https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOSA64L3Zmo
Before we start today, don't forget to listen for details about the 2022 Northwest Flower & Garden Show ticket giveaway! You'll hear all about how to win one of 5 sets of two tickets to attend the show-- which starts one week from today on Feb 9th and continues through Feb 13th in Seattle. I'll share the giveaway rules at the end of this episode -- stay tuned.
Photography, courtesy of (c) Hans Li and (c) Ana Gambuto
As some of you heard a few weeks ago, we recently released the 2022 Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast. One of our first of nine insights is called Now or Never, an acknowledgement that many in our community are making changes for the better. We've been inspired by floral entrepreneurs who are "flipping the script," changing their established or "safe" models to fit a re-imagined lifestyle and today's guest, Jennifer Kouvant, along with her partner Hans Li, of Six Dutchess Farm, are part of that shift.
Six Dutchess Farm, LaGrangeville, New York
Based in the Hudson Valley, Six Dutchess Farm is a first-generation small family farm located about 70 miles north of new york city. Their 12-acre farm grows fresh, seasonal cut flowers, specialty berries and herbs, and flocks of beloved animals, including heritage hens, and Swedish Gotland sheep.
As Jennifer says, "We approach farming from a place of deep connection to the land, the animals and our community." She continues, "Through a pasture-based regenerative model, we are cultivating a future where small, diversified farming is an essential part of environmental sustainability and healthy, thriving communities." Six Dutchess is committed to maintaining a vibrant, bio-diverse, cruelty- and chemical-free environment -- one where animals can graze on pasture as nature intended, and where humans can gain a deeper respect for the land on which they live, for the flowers and food they grow, and the living beings that sustain them through the seasons."
Six Dutchess Farm - a beautiful destination for flowers, food and fiber
Thanks so much for joining us today! As Jennifer mentioned, she's launching a website soon and in the meantime, click here if you want to receive the Six Dutchess Farm newsletter with information about classes in flowers, fiber and food.
Find and follow Six Dutchess Farm on Instagram
Comment to Win Flower Show Tickets
Hey, welcome to the start of February -- we're getting closer to gardening and flower farming season for most of us -- and I, for one, am ready for it!
The theme of the 2022 Northwest Flower & Garden Festival is "Greetings from Spring," and if you're in the PNW or plan to be the week of Feb 9-13, you might be eligible to win 2 tickets to attend! Post a comment below and share your favorite spring blooms to grow or design with. We will randomly draw five names from those who comment next Sunday, 2/6 at midnight Pacific time and announce the winners on 2/7.
Spring Cleaning Checklist for your Slow Flowers Society Membership
https://vimeo.com/671467603
We've just filmed the 2022 Spring Cleaning Checklist with Tips for Updating Your slowflowers.com Member Profile. We recently updated the Slowflowers.com platform -- I'm calling it Slow Flowers 3.0 -- and while the site may not look much different to you from the outside, we've worked with our software folks to make some important back-end changes to improve member services and functionality. With the upgrade, we believe the Slow Flowers Community will experience higher engagement and interaction with floral consumers
Watch our new short training video (above) where you'll find steps for updating your member profile and for making the most of your investment as a slow flowers member.
Click for more details
February Slow Flowers Member Virtual Meet-Up: February 18th
Jim Martin (left), owner of Compost in my Shoe (Charleston, S.C.