Farming is inherently beautiful.

The reorganization of soil, water, and sunlight into a rainbow of colors and all of the architectural combinations that we have not thought of yet, that end up reorganized yet again before they end up on our plates. And then there are the things that we farm, but don’t necessarily (and sometimes, necessarily) eat. The wood, fuels, fibers, and of course the flowers.

The Flowers.

There are so many reasons to grow flowers in your garden, or on your farm–maybe even more reasons to grow them on your farm. Flowers are just one of the stages of farming the food we eat. And those flowers are dependent, often, on the insects that pollinate them. So it would make sense that having more flowers available for the beneficial insects is a great idea–they are part of your farm’s health.

Flowers also provide another income stream for your farm–they can be another food crop–edible flowers in your salad, wonderful! And as bouquets for your CSA or to draw people to your market table. As I overheard one farmer say recently, people need more flowers in their lives. I agree.

And like the local food movement, local flowers–Slow Flowers— are gaining attention now too. Most of the flowers we see at supermarkets and flower shops are imported–so they have a large carbon footprint attached to them. And depending on what country they came from, and the regulations that are (or are not) in place, they may have been grown using a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are not legal here in the US.

Like tomatoes fresh from your garden or the farmers’ market, locally grown flowers are just plain different than something you will get at the store–they will smell better, last longer (the imported flowers may have been cut a week before they arrive at the store), and will have more variety than the ones that are bred to look the same.

So make someone in your life happy–yourself, perhaps? and buy locally grown flowers.