for the environment, to stable employment for farm workers. Striving to be good stewards of their farm, the folks at Full Belly Farm want this and future generations to be nourished by the healthy and vibrant food they produce.
Dru Rivers, the matriarch of Full Belly Farm (c) Hannah Rose Muller Photograph
Full Belly Farm has been growing a wide variety of certified organic flowers for over 30 years. The farm sells flowers at multiple farmers markets, to wholesale distributers, and through their CSA.
Hannah Muller began Full Belly Floral in the hopes that local and seasonal flowers could help brighten the days of those individuals who are celebrating a special occasion.
Growing flowers against the stunning backdrop of Northern California's Capay Valley (c) Emily Merrill Photograph
Here's a little bit more about Hannah:
She writes on Full Belly Floral's website: that her love for flowers started at a very young age, continuing:
When I was little, my mother would spend hours picking buckets filled with flowers to arrange for countless orders and farmers markets. While she worked, her hands a blur of clippers and blooms, I napped in the back of trucks and in boxes, exhausted from my days of exploring.
The Flower Harvest at Full Belly Farm
As I got older, I began to share in my mother’s enthusiasm for arranging flowers at various community events and farmers markets. To this day, there is no one I have more fun designing with than her. In the past three years, I have grown my love for flowers into a branch of Full Belly Farm that offers local and sustainably grown and arranged flowers for weddings and events.
My passion for designing, and my intent to continue the important practice of using locally sourced flowers has led me back to the fields of Full Belly Farm, and to the one place I have ever truly felt at home. Nothing makes me feel more fulfilled than working with flowers, and helping to bring my client’s vision to life.
CSA bouquets featuring Full Belly Farm's dinosaur kale and seasonal tulips
This is such a lovely conversation with two women spanning the history of Full Belly Farm. I know you'll enjoy meeting them!
Find and follow Dru and Hannah at these social places:
Full Belly Farm on Facebook and Instagram
Hannah Rose Muller/Full Belly Floral on Instagram @farmerhands
At the Full Belly Floral design studio (c) Emily Merrill Photograph
That was fun, right?! What a great conversation -- so inspiring to think about the many ways that flower farming and floral design brings added value to a food-growing operation. Did you hear Dru mention that flowers are Full Belly Farm's number-two crop?! And the flower CSA subscriptions tripled in 2020! You can't argue with that news!
Our fabulous speaker lineup includes (top row), Susan McLeary, Emily Saeger, Molly Culver; (middle row), Kellee Matsushita-Tseng, Lorene Edwards Forkner, Max Gill; (bottom row), Abra Lee, Pilar Zuniga, Jennifer Jewell + our host, Slow Flowers Society's Debra Prinzing
You might have heard me mention to Dru and Hannah how I'm looking forward to seeing them this June at the Slow Flowers Summit, which takes place at Filoli Historic House and Garden in Woodside, California, just south of San Francisco.
Yes, folks, we are 100% committed to hosting a safe, covid-compliant,