2022 Farm Tours Schedule COMING SOON!

June 29, 2021

Roots Cut Flower Farm

View scenes from this event!
9:00 a.m. – Noon
Michelle Elston
2428 Walnut Bottom Road
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
www.rootsflowerfarm.com

We are focused on supermarket bouquet production, and serve a dedicated local following via farmers’ market and on-farm pop-up shops. While not large by any means, we are bigger than many other ASCFG farmers, and can offer insights into efficiency and crew management. Lean farming is my passion—as is making money!

Last year we sold 26,000 supermarket bouquets from about 5 acres, with very little mechanization, as well as lots of DIY bulk buckets, 500 Christmas wreaths, and much more.

Our crops are “unique” in that they are brighter, bolder, old-fashioned, farm flowers, not the trendy ones. We grow lots of celosia, sunflowers, gomphrena, asters, and marigolds, and very few dahlias, ranunculus, or lilies. Sustainability and yield are achieved through growing reliable, climate-appropriate varieties. We have one high tunnel, and no heated greenhouse space.

Rate – $50
Registrations taken on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to 50 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.

July 21, 2021

Rain Drop Farms

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PT
Erin McMullen
23291 Alsea Hwy
Philomath, Oregon
www.raindropfarms.net

We grow a wide range of annuals, perennials, and woody crops for wholesale flower production. Our flowers are sold in the Portland Flower Market and through the Seattle Wholesale Growers Cooperative, as well as regional grocery stores, local farmers markets, and through a CSA model. We specialize in dahlias, with almost 20,000 plants in our fields, garden roses, and other crops that are not readily available from conventional wholesalers.

Rate – $50
Registrations taken on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to 40 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.

July 28, 2021

Butterbee Farm

TOUR FILLED, REGISTRATION CLOSED
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST
Laura Beth Resnick
500 Tristam Court
Pikesville, Maryland
www.butterbeefarm.com

We’re a five acre cut flower farm in the suburbs of Baltimore City. We grow year round in heated tunnels as well as unheated tunnels and field. We sell most of our products to florists, making several trips a week to DC and Baltimore. We’ll talk about how we plan our crops and successions, our no-till methods using occultation, how we approach labor, and more!

Rate – $50
Registrations taken on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to 15 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.

August 12, 2021

Two Boots Farm

TOUR FILLED, REGISTRATION CLOSED
2:00 – 5:00 p.m. EST
Elisa Lane
4226 Maple Grove Road
Hampstead, Maryland
www.twobootsfarm.com

We are a small scale cut flower farm focused on production for florists, farmers’ market, and CSA. We grow a wide variety of annuals, perennials, and woodies, utilizing no-till, intensive growing techniques to produce over $200,000 worth of flowers annually. We grow on two acres of land and have four high tunnels and one greenhouse. We’ll discuss our approach to farming and our focus on sustainability, which allows us to give back to the land and soil, and provide a living wage for ourselves and our employees.

Rate – $50
Registrations taken on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to 30 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.

August 16, 2021

Ardelia Farm & Co.

TOUR FILLED, REGISTRATION CLOSED
9:30 – 3:00 p.m. EST
Ardelia Farm & Co.
3118 West Glover Road
Irasburg, Vermont 05845
www.ardeliafarm.com

Who could say no to a visit to Vermont’s beautiful Northeast Kingdom in August? Bailey Hale and Thomas McCurdy will welcome ASCFG members to their gem of a cut flower farm in Irasburg on Monday, August 16.

August 31, 2021

Aunt Willie’s Wild Flowers
and Anchored in Flowers

TOUR FILLED, REGISTRATION CLOSED
Farm Tours
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST (Lunch included)
Linda and Roy Doan
Aunt Willie’s Wild Flowers
385 Bruce Doan Road, Blountville, Tennessee

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Travel to Anchored in Flowers

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Heather Champney
Anchored in Flowers
St. Mary’s School
2211 E. Lakeview Drive, Johnson City, Tennessee

Optional Workshop with Linda Doan

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Garden Style Bouquet Making at Aunt Willie’s Wild Flowers
Maximum 10, separate $150 registration
Contact Linda Doan to register at [email protected].

You’re invited to join us for tours of TWO special cut flower farms, with the option of attending a separate floral design class!

Linda Doan says: Our Century Farm where we have been growing flowers for over 16 years has a rich history in agriculture. When we began flowers we decided we would let the farm direct our business, and have used existing structures whenever possible. The 1940s chicken coop is now our bouquet workspace, the old smokehouse is our bucket shed, and the 1870’s log barn is our workshop rain plan. We will begin our tour with a bit of farm history, then tour fields, unheated hoophouse, farm buildings and houses, sharing successes and failures as we go.

While age has encouraged us to cut back on weddings, we sell to several florists, offer flower CSA’s and Porch Pick-Ups, and delight in bringing visitors to the farm for tours and design workshops. We will discuss and demonstrate how we set up for workshops and will have one space workshop ready.

A design workshop—limited to ten attendees— will be offered in the evening at a separate cost for those interested.

Heather Champney says: We are a small, fifth-year specialty cut flower flower farm located on the campus of St. Mary’s School. Facilitated by ASCFG member Heather Champney and managed by a middle school team of agripreneurs we grow and sell flowers and vegetables. We have sold at the local farmers’ market and now operate a successful CSA.

We are a chemical-free farm with two open fields and one unheated hoophouse, using raised beds throughout. As we tour our farm we will share our no-till techniques using occultation, beneficial insects for pest control, our composting system, and methods of rainwater collection.

Learn more about Anchored in Flowers.

Rate – $100 (lunch included)
Registrations taken on a first-come, first served basis and limited to 30 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.

Due to increased COVID activity in the United States, masks are required indoors for all attendees, and social distancing will be practiced.

September 9, 2021

River Twist Homestead

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET
Carl and Jan Galloni
5334 River Road
Jamestown, North Carolina 27282
www.rivertwisthomestead.com

Carl and Jan bought a ten-acre plot just south of Greensboro in 1985 to raise their two daughters. Since then, the Homestead has been in constant change and motion, and is now well-known as a popular wedding venue and cut flower farm.

The River Twist trademark has worn many hats in its storied career, from a mulch and topsoil supplier, to a gift and garden design shop, to Jan’s art studio coupled with Carl’s passion to grow cut flowers.

During this tour, Carl will demonstrate his practices for creating compost and maintaining soil health, as well as seed germination methods in his own seed shed. He’ll share his unorthodox method of selling cut flowers only by the mixed bucket, only to florists.

His top crops include snapdragons, ranunculus, celosia, sunflowers, sedum, lisianthus, and many more. Carl says that “What mostly makes me grow cut flowers is the feeling one gets what you give someone fresh flowers for no reason at all, and they always ask ‘Did you grow these?’ Now, that’s a good feeling!”

Rate – $99 (lunch included)
Registrations taken on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to 50 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.

September 18, 2021

Petal Pusher Farms

9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. CT
Jeri Irby
24155 Bryant Avenue
Purcell, Oklahoma
www.petalpusherfarms.com

Going on our fifth year of growing cut flowers in the unpredictable Oklahoma weather, we’d love to share our successes and challenges to fellow farmers. Farmers can see how we have set up our fields and tunnel for 12 months of growing, what we’ve found does well in our soil type and climate, and how we get the perfect flower pictures for our 7000+ combined Instagram and Facebook followers. We have found that zinnias and dahlias are the best crops for us to grow in our warm climate, though we have had super successful ranunculus crops that make florist and farmers’ market customers swoon! We are an agritourism site so we draw many people from Oklahoma City to the farm to see where the beautiful flowers they purchase at the farmers’ market come from. Our farm continues to grow each year and we still have a hard time meeting the flower demand from florists, Flower Share members, and farmers’ market customers. Come out and see the beauty of what Oklahoma Grown can produce!

Rate – $99
Registrations taken on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to 50 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.
Due to increased COVID activity in the United States, masks are required indoors for all attendees, and social distancing will be practiced.

October 17, 2021

Texas Specialty Cut Flowers

TOUR FILLED, REGISTRATION CLOSED
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. CT
Lunch included
Frank Arnosky
13977 F.M. 2325 – The Blue Barn
Wimberley, Texas 78606
www.texascolor.com

Our farm produces wholesale cut flowers for grocery stores in Texas, as well as operating a very successful on farm retail market at the Blue Barn, where we offer cut flowers, potted plants, and bedding plants, all grown on the farm.

We farm 20 acres on this location, as well as 20 acres of peonies in Minnesota and west Texas.

Our tour will be held during the fall “Dia de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead) celebrations. We are one of the largest producers of marigolds for the fall season, and have many acres planted around our Blue Barn market. We also produce a wide range of other fall crops such as celosias, salvias, lilies, zinnias, and sunflowers.

We’ll feature the cultural diversity and importance of marigolds in the Latino community, as well as the south Asian use of marigolds for the fall Diwali celebrations. In both cultures marigolds are an icon that are largely overlooked in U.S. flower production.

We’ll also discuss how we flipped our business during COVID from a wholesale operation to a business that is now majority retail, with the Blue Barn as a “destination” farm for both the Austin and San Antonio areas.

We are located within an hour of either the San Antonio or Austin airports.

Local lodging options:
http://www.blancochamber.com/lodging

Blanco Luxury In and Suites, Blanco

Rate – $150
Registrations taken on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to 100 attendees.
Registration fee refunded only in case of emergency.
Due to increased COVID activity in the United States, masks are required indoors for all attendees, and social distancing will be practiced.