Starting a flower farm scratch is no joke - I grew up in a farming family and have had my own large gardens as an adult, but growing flowers intentionally for bouquets and (hopefully) profit requires a whole new perspective. And a huge amount of work.

It’s currently the end of February 2025 and my plan is to get plants in the ground next week since we’ll have nice weather, but my actual ‘farm’ is barely close to being finished.

And by the way, be sure you’re signed up to my email list so you can be the first to know when I have flowers available. You can sign up below:

I’ve claimed a neglected corner of the property to fill with 20 foot long flower beds. But there’s a lot more neglect than I realized. The spot has become a dumping ground over the last 20 years so I’ve been digging up concrete pavers, landscape fabric, and metal hardware cloth buried under a foot of compacted soil from old raised beds. It’s a mess.

I needed backup, so I called up my friends and organized a work party!

Work party progress

We got SO much done this weekend! Up until this point, I have been doing all the work myself with my girlfriend’s help, but as the weeks went by, I realized there was no way I’d be able to finish in time for spring planting.

My friends gave up their Saturday to slog through the mud digging up debris and hauling compost. I will be forever grateful for their help!!

8 of us got so much work done in 2 hours. The space isn’t huge, about 1500 square feet, but it’s really difficult to transform into a working flower farm. The ground is full of blackberries and other weeds, there’s mounds of compacted soil, there’s concrete pavers and hardware cloth hidden underground…it’s completely daunting to tackle by myself.

*My plan for building these beds for flowers is to cover the exposed ground with cardboard, mulch it with woodchips, and create 3 foot wide, 20 foot long beds*

The Plan for Big Oak Flower Farm

It may not look like much now, but soon this patch of mud will be filled with color and life.

The flowers

I’ve got a grow tent full of seedlings right now!! I’ve never babied seedlings so much - I check on them multiple times a day and am happy to report very little disease. Germination rates are high and I expect great things.

Lots of people have been asking what flowers I’m growing this year and it’ll be a mix of things including the usual dahlias, zinnias, sunflower, etc, but also lots of other fun flowers!

Snapdragons, sweet peas, marigolds, foxgloves, yarrow, amaranth, cosmos, asters….it was really hard to narrow it down when I made lists of seeds to order. I put together some images below of the seeds I’ve ordered for this season:

The schedule

Since this is my first year, I’m still unsure when I’ll officially start selling bouquets. If everything goes according to my spreadsheets and calendars, I could open for business in June. But it will probably be more like July until I have consistent bouquets available each week.

Sign up to my email list below to get updates when flowers are available!

The offerings

Bouquet Subscription: I’m really excited about the idea of a bouquet subscription. You’d sign up for weekly bouquets for 4 weeks, and I’d offer a few of these subscriptions throughout the summer and fall.

Farm Store: If you just want to pick up bouquets occasionally, you can stop by the farm store located near Champoeg State Park (close to Newberg & Wilsonville). So far I’m tentatively planning on being open Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.

U-Pick Events: I dream of inviting people out to the flower field at sunset to sip wine and pick flowers. There’s nothing like being surrounded by beauty and buzzing bees and good friends. More details coming soon when I figure out the logisitcs.

Bulk Buckets of Blooms: I don’t plan on doing flowers for events but I’d love to offer DIY-ers the chance to get a ton of flowers at bulk prices so they can make their own bouquets. I picture this for baby showers, girl’s nights, family reunions, you name it.

*These Unicorn Zinnias were a favorite in my garden last year*

I would love your help sharing the word!

Do you have friends or family that you know would love fresh homegrown flowers this year? Be sure to send them to my website to spread the word. I’m located near Champoeg State Park, really close to Newberg and Wilsonville.

Update on the flower farm - when will there be flowers?!