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Emily Pack Freight not Farm recently contributed an

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essay sa 2 Slow flowers Journal summer issue,

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sharing her philosophy fee on the importance of

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community connections for sustaining a vibrant cuff flower

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business that has served the greater Cleveland area

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for the past 7 years.

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We invited Emily to discuss her story and

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her journey with the So far podcast, and

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I'm excited for you to meet her today.

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I think our whole mission and, like, the

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mission of Afraid not as well. I was

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just trying to get as many local flowers

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into folks hands. I'm really grateful that I

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was able just... Start this, but I'm even

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more grateful to see what the future holds

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in

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collaboration and getting other folks with other skills

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and interest. You know, I hope people feel

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encouraged just to to ask, you know, ask

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people

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in your community,

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how they might wanna support and you'd be

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surprised, like, how many people really

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have something that you might not have that

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they can be mutually beneficial. I mean, I

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think Cleveland is really well situated to, like,

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facilitate a lot of these partnerships too, and

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that's why I love this city so much.

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Hello again, and welcome back to the Slow

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flowers podcast with Debra Printing.

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This is episode 673.

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This is the weekly podcast about slow flowers

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and the people who grow and design with

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them.

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It's all about making a conscious choice, and

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I invite you to join the conversation and

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the creative community. As we discussed the vital

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topics of... Saving our domestic flower farms and

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supporting a floral industry that relies on a

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safe, seasonal and local supply of flowers and

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foliage,

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This show is brought to you by slow

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flowers dot com. The free online directory

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to more than 750

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flo shops and studios

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who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers

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and to the farms that grow those blooms.

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It's the conscious choice for buying and sending

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flowers.

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And thank you to our new lead sponsor

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for 20 24,

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world, the Lily is a top selling cut

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and a dazzling paddle palette. Flower bulb dot

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with more lilies. Learn more at flower bulb,

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dot eu.

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And 1 more cause for celebration today is

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the eleventh anniversary of the slow flowers podcast

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The original floral podcast that we've produced and

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hosted for you ever since our debut,

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07/23/2013.

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That means today's episode is our 570

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fourth consecutive weekly program,

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highlighting the people, farm, flo and flowers of

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this slow flowers movement.

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Thank you for supporting this storytelling project for

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more than a decade now in its eleventh

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season.

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From Okay Let's jump right into today's interview

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with Emily Peck of afraid not farm. The

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mission of afraid not farm is to grow

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beautiful, diverse cut flowers and herbs that share

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stories bring joy and support equitable and regenerative

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farming.

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As owner founder,

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Emily has a passion for systems thinking,

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and agriculture, both of which led to an

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apprenticeship in Brooklyn, New York in 20 16.

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Where she learned how to farm while studying

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food justice.

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Upon returning to her deep roots in Cleveland,

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Emily worked at various farms and then started

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freight not in 20 17.

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The land that Freight not resides on was

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previously steward by her grandparents. Who have been

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part of the community for close to a

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century.

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Freight not farm is located 30 miles east

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of downtown Cleveland and grows over 100 varieties

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of annual and perennial flowers and foliage on

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less than an acre.

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Using hand scale and regenerative farming practices, the

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flowers produced and forage

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are offered through freight nuts, Csa bo case

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subscriptions, wholesale for purchase by Flo

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and supply events and workshops let's welcome Emily

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to the Slow flowers podcast

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and learn more about frey not farm.

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Well, hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Slow

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flowers show with deborah Printing and on until

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lick today, I'm so excited to welcome Emily

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Peck of afraid not farm. Hello, Emily.

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Hi, Deborah.

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Thanks for having me on. You've bet. We've

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been talking about this for a while. Thank

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you so much for joining me.

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You're based in Ohio. Can you tell everybody

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a little bit about where you're located and,

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then I'll will we'll we'll get the big

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question in which is how did the name

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trade not come together.

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Yes. And perch.

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Yeah. I'm Emily, and I started Freight farm,

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which is located.

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I generally say, Cleveland, Ohio, that's the the

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biggest major city that we have close to

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us, and we're just 30 miles outside of

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the city, but we are in a pretty

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rural area.

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It's known as New. It's just small town

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in

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Ji County, so, you know, north,

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East Ohio,

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and we have about 3 acres here,

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and are on land that my family's been

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residing on,

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for 60 years and in the community for

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almost a hundred years. So

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we have a lot of roots here, metaphorically

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and and and literally

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said my grandparents have been here for a

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long time. My mom was raised

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here

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and in in the house, and I'm in

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right now. I'm in, my... Grandmother's house, which

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is next to the farm. I love it.

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And I was raised in a community a

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suburb,

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just a 30 minutes away closer to Cleveland,

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but would come out here to my grandparents

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place,

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all the time. So has really special memories.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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So when you were a young, I don't

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know, teenager or college student Did you ever

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envision your future life living on

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the land that had your grandparents had farmed

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and, like, student getting out of the city

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and and,

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you know, creating a life

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around land and plants and flowers? Or was

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that part of the part of the vision?

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Or are you surprised by that? I I'm

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I'm a little bit surprised. I mean, I

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think always, you know, retrospectively, you can look

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back and see kind of the...

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Stepping stones to how you got somewhere. So

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it's, you know, it's not the craziest thing

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in the world, but I definitely didn't seek

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out, like, this or ever could have imagined.

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My grandparents built their house on 1 plot

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of land, and then they had purchased a

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separate plot that was adjacent to there,

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where their house was and growing up, it

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was just

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3 acres of grass that they cut

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actually. It was just a a, big open

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field. The cutting grass is a big pass

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time here. And in the the past So...

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Yeah. Lawn culture is a a real thing.

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And I really just didn't think too much

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about it. My sister and I would just

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run out there and kinda of play, and

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it was just, like, a wonderful

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space to kinda grow up in and so

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it it, you know, they... There's a lot

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of ag cultural roots in this community, but

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there wasn't actually a farm there yet. So

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I really couldn't have even imagine that land

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ever being a farm,

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Wow.

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But I... But flowers and

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gardening was always in my life. So my

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my my parents and... My other, you know,

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maternal grandparents and maternal grandparents. They they all

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were very into kind of cultivating,

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flowers and vegetables, like, on a small scale.

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So that that definitely was instilled in me

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in a young age.

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So... Yeah. I love it. Okay. Well, the

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name afraid not. It was that your idea

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or did you inherit it? It's a great

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name. Yeah. Thank you.

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Yeah. I love it because I do feel

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like it gets the conversation starting, so thanks

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for asking.

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That was a name that I came up

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with,

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kind of. I mean, the the term afraid

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not farm is something or or afraid not,

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rather, was a term that

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my grandfather who I resided on this land.

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Use... He was a real jokes.

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He loved, like, very pun jokes

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and there's a punchline to a joke that,

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honestly, every time I try to tell it,

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I kinda butcher it, but you can look

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it up. Everyone can look it up. And

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because it also has very different interpretations. But

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essentially, it's... The Punch is afraid not,

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and he would tell this joke, like, repetitive

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and new have to manufacture laughter at a

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certain point. Because you're like, yeah. Get it.

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I get.

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We heard that 1 before gram. Yeah. I

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and it's just like, okay. And then

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so my grandfather,

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he passed

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and several years ago,

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before I even had the farm, unfortunately.

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So he wasn't able to, in in physical

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form c

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what we have here, but I really wanted

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to pay homage to him, and my mom

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actually eu

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him at

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his services, and she used that joke as

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a metaphor to talk about his life and

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my grandfather and his family had a small

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business. A grocery business,

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just down the road for 80 years. Wow.

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And

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they... So the. My mom just kind of

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uses as a metaphor to talk about how

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he wasn't afraid to kind of pursue that

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dream and to, you know, travel and to,

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you know, live his life in like, a

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a really beautiful way. And so when I

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was thinking about starting a small business and

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especially a a farming business in you kinda

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have to be fearless. So I was like,

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I want that as a mantra, like always

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to just be thinking of that when I'm

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you know, like, running on a adrenaline, like,

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how am I gonna get through this? You

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know, be be afraid not. So yeah. And

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it I just that to mean so many

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other things too, like,

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you know, we do weddings and the not

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And there's a term that's used and we

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grow flags, and it kind of has this,

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like, fray,

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like, look to it, and it's just kinda

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come full

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in a lot of ways. So... Yeah. Yeah.

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It has kinda 2 meanings because you are

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not afraid. Like, that's a very... Circle That's

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a very... Like as you said, a sort

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of a metaphor for just being this intrepid

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farmer and just going for it. And then,

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sometimes when things are falling apart, you feel

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like they're not is fray and unraveling. So

271
00:11:05,424 --> 00:11:07,080
I think you you have depends on what

272
00:11:07,279 --> 00:11:08,952
what your mood is that day of what

273
00:11:08,952 --> 00:11:11,820
you're thinking about? Absolutely. No. That was a

274
00:11:11,820 --> 00:11:13,972
really good point. I I honestly hadn't even

275
00:11:13,972 --> 00:11:15,645
really thought about that until I was saying

276
00:11:15,645 --> 00:11:16,840
it out loud. I was like...

277
00:11:17,333 --> 00:11:19,646
Yeah. Sometimes I really am feeling like afraid

278
00:11:19,646 --> 00:11:20,285
not. Like,

279
00:11:21,002 --> 00:11:22,996
that. And and, yeah. And then we have

280
00:11:22,996 --> 00:11:25,469
like, ties on our bo that are literally,

281
00:11:25,549 --> 00:11:27,879
like, kind of afraid that and Oh, so

282
00:11:27,879 --> 00:11:31,320
little touches into it that that people like

283
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,095
to have that connection. So, yeah, I think

284
00:11:34,692 --> 00:11:36,764
it's a special name like... It is. I

285
00:11:36,764 --> 00:11:38,858
mean, on so many people have just names

286
00:11:39,075 --> 00:11:40,350
plucked out of thin air, and I love

287
00:11:40,350 --> 00:11:42,440
that there's a story there. Because I feel

288
00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:43,960
like you're a storyteller teller and a lot

289
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:45,879
of what you're doing. And what kind of

290
00:11:45,879 --> 00:11:47,639
led to me asking you to be on

291
00:11:47,639 --> 00:11:50,394
the podcast 2 things. 1 is you recently

292
00:11:50,452 --> 00:11:52,607
wrote a beautiful essay for,

293
00:11:53,246 --> 00:11:55,400
the summer issue of Sunflower flowers Journal, and

294
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:56,677
I'll pop that up on the screen in

295
00:11:56,677 --> 00:11:58,685
a little bit so we can share with

296
00:11:58,685 --> 00:12:00,833
people and I'll also put the Pdf link

297
00:12:00,833 --> 00:12:01,333
and

298
00:12:01,708 --> 00:12:03,458
our show notes so folks can read it.

299
00:12:04,572 --> 00:12:06,413
Love love your writing and I love that

300
00:12:06,413 --> 00:12:08,238
that worked out. But what led to that,

301
00:12:08,397 --> 00:12:10,143
what... As I recall and tell me if

302
00:12:10,222 --> 00:12:12,777
I'm wrong, but you had written a I

303
00:12:12,777 --> 00:12:14,047
guess in your newsletter, maybe,

304
00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,459
about this partnership or maybe I saw on

305
00:12:17,459 --> 00:12:19,601
your website, but this partnership with these fiber,

306
00:12:20,171 --> 00:12:21,782
Farmers and this fiber

307
00:12:22,154 --> 00:12:24,612
initiative. My background in textile design so really

308
00:12:24,612 --> 00:12:27,015
caught my attention because I'm always interested in

309
00:12:28,117 --> 00:12:31,218
what other types of agriculture are flower farmers

310
00:12:31,218 --> 00:12:33,125
able to get involved in, and I think

311
00:12:33,125 --> 00:12:33,841
fiber sort of,

312
00:12:34,795 --> 00:12:36,328
under underutilized. And

313
00:12:36,941 --> 00:12:38,547
that's that just led to me reaching out

314
00:12:38,547 --> 00:12:40,478
to you and asking to learn more. So

315
00:12:40,535 --> 00:12:42,205
let's start there. Can you talk a little

316
00:12:42,205 --> 00:12:44,193
bit about what what led to that and

317
00:12:44,193 --> 00:12:45,386
what what is the project?

318
00:12:46,356 --> 00:12:47,334
Yeah. Definitely.

319
00:12:47,711 --> 00:12:49,405
So I think it was probably

320
00:12:49,861 --> 00:12:52,331
year 2 and to me starting freight that.

321
00:12:53,303 --> 00:12:56,278
I was, like, recently moved back to Cleveland,

322
00:12:56,656 --> 00:12:59,211
and I was just trying to, you know,

323
00:12:59,530 --> 00:13:02,578
get integrated in the community and and and

324
00:13:02,578 --> 00:13:04,407
learn more about what was already going on

325
00:13:04,407 --> 00:13:06,419
here and get to know people that had

326
00:13:06,794 --> 00:13:09,021
similar values, and I just happened to go

327
00:13:09,021 --> 00:13:11,514
to this kind of like, small business, like,

328
00:13:11,995 --> 00:13:14,634
specifically, like women in business, meetup up group,

329
00:13:15,754 --> 00:13:18,315
and there was these 2 women there that

330
00:13:18,315 --> 00:13:19,388
were really

331
00:13:19,841 --> 00:13:21,907
passionate and interested in, like,

332
00:13:23,100 --> 00:13:26,301
textiles grown and using regenerative techniques

333
00:13:26,835 --> 00:13:29,400
and are, they were kind of kind of

334
00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,253
literally saying my own spiel, but in textile

335
00:13:33,312 --> 00:13:35,408
language, and I was saying it in flowers

336
00:13:35,467 --> 00:13:36,025
and farming.

337
00:13:36,599 --> 00:13:38,031
Yeah. And you just kind of were like,

338
00:13:38,190 --> 00:13:40,020
whoa. And, like, I I was like, I

339
00:13:40,020 --> 00:13:41,294
have never thought of, like,

340
00:13:42,010 --> 00:13:43,601
textiles, like, in that way. And they were

341
00:13:43,601 --> 00:13:45,034
like, I've never thought of flowers in that

342
00:13:45,034 --> 00:13:47,535
way. And And they were just kind of,

343
00:13:47,829 --> 00:13:49,599
you know, starting their journey

344
00:13:50,131 --> 00:13:53,307
of starting an affiliate group here, which is

345
00:13:54,196 --> 00:13:57,539
an affiliate of fiber shed. So there's fiber

346
00:13:57,539 --> 00:13:58,516
shed, which is

347
00:13:59,688 --> 00:14:02,177
the starting in California of by Rebecca Burgess

348
00:14:02,473 --> 00:14:02,973
and

349
00:14:03,603 --> 00:14:04,821
there's satellite,

350
00:14:06,155 --> 00:14:07,134
nonprofit and

351
00:14:07,671 --> 00:14:09,426
organizations all over the country, and they wanna

352
00:14:09,426 --> 00:14:11,739
just start the russ felt by shed

353
00:14:12,297 --> 00:14:12,935
version of that.

354
00:14:13,588 --> 00:14:14,088
So

355
00:14:14,942 --> 00:14:17,195
I kind of was lucky enough to be

356
00:14:17,333 --> 00:14:20,781
there kind of as they created that, and

357
00:14:20,998 --> 00:14:22,932
they wanted to kinda start

358
00:14:23,324 --> 00:14:23,824
launching

359
00:14:24,283 --> 00:14:26,381
initiatives with this fax project

360
00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,238
and fox is what Lennon is made out

361
00:14:29,238 --> 00:14:31,316
of, and there is a history of going

362
00:14:31,316 --> 00:14:33,244
growing facts in this region, and there is

363
00:14:33,244 --> 00:14:34,698
a huge also

364
00:14:35,152 --> 00:14:38,651
textile history in Cleveland specifically. So they really

365
00:14:38,651 --> 00:14:40,741
just wanted to start to generate

366
00:14:41,514 --> 00:14:42,014
energy

367
00:14:42,482 --> 00:14:44,465
around getting people to think about where do

368
00:14:44,465 --> 00:14:45,202
their tech

369
00:14:45,654 --> 00:14:46,606
textiles come from.

370
00:14:47,637 --> 00:14:49,619
So they said, do you wanna grow some

371
00:14:49,619 --> 00:14:50,119
slack

372
00:14:51,064 --> 00:14:52,735
And I was just, like, sure. You know?

373
00:14:52,974 --> 00:14:55,121
I was just, like, in the wow my

374
00:14:55,121 --> 00:14:57,190
farming career where I was just, like, kinda

375
00:14:57,190 --> 00:14:59,828
wanted to try anything and everything. So I

376
00:14:59,828 --> 00:15:02,606
was like, yeah, let's do it, and we

377
00:15:02,606 --> 00:15:04,432
we decided to grow, like a fifth acre

378
00:15:04,432 --> 00:15:05,170
of blacks

379
00:15:05,702 --> 00:15:07,527
on the farm. I have this space and

380
00:15:07,527 --> 00:15:10,246
it was saying completely a community, like, driven

381
00:15:10,246 --> 00:15:10,746
project.

382
00:15:11,996 --> 00:15:14,462
Like, we didn't have any funding for it

383
00:15:14,462 --> 00:15:16,745
really at the time. So it was

384
00:15:17,183 --> 00:15:19,970
pretty much just like, you know, hand scale,

385
00:15:20,209 --> 00:15:22,758
like we got compost out here. We spread

386
00:15:22,837 --> 00:15:25,408
Compost all by hand. We seated

387
00:15:26,119 --> 00:15:28,694
by hand, and then we harvested

388
00:15:29,631 --> 00:15:32,106
a few months after that, and it just,

389
00:15:32,186 --> 00:15:33,623
you know, brought a lot of people into

390
00:15:33,623 --> 00:15:34,740
the conversation,

391
00:15:35,473 --> 00:15:37,626
and I've been growing it on some scale

392
00:15:37,626 --> 00:15:39,562
ever since just to continue

393
00:15:40,737 --> 00:15:43,789
educating people on, you know, the importance of

394
00:15:43,927 --> 00:15:46,408
understanding where their text styles come from because

395
00:15:46,408 --> 00:15:46,964
almost... There's...

396
00:15:48,631 --> 00:15:50,220
Yeah I got a fact check this, but

397
00:15:50,220 --> 00:15:51,673
there's almost, like, no

398
00:15:52,126 --> 00:15:52,626
commercial

399
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:53,054
styles

400
00:15:53,972 --> 00:15:55,567
like, lin... Like, Linen.

401
00:15:56,046 --> 00:15:58,859
Right. In the United States. So

402
00:15:59,555 --> 00:16:01,708
I mean, anymore. I mean, it at 1

403
00:16:01,708 --> 00:16:04,518
point, there probably was. Right? There's some really

404
00:16:04,518 --> 00:16:07,235
awesome. We learned a lot from some folks

405
00:16:07,235 --> 00:16:10,192
in Oregon. And, yeah, fiber revolution folks out

406
00:16:10,192 --> 00:16:13,481
there. They finally developed. A really awesome seed.

407
00:16:13,721 --> 00:16:16,036
But before that, even the seed was all

408
00:16:16,036 --> 00:16:17,973
imported as well. So

409
00:16:18,591 --> 00:16:20,507
yeah, it's been really awesome to see how

410
00:16:20,507 --> 00:16:21,465
it's that's evolved,

411
00:16:22,912 --> 00:16:24,526
alongside our flower business

412
00:16:24,980 --> 00:16:27,287
over the last few years and how much...

413
00:16:27,526 --> 00:16:30,015
How many more people are engaged in understanding

414
00:16:31,121 --> 00:16:33,927
you know, the dangers of fast fashion and

415
00:16:34,302 --> 00:16:36,530
and being empowered by being able to grow

416
00:16:36,530 --> 00:16:38,849
their own clothes, So... Yeah. Yeah. I was

417
00:16:38,849 --> 00:16:41,150
just gonna pop up on the website or

418
00:16:41,150 --> 00:16:41,865
on our screen,

419
00:16:42,579 --> 00:16:42,897
the,

420
00:16:43,849 --> 00:16:46,151
the rust belt Linen project because this is...

421
00:16:46,484 --> 00:16:48,160
Just just visually, I think it's fun for

422
00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:49,139
people to see

423
00:16:49,996 --> 00:16:52,390
fiber shed rust belt, which is the organization,

424
00:16:52,630 --> 00:16:53,130
and

425
00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,039
you're kind of a partner then to to

426
00:16:57,039 --> 00:17:00,179
them because they're not growers per s. They're

427
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:00,740
fiber...

428
00:17:02,159 --> 00:17:05,129
I guess, fiber thousand people. Right? Basically fiber

429
00:17:05,129 --> 00:17:06,965
shed, which I'm is now a

430
00:17:07,683 --> 00:17:09,918
nonprofit officially, and I'm actually on the board

431
00:17:09,918 --> 00:17:10,716
as well now.

432
00:17:11,927 --> 00:17:13,836
Cyber chat as an organization is just kind

433
00:17:13,836 --> 00:17:15,029
of an aggregate of,

434
00:17:16,541 --> 00:17:19,124
information and it helps just, you know, create

435
00:17:19,339 --> 00:17:21,566
resources for folks in the region. So they're...

436
00:17:21,804 --> 00:17:23,872
We're not doing 1 specific thing. We're just

437
00:17:23,872 --> 00:17:24,690
kinda helping

438
00:17:25,303 --> 00:17:26,416
support different project,

439
00:17:26,749 --> 00:17:28,680
and there's so many amazing growers,

440
00:17:29,611 --> 00:17:31,599
and then there's a lot of consumers and

441
00:17:31,599 --> 00:17:33,984
and also artisans that want their hands on

442
00:17:33,984 --> 00:17:36,070
good products, so it's just, like, we've been

443
00:17:36,070 --> 00:17:37,347
trying to connect folks,

444
00:17:38,304 --> 00:17:39,022
and not...

445
00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:43,249
Yeah. Just kinda break up that isolation Happen,

446
00:17:43,728 --> 00:17:46,140
especially when you're in rural spaces. So... Yeah.

447
00:17:46,299 --> 00:17:48,299
I see on this map, this density of

448
00:17:48,299 --> 00:17:50,960
red dots in the Cleveland area. So if

449
00:17:51,259 --> 00:17:53,354
Afraid knot is in here somewhere. Yeah Yeah.

450
00:17:53,593 --> 00:17:54,093
But...

451
00:17:54,470 --> 00:17:56,782
To look that there are now 52

452
00:17:56,782 --> 00:17:57,282
participants

453
00:17:57,739 --> 00:17:58,239
is

454
00:17:58,696 --> 00:18:01,407
really amazing, and you're you're obviously listed here.

455
00:18:01,646 --> 00:18:03,339
1 of the... 1 of the growers.

456
00:18:04,779 --> 00:18:06,700
What is the... What is the flex? It...

457
00:18:06,859 --> 00:18:08,940
You said it's a it's grown by seed?

458
00:18:09,099 --> 00:18:09,500
Is it a...

459
00:18:10,393 --> 00:18:13,174
A grass or how would you describe it?

460
00:18:14,525 --> 00:18:16,671
Yeah. It grows similar to a grass. It's

461
00:18:16,671 --> 00:18:16,909
not...

462
00:18:18,277 --> 00:18:20,132
In, like, the grass family.

463
00:18:20,668 --> 00:18:23,139
But, yeah. Flex itself. It does grow similar

464
00:18:23,139 --> 00:18:26,424
to, like, oats or rye or it's a

465
00:18:26,424 --> 00:18:28,821
really nice kind of cover crop almost. Okay.

466
00:18:29,141 --> 00:18:30,818
Almost like a grain of some kind. Yeah.

467
00:18:30,978 --> 00:18:33,375
So I mean black, like, if you ever

468
00:18:33,375 --> 00:18:36,806
had fl, and, like, your granola, or you're

469
00:18:36,806 --> 00:18:39,107
you're smoothie or whatever It's the same exact

470
00:18:39,107 --> 00:18:39,425
seed.

471
00:18:40,536 --> 00:18:42,854
Some varieties you can grow that's in can

472
00:18:42,854 --> 00:18:46,070
also be for edible and textile use. But

473
00:18:46,130 --> 00:18:48,387
the particular Cpus use is typically

474
00:18:49,006 --> 00:18:51,569
bread for tech style use. It means that

475
00:18:51,569 --> 00:18:52,546
it has a longer

476
00:18:52,999 --> 00:18:54,294
fiber. So

477
00:18:54,747 --> 00:18:57,154
the the actual plant itself

478
00:18:57,701 --> 00:19:00,005
it's gonna be a lot taller and because

479
00:19:00,005 --> 00:19:01,458
you want those really long

480
00:19:02,308 --> 00:19:04,555
lines of fiber. It's easier to,

481
00:19:05,405 --> 00:19:06,541
utilize and weaving

482
00:19:07,567 --> 00:19:09,798
and then making the textiles. So...

483
00:19:10,515 --> 00:19:12,847
But it grows... Yeah. It grows, like, we

484
00:19:12,904 --> 00:19:15,852
basically broad seed really close together. So broad

485
00:19:15,852 --> 00:19:17,937
seating. It's just kind of taking a handful

486
00:19:17,937 --> 00:19:19,925
of seeds, and I mean, you can get

487
00:19:19,925 --> 00:19:21,357
machinery to do it, but we've just done

488
00:19:21,357 --> 00:19:22,550
a hand scale, and it's just kind of,

489
00:19:22,630 --> 00:19:24,301
like, throwing the seed out there, like you

490
00:19:24,301 --> 00:19:25,096
would grass seed,

491
00:19:25,669 --> 00:19:26,408
And then

492
00:19:27,185 --> 00:19:28,382
you know, you want it kind of to

493
00:19:28,382 --> 00:19:30,876
be densely planted so that this the

494
00:19:31,573 --> 00:19:32,392
plant grows.

495
00:19:33,104 --> 00:19:35,975
Tall and doesn't get out competed by weeds,

496
00:19:36,693 --> 00:19:39,187
and it actually has, like, this very beautiful

497
00:19:39,405 --> 00:19:40,282
flu flower.

498
00:19:41,159 --> 00:19:42,457
And so it's, like, very

499
00:19:43,009 --> 00:19:43,828
like, magical

500
00:19:44,205 --> 00:19:45,800
mystical when you see this, like,

501
00:19:46,518 --> 00:19:48,114
like, because blue is just not a very

502
00:19:48,114 --> 00:19:50,507
common flower. Right. I'll just kind of this

503
00:19:50,507 --> 00:19:52,602
drift of blue in your in your little

504
00:19:53,073 --> 00:19:53,573
metal

505
00:19:54,584 --> 00:19:56,571
a fl. I love it. Yeah. So it's

506
00:19:56,571 --> 00:19:59,275
just... Unfortunately, it's not really great for as

507
00:19:59,275 --> 00:20:00,547
a cut flower because it...

508
00:20:01,517 --> 00:20:03,451
The the pedal strap immediately,

509
00:20:03,827 --> 00:20:04,327
but

510
00:20:04,942 --> 00:20:07,412
really pretty just to see, And I do

511
00:20:07,412 --> 00:20:09,483
cut it. Actually, the seed pods are really

512
00:20:09,483 --> 00:20:09,961
beautiful.

513
00:20:11,089 --> 00:20:12,598
So I cut it and I dry it.

514
00:20:12,836 --> 00:20:15,481
So it makes a really lovely dried arrangement.

515
00:20:16,490 --> 00:20:18,975
So I do utilize it in flower arrangements

516
00:20:19,190 --> 00:20:21,929
as well as, like using the textile. But

517
00:20:22,937 --> 00:20:25,637
yeah, after it's ready to be harvested, it

518
00:20:25,637 --> 00:20:28,614
goes through a, kind of a intensive processing

519
00:20:28,912 --> 00:20:31,546
of, like, breaking it down to become, like,

520
00:20:31,706 --> 00:20:32,743
usable fiber.

521
00:20:34,340 --> 00:20:35,058
And we've...

522
00:20:35,537 --> 00:20:37,864
Gone through all that whole process by hand

523
00:20:37,864 --> 00:20:39,696
and done a lot of demos to show

524
00:20:39,696 --> 00:20:41,927
people. And, of course, there's machinery to do

525
00:20:41,927 --> 00:20:44,874
that. But, right now, it's hard to find

526
00:20:44,874 --> 00:20:47,201
folks that will make process like, machinery for,

527
00:20:47,281 --> 00:20:50,471
like, a medium scale operation. So Right. We

528
00:20:50,471 --> 00:20:52,465
are holding out hope that that 1 day

529
00:20:52,465 --> 00:20:53,103
can happen,

530
00:20:53,502 --> 00:20:55,257
and then we can, like... Because now we've

531
00:20:55,257 --> 00:20:55,757
proven

532
00:20:56,468 --> 00:20:58,224
that so many folks can grow it, and

533
00:20:58,224 --> 00:21:00,378
it grows well here in this region, you

534
00:21:00,378 --> 00:21:02,852
know, now we just have to get that

535
00:21:02,852 --> 00:21:04,703
kind of middle part and scale it up

536
00:21:04,703 --> 00:21:06,538
a little bit. Yeah. And then we also

537
00:21:06,538 --> 00:21:09,332
have, like, folks that really wanna use local

538
00:21:09,332 --> 00:21:11,486
linen, but it's, like, there's a little bit

539
00:21:11,486 --> 00:21:11,806
of a...

540
00:21:12,936 --> 00:21:14,767
Still a gap that needs to be filled

541
00:21:14,767 --> 00:21:15,483
there. So...

542
00:21:16,438 --> 00:21:18,029
Well, I'll share the link to

543
00:21:18,666 --> 00:21:18,984
the,

544
00:21:20,033 --> 00:21:23,055
rust belt fiber shed site, just... And along

545
00:21:23,055 --> 00:21:24,406
with some of your other partners we're gonna

546
00:21:24,406 --> 00:21:26,076
talk about just to show

547
00:21:26,632 --> 00:21:29,177
maybe an an idea of resources other people

548
00:21:29,177 --> 00:21:30,067
could... Explore.

549
00:21:32,139 --> 00:21:34,073
This is not your only collaborative

550
00:21:34,608 --> 00:21:36,680
endeavor, though, Emily. You. It's sort of a

551
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,751
whole philosophy for how you operate,

552
00:21:39,404 --> 00:21:41,160
freight not farm. Can you talk a little

553
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,555
bit about how this is all evolved in,

554
00:21:43,635 --> 00:21:45,471
like, the last 5 to 10 years. I...

555
00:21:45,710 --> 00:21:48,046
I'm... You said that your partners

556
00:21:48,519 --> 00:21:51,316
just had a the 10 tenth anniversary of

557
00:21:51,316 --> 00:21:53,954
of that business, and you're also involved in

558
00:21:53,954 --> 00:21:55,312
that somehow. So I want you to kind

559
00:21:55,312 --> 00:21:57,230
of pull it all together for me and

560
00:21:57,230 --> 00:21:58,030
for our listeners.

561
00:21:58,762 --> 00:22:00,913
Yeah. For sure. Yeah. I like that you

562
00:22:00,913 --> 00:22:04,020
said it's our philosophy. That's very much like,

563
00:22:04,658 --> 00:22:07,207
our ethos and what we wanna promote. Like,

564
00:22:07,446 --> 00:22:10,488
I might have started it, but it's really,

565
00:22:10,648 --> 00:22:13,276
like, through a collection of, you know, other

566
00:22:13,276 --> 00:22:13,993
folks, like,

567
00:22:15,028 --> 00:22:16,940
dreams that this is all can't come to

568
00:22:16,940 --> 00:22:18,866
together there and I've always wanted to just

569
00:22:18,866 --> 00:22:21,276
bring people into the fold and

570
00:22:21,811 --> 00:22:23,881
just realizing this is a lot what I

571
00:22:23,881 --> 00:22:25,289
put in the article, but there

572
00:22:26,126 --> 00:22:28,119
just that, yeah, You can't do this alone.

573
00:22:28,837 --> 00:22:30,851
It really takes a village. And

574
00:22:31,387 --> 00:22:33,300
as you mentioned, yeah, My my husband,

575
00:22:33,875 --> 00:22:36,515
started a compost business 10 years ago,

576
00:22:37,714 --> 00:22:40,775
with some friends, and they just celebrated,

577
00:22:41,889 --> 00:22:44,846
their anniversary this last weekend, so Kind of

578
00:22:44,846 --> 00:22:47,084
coming off the high of that. I I

579
00:22:47,084 --> 00:22:48,063
started my farm

580
00:22:48,522 --> 00:22:50,894
7 years, so I was a part of

581
00:22:51,173 --> 00:22:52,786
like seeing their business grow

582
00:22:53,161 --> 00:22:55,308
for 7 out of the 10 years, and

583
00:22:55,944 --> 00:22:58,250
it's a it's a pretty awesome and convenient

584
00:22:58,250 --> 00:22:59,228
thing to have

585
00:22:59,938 --> 00:23:02,352
a small another small business in the compost

586
00:23:02,888 --> 00:23:03,128
industry,

587
00:23:03,846 --> 00:23:05,760
grow grow alongside your farm.

588
00:23:06,398 --> 00:23:08,153
They they kinda go hand in hand. So

589
00:23:08,232 --> 00:23:09,864
I I feel extremely

590
00:23:10,318 --> 00:23:13,020
grateful to have met them early on.

591
00:23:13,895 --> 00:23:15,905
And, yeah, Just kind of

592
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:17,631
help support each other,

593
00:23:18,839 --> 00:23:22,027
I love it. Yeah. So that... That's 1

594
00:23:22,027 --> 00:23:23,781
as we talked about the fiber shed.

595
00:23:24,418 --> 00:23:26,331
What is the... What is the compost business

596
00:23:26,331 --> 00:23:29,062
called? Oh, yeah. Of course, it's called Breast

597
00:23:29,142 --> 00:23:32,179
Riders is the cup... Is the company name

598
00:23:32,179 --> 00:23:34,736
for they... So they haul food scraps all

599
00:23:34,736 --> 00:23:35,455
over the city.

600
00:23:36,982 --> 00:23:37,937
They, from,

601
00:23:39,130 --> 00:23:40,028
everywhere from hospitals

602
00:23:40,403 --> 00:23:41,937
to private residences,

603
00:23:42,884 --> 00:23:44,802
so they collect all that food waste that's

604
00:23:44,802 --> 00:23:46,421
getting diverted from the landfill,

605
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,077
and they make it into nutrient rich soil,

606
00:23:50,796 --> 00:23:52,487
so they make it into, like, a... A

607
00:23:52,487 --> 00:23:54,711
compost, and they also make soil blends for,

608
00:23:54,790 --> 00:23:57,649
like, pot mix. So early on in my

609
00:23:57,649 --> 00:24:00,244
farming career, I was really struggling with a

610
00:24:00,364 --> 00:24:03,241
finding good pot soil as I'm sure so

611
00:24:03,241 --> 00:24:05,319
many growers understand that struggle.

612
00:24:06,678 --> 00:24:08,835
And a lot of people get it shipped

613
00:24:08,835 --> 00:24:09,495
all over

614
00:24:09,809 --> 00:24:12,457
the country just to get good soil and

615
00:24:12,911 --> 00:24:15,218
have, like, a local source, and it's literally

616
00:24:15,218 --> 00:24:16,036
made from

617
00:24:16,411 --> 00:24:19,144
the food scraps of the city is a

618
00:24:19,144 --> 00:24:22,825
really amazing thing. So I'm super lucky that

619
00:24:22,825 --> 00:24:24,559
they've been able to perfect

620
00:24:25,158 --> 00:24:27,893
they're blend and I use all their products

621
00:24:27,951 --> 00:24:30,106
for my seed starting for my mend,

622
00:24:31,383 --> 00:24:34,980
everything. So... So So do your... Do you

623
00:24:34,980 --> 00:24:37,624
contribute to the Compost too with your... Whatever

624
00:24:38,236 --> 00:24:38,736
your

625
00:24:39,110 --> 00:24:41,889
botanical waste is or your you know...

626
00:24:42,779 --> 00:24:44,615
Clipping and that worth of thing? I do.

627
00:24:44,855 --> 00:24:48,288
Yeah. So III

628
00:24:48,288 --> 00:24:50,523
contribute, like, any flower waste that we have.

629
00:24:50,763 --> 00:24:52,040
Like, we do have a little bit of

630
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,227
a a compost pile on our

631
00:24:56,114 --> 00:24:58,421
our space on the farm, but as a

632
00:24:58,421 --> 00:25:00,490
lot of farmers would know, Like, that's a

633
00:25:00,490 --> 00:25:01,229
whole another

634
00:25:01,698 --> 00:25:03,607
like, thing to get into. Like, you can't

635
00:25:03,607 --> 00:25:05,039
just, like, throw stuff in a pile. So

636
00:25:05,039 --> 00:25:07,585
it's actually kind of a running joke because

637
00:25:07,585 --> 00:25:09,983
we have, like, the worst compost file ever.

638
00:25:10,698 --> 00:25:12,444
On the... Like, personally on the farm.

639
00:25:13,397 --> 00:25:15,303
So we let the professionals do it, and

640
00:25:15,303 --> 00:25:17,390
we yeah most of our stuff to

641
00:25:18,334 --> 00:25:20,478
to rest fell and then till soil is

642
00:25:20,478 --> 00:25:22,066
their their soil brand.

643
00:25:23,574 --> 00:25:24,074
And

644
00:25:24,527 --> 00:25:27,010
we also, I... As a household, I also

645
00:25:27,010 --> 00:25:29,722
contribute my household food waste to them as

646
00:25:29,722 --> 00:25:30,918
well. But if we ever have like, a

647
00:25:30,918 --> 00:25:31,737
big event

648
00:25:32,274 --> 00:25:32,774
or

649
00:25:33,630 --> 00:25:36,115
things like that will take excess waste to

650
00:25:36,115 --> 00:25:36,433
them.

651
00:25:37,148 --> 00:25:40,009
So, yeah. It's really cool to literally be

652
00:25:40,009 --> 00:25:42,790
kind of full circle. We... Our waist gets

653
00:25:42,790 --> 00:25:45,185
waste turned into something of value, and then

654
00:25:45,185 --> 00:25:47,406
we can use that value to continue to

655
00:25:47,406 --> 00:25:48,835
create this endless cycle,

656
00:25:49,866 --> 00:25:50,921
and then all while

657
00:25:51,389 --> 00:25:53,059
you know, preventing it from going from the...

658
00:25:53,219 --> 00:25:55,071
To the landfill, which is contributing

659
00:25:55,605 --> 00:25:56,821
significantly to

660
00:25:57,196 --> 00:25:59,344
greenhouse gas emissions. So Yeah.

661
00:26:00,473 --> 00:26:01,372
Super great

662
00:26:01,829 --> 00:26:04,779
partnership and good friends and... Wait, were you

663
00:26:04,779 --> 00:26:06,773
buying Compost from them and then you met

664
00:26:06,773 --> 00:26:09,325
your husband through the the the transact?

665
00:26:09,738 --> 00:26:11,809
Or... How did that come about? Yeah. It's

666
00:26:11,809 --> 00:26:12,309
basically.

667
00:26:14,756 --> 00:26:16,747
Yeah. I are the best you're the best

668
00:26:16,747 --> 00:26:18,442
customer. Yes. It's

669
00:26:18,754 --> 00:26:21,244
say, yeah, I've had moved back to Cleveland

670
00:26:21,461 --> 00:26:24,328
similarly to how I met the folks at

671
00:26:24,328 --> 00:26:26,319
rust fiber shed. There's a... As you can

672
00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:28,566
see, there's a theme. Breast belt. And we're

673
00:26:28,566 --> 00:26:30,980
very well. We're rare are we proud breast.

674
00:26:32,873 --> 00:26:35,664
But... And, yeah, that's breast for those that

675
00:26:35,664 --> 00:26:37,041
don't know. Is it's just a term

676
00:26:37,434 --> 00:26:39,755
to describe kind of the industry that once

677
00:26:39,755 --> 00:26:40,255
was

678
00:26:40,714 --> 00:26:43,194
here in the city, and we're kind trying

679
00:26:43,194 --> 00:26:45,115
to bring that back and pay homage to

680
00:26:45,115 --> 00:26:47,837
it. So But, yeah, I met them. I

681
00:26:47,837 --> 00:26:50,696
was, like, again, looking for folks to get

682
00:26:50,696 --> 00:26:52,444
involved with. Like, I just thought it was...

683
00:26:52,762 --> 00:26:54,351
I had just moved from New York City

684
00:26:54,351 --> 00:26:55,914
actually that has a lot of

685
00:26:56,832 --> 00:26:58,529
amazing compost initiatives.

686
00:26:58,907 --> 00:27:01,142
And so when I heard that, like, somewhere

687
00:27:01,142 --> 00:27:01,882
in Cleveland,

688
00:27:03,377 --> 00:27:05,229
because as you... Like, a lot of people,

689
00:27:05,388 --> 00:27:07,147
you know, they move from their hometown and

690
00:27:07,147 --> 00:27:09,305
they kind of, like, get dis enchanted by

691
00:27:09,305 --> 00:27:10,743
it. And so I kind of when I

692
00:27:10,743 --> 00:27:12,182
was moving back. I was like, oh, nothing's

693
00:27:12,182 --> 00:27:13,860
gonna be going on here. You know, I'm

694
00:27:13,860 --> 00:27:16,263
gonna have to, like, it's gonna be struggle,

695
00:27:16,422 --> 00:27:18,172
But then, of course, like, there was just

696
00:27:18,172 --> 00:27:19,229
so many vibrant

697
00:27:20,399 --> 00:27:23,281
organizations, like, the you know, doing all these

698
00:27:23,281 --> 00:27:24,875
things that they were doing in New York

699
00:27:24,875 --> 00:27:26,787
city too. So I think people,

700
00:27:28,301 --> 00:27:30,076
yeah, under value and

701
00:27:30,532 --> 00:27:33,176
appreciate what's going on in kind of the

702
00:27:33,415 --> 00:27:35,248
Midwest and the heartland lands and

703
00:27:35,646 --> 00:27:37,718
Yeah. Was is really cool. So, of course,

704
00:27:37,957 --> 00:27:40,108
I needed good soil, and I I found

705
00:27:40,108 --> 00:27:41,039
them and go

706
00:27:41,957 --> 00:27:44,669
yeah. I just started to become naturally friends

707
00:27:44,669 --> 00:27:48,359
with everybody because we were starting small businesses,

708
00:27:48,657 --> 00:27:52,018
and we... They needed support and farmer feedback,

709
00:27:52,176 --> 00:27:54,163
and I I kind of was there when

710
00:27:54,163 --> 00:27:56,705
early testing, you know, the soil, to see

711
00:27:56,705 --> 00:27:58,158
how it's working and

712
00:27:58,547 --> 00:28:00,160
And and... Yeah. And then

713
00:28:01,249 --> 00:28:02,782
with my husband, it just

714
00:28:03,395 --> 00:28:06,414
evolved from there. So Yeah. What's. What what's

715
00:28:06,414 --> 00:28:09,059
his name? His name's is Michael. Michael Robinson,

716
00:28:09,219 --> 00:28:11,234
and yeah. He's 1 of the c cofounder.

717
00:28:12,728 --> 00:28:15,759
But now there... The business is actually a,

718
00:28:15,998 --> 00:28:16,955
worker owner,

719
00:28:17,845 --> 00:28:20,946
business, and there's 14 or 16, I believe

720
00:28:20,946 --> 00:28:22,218
worker owners of,

721
00:28:22,934 --> 00:28:24,763
which is about makes up half of their

722
00:28:24,763 --> 00:28:27,984
staff. So Wow. He was based. Super passionate

723
00:28:28,125 --> 00:28:29,904
about not just making compost,

724
00:28:30,285 --> 00:28:30,605
but,

725
00:28:31,805 --> 00:28:34,605
making it a space that everyone is treated

726
00:28:34,605 --> 00:28:35,325
with equity,

727
00:28:36,218 --> 00:28:38,610
and has ownership in the business. So I've

728
00:28:38,610 --> 00:28:40,923
really been inspired by that, and I think

729
00:28:40,923 --> 00:28:43,155
that also has helped to contribute to a

730
00:28:43,155 --> 00:28:44,964
lot of the initiatives that I've

731
00:28:45,561 --> 00:28:48,051
started on the farm and, like, be in

732
00:28:48,346 --> 00:28:51,132
cooperation with folks and and be collaborative with

733
00:28:51,132 --> 00:28:52,029
them. So

734
00:28:52,579 --> 00:28:54,808
Well, there's a theme with both the with

735
00:28:54,808 --> 00:28:55,286
the

736
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,607
fiber project and the, compost project of Regenerative

737
00:28:59,903 --> 00:29:02,788
agriculture. So that sort of aligns with how

738
00:29:02,788 --> 00:29:04,940
you approach flower farming as well. It sounds

739
00:29:04,940 --> 00:29:05,100
like.

740
00:29:05,817 --> 00:29:09,007
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, like I said,

741
00:29:09,166 --> 00:29:09,485
you just...

742
00:29:10,534 --> 00:29:11,034
Can't

743
00:29:12,362 --> 00:29:14,133
do this alone, and

744
00:29:15,302 --> 00:29:18,163
I just... I'm always seeking out folks that

745
00:29:18,163 --> 00:29:19,793
have other skills

746
00:29:20,411 --> 00:29:20,810
that

747
00:29:21,369 --> 00:29:22,108
I don't.

748
00:29:22,566 --> 00:29:24,242
Just... I think a lot of times you

749
00:29:24,242 --> 00:29:26,717
can feel pressure to try to do it

750
00:29:26,717 --> 00:29:27,776
all and

751
00:29:28,327 --> 00:29:30,177
try to be everything, and I think farming

752
00:29:30,391 --> 00:29:30,891
especially

753
00:29:31,661 --> 00:29:32,161
as

754
00:29:32,613 --> 00:29:35,336
despite often being seen as, like an un

755
00:29:35,803 --> 00:29:38,765
job it requires so many skills. And

756
00:29:40,092 --> 00:29:42,157
but knowing, like, what you're good at and

757
00:29:42,157 --> 00:29:44,475
what you're not. Like I said, are not

758
00:29:44,475 --> 00:29:46,538
necessarily the best compost. So let's, like,

759
00:29:47,252 --> 00:29:50,505
let's help promote these awesome compost and, you

760
00:29:50,505 --> 00:29:52,430
know, let's... We don't know what ton about

761
00:29:52,430 --> 00:29:54,423
textiles. Let's work with these folks but. I...

762
00:29:54,583 --> 00:29:56,895
You know, I have a desire to grow

763
00:29:56,895 --> 00:29:58,490
the facts, but I don't have as much

764
00:29:58,490 --> 00:30:01,055
time to, like, actually... You know, break it

765
00:30:01,055 --> 00:30:03,127
down and process it So let's work with

766
00:30:03,127 --> 00:30:03,764
folks that

767
00:30:04,959 --> 00:30:05,858
can have,

768
00:30:07,270 --> 00:30:09,603
you know, the skill to do that. And

769
00:30:10,312 --> 00:30:11,528
Yeah. And then

770
00:30:12,620 --> 00:30:14,791
we also have, like, our our collab

771
00:30:15,644 --> 00:30:17,076
partnership, our flower,

772
00:30:17,569 --> 00:30:18,366
Power club.

773
00:30:19,324 --> 00:30:20,839
Yeah. I'm gonna pop I'm gonna pop that

774
00:30:20,839 --> 00:30:22,594
up on the screen while. We're talking because

775
00:30:22,594 --> 00:30:26,023
this is just another example of you seeking

776
00:30:26,023 --> 00:30:26,981
out people to.

777
00:30:28,355 --> 00:30:28,934
Kind of

778
00:30:29,554 --> 00:30:31,474
I I guess just not have to be

779
00:30:31,474 --> 00:30:34,355
a solo, like, you're you're finding people who

780
00:30:34,355 --> 00:30:35,954
you can walk us walk alongside.

781
00:30:36,689 --> 00:30:39,027
The... What they're doing and, hopefully, it'll

782
00:30:40,285 --> 00:30:42,362
you know, fee both of you. So the

783
00:30:42,362 --> 00:30:44,040
you I have freight not farm up here

784
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,375
on the website, the Cal collab wholesale for

785
00:30:46,535 --> 00:30:48,934
Flores. This is what you've been part of.

786
00:30:49,174 --> 00:30:50,695
Are you 1 of the founding members of

787
00:30:50,695 --> 00:30:50,855
this?

788
00:30:52,708 --> 00:30:55,094
That's hard to say. Honestly. I think so.

789
00:30:55,332 --> 00:30:57,717
Yes. I think so. Early on early on.

790
00:30:57,956 --> 00:31:00,500
Yeah. Yeah. No. III do think I am.

791
00:31:02,110 --> 00:31:04,684
Alongside many other folks. So I wanna take

792
00:31:04,822 --> 00:31:06,896
too much credit it for the idea, but

793
00:31:06,976 --> 00:31:09,687
I definitely was there since the beginning, and

794
00:31:09,847 --> 00:31:10,619
I've kind of

795
00:31:11,374 --> 00:31:13,937
emerged as a leader for various reasons,

796
00:31:14,787 --> 00:31:17,509
mo a lot of to do with the

797
00:31:17,565 --> 00:31:20,125
location that we're at. It's kind of in

798
00:31:20,125 --> 00:31:21,164
the middle of, like,

799
00:31:22,045 --> 00:31:23,424
you know, a dozen different

800
00:31:24,365 --> 00:31:25,904
flower farms in our area.

801
00:31:26,205 --> 00:31:28,205
So, yeah, This kinda came about,

802
00:31:29,420 --> 00:31:32,240
there was a couple different Ohio Meetup groups

803
00:31:32,299 --> 00:31:32,539
and...

804
00:31:33,340 --> 00:31:33,900
Excuse me

805
00:31:34,299 --> 00:31:36,460
I remember that from other regions of the

806
00:31:36,460 --> 00:31:38,944
state. Right? Yeah. So we had, like, kind

807
00:31:38,944 --> 00:31:41,012
of a winter meetup of folks all over

808
00:31:41,330 --> 00:31:41,807
Ohio,

809
00:31:42,603 --> 00:31:43,103
and

810
00:31:43,796 --> 00:31:45,307
you know, we would just kinda talk.

811
00:31:46,038 --> 00:31:48,503
Talk shop and talk crop and, like, you

812
00:31:48,503 --> 00:31:50,888
know, share ideas and see how we could

813
00:31:50,888 --> 00:31:52,422
help each other and

814
00:31:54,149 --> 00:31:55,262
a few, you know,

815
00:31:56,234 --> 00:31:57,194
years into that,

816
00:31:58,075 --> 00:32:00,154
a smaller group kind of started to form

817
00:32:00,154 --> 00:32:02,315
a folks that were in this, like, closer

818
00:32:02,315 --> 00:32:04,406
area because those are folks from all over

819
00:32:04,406 --> 00:32:05,782
the state, and

820
00:32:06,237 --> 00:32:08,385
we started to, you know, want them get

821
00:32:08,385 --> 00:32:12,045
together in our our area. So we started

822
00:32:12,045 --> 00:32:13,102
to meet and

823
00:32:13,414 --> 00:32:16,290
a lot of credit goes to Rosie Stand

824
00:32:16,290 --> 00:32:17,509
of field of blooms,

825
00:32:18,847 --> 00:32:20,705
who is in our area, and she

826
00:32:21,099 --> 00:32:23,491
was seeing the emergence of a lot of

827
00:32:23,491 --> 00:32:24,310
other collaborative

828
00:32:25,007 --> 00:32:25,826
in Michigan,

829
00:32:27,638 --> 00:32:30,212
you know, and in other areas around

830
00:32:30,763 --> 00:32:32,911
And I sometimes use the term flower hub,

831
00:32:33,070 --> 00:32:35,776
Wholesale flower head. That's sort of... Yeah. For

832
00:32:35,776 --> 00:32:37,765
sure. Yeah. Feel like slow flower really birthed

833
00:32:37,765 --> 00:32:39,197
a lot of those just in terms of...

834
00:32:40,009 --> 00:32:40,488
Creating

835
00:32:42,406 --> 00:32:44,663
topics for people to talk about how to,

836
00:32:45,601 --> 00:32:47,452
you know, how to do this, because there's

837
00:32:47,452 --> 00:32:49,762
no there's no road map. It's it's... Everybody's

838
00:32:49,762 --> 00:32:51,594
sort of... It's a ones... It's not a

839
00:32:51,594 --> 00:32:53,267
1 size fits all. Everyone has to tailor

840
00:32:53,267 --> 00:32:54,461
it to their area,

841
00:32:55,098 --> 00:32:56,467
and it's you know,

842
00:32:57,423 --> 00:32:59,654
who the players are, what the what the

843
00:32:59,654 --> 00:33:00,610
flower mix is,

844
00:33:01,247 --> 00:33:02,681
and who are the customers. Right?

845
00:33:03,557 --> 00:33:07,075
Absolutely. Yeah. I think... Yeah, We were all

846
00:33:07,075 --> 00:33:09,461
real and, yeah I think the lot has

847
00:33:09,461 --> 00:33:11,711
to do with, like, the slow virus community

848
00:33:11,847 --> 00:33:12,380
and just

849
00:33:12,975 --> 00:33:15,594
I think that has virgin so many small

850
00:33:15,594 --> 00:33:16,888
farms, and

851
00:33:17,340 --> 00:33:19,007
we, you know, we're kinda... We were all

852
00:33:19,007 --> 00:33:20,595
gathered and I'm like, okay, We're all kind

853
00:33:20,595 --> 00:33:22,380
of, like these... Really passionate,

854
00:33:22,913 --> 00:33:25,217
you know, growers, but we're really small scale.

855
00:33:25,693 --> 00:33:27,997
How are we gonna ever, like, be attractive

856
00:33:27,997 --> 00:33:31,132
to flo, who need, like, really large quantities

857
00:33:31,266 --> 00:33:33,326
of product, and how are we gonna have

858
00:33:33,326 --> 00:33:35,095
time to logistically,

859
00:33:35,863 --> 00:33:38,756
you know, be able to do deliveries and

860
00:33:39,129 --> 00:33:39,446
and

861
00:33:40,002 --> 00:33:41,826
invoices and all those things and we're, like,

862
00:33:41,985 --> 00:33:44,445
how can we combine forces, and it it

863
00:33:44,445 --> 00:33:46,601
took a few years of just talking about

864
00:33:46,601 --> 00:33:48,901
that to just figure out what exactly that

865
00:33:48,901 --> 00:33:50,884
would look like, but it started off by,

866
00:33:51,042 --> 00:33:53,183
like, us just buying flowers from ourselves,

867
00:33:54,072 --> 00:33:56,719
And because we always need, like, to supplement

868
00:33:57,650 --> 00:33:59,559
flowers, you know, you have a big event,

869
00:33:59,638 --> 00:34:00,911
and then you are all of a sudden,

870
00:34:00,990 --> 00:34:03,137
you're like oh my gosh, my aren't ready.

871
00:34:03,709 --> 00:34:06,499
You know, let me call Patty and see

872
00:34:06,499 --> 00:34:08,491
if she's got anything. And so we were

873
00:34:08,491 --> 00:34:09,448
already doing that.

874
00:34:10,165 --> 00:34:12,091
Most of most of you farmer floors. Then

875
00:34:12,091 --> 00:34:13,442
or enough of you that you're...

876
00:34:14,236 --> 00:34:16,222
Or was it even just for, like, fulfilling

877
00:34:16,222 --> 00:34:18,922
market demand? Yeah. Market demand or even, like

878
00:34:18,922 --> 00:34:21,481
a flo wanted something. And mh. We're like,

879
00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:23,311
well, this floor. I wanna really keep this

880
00:34:23,311 --> 00:34:26,016
contact, but I don't have half of this

881
00:34:26,016 --> 00:34:28,164
product to tonight I. Does that makes sense.

882
00:34:28,403 --> 00:34:29,872
And something So

883
00:34:30,246 --> 00:34:32,495
I it turns out now that it's mostly

884
00:34:32,552 --> 00:34:34,619
growers and there's only a few folks that

885
00:34:34,619 --> 00:34:36,868
are doing events, but

886
00:34:38,213 --> 00:34:39,885
it started off very much of just, like,

887
00:34:40,044 --> 00:34:41,955
trying to help each other out and kind

888
00:34:41,955 --> 00:34:44,422
of simplify the process of buying from each

889
00:34:44,422 --> 00:34:44,741
other.

890
00:34:45,314 --> 00:34:46,691
And so I kind of volunteered

891
00:34:47,068 --> 00:34:49,541
to be the space to do that, I

892
00:34:49,541 --> 00:34:50,360
have a cooler,

893
00:34:51,296 --> 00:34:51,796
fortunately,

894
00:34:52,333 --> 00:34:54,407
and I'm... Like I said in the middle

895
00:34:54,407 --> 00:34:55,099
kind of

896
00:34:55,774 --> 00:34:57,917
e distance from folks that are more north

897
00:34:57,917 --> 00:34:59,107
and more south of us.

898
00:34:59,821 --> 00:35:02,306
And now it's grown into, like, a full

899
00:35:02,678 --> 00:35:05,878
scale kind of, flo wholesale, and we also

900
00:35:05,878 --> 00:35:08,589
offer retail as well to folks that wanna

901
00:35:08,589 --> 00:35:10,104
do, like, Diy weddings.

902
00:35:10,583 --> 00:35:12,018
I saw that when I was popping up

903
00:35:12,018 --> 00:35:14,265
the website. So you have you have found

904
00:35:14,265 --> 00:35:16,835
a balance between a wholesale to Flores

905
00:35:17,290 --> 00:35:19,302
and satisfying that

906
00:35:19,678 --> 00:35:22,876
retail customer basically. Right? Yeah. We're trying. I

907
00:35:22,876 --> 00:35:24,467
mean, I think our whole mission and, like,

908
00:35:24,626 --> 00:35:26,375
the mission of Freight not as well is

909
00:35:26,375 --> 00:35:28,386
just trying to get as many local flowers

910
00:35:28,601 --> 00:35:30,192
into folks hands.

911
00:35:31,639 --> 00:35:34,764
So, yeah, thank you for being such an

912
00:35:34,820 --> 00:35:37,365
inspiration in that as well, Deborah. Like, I

913
00:35:37,365 --> 00:35:38,973
think that's what keeps us... Going.

914
00:35:39,690 --> 00:35:41,445
Oh, well, it sounds like you've got a

915
00:35:41,445 --> 00:35:44,155
good group. So your freight nod is sort

916
00:35:44,155 --> 00:35:46,229
of the the hub where flo come pick

917
00:35:46,229 --> 00:35:47,026
up their orders.

918
00:35:47,678 --> 00:35:49,587
And prior to that, I guess, farmers bring

919
00:35:49,587 --> 00:35:51,813
their orders and it all kinda happens on

920
00:35:51,813 --> 00:35:52,449
your property.

921
00:35:53,165 --> 00:35:54,199
Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

922
00:35:55,949 --> 00:35:59,094
Yeah. Actually, today is drop off day. So

923
00:35:59,235 --> 00:36:00,114
as we speak,

924
00:36:00,835 --> 00:36:01,815
outside these halls

925
00:36:02,434 --> 00:36:04,994
like, our farmers are dropping off their beautiful

926
00:36:04,994 --> 00:36:05,494
product,

927
00:36:05,954 --> 00:36:08,944
our And after we have, like, sales that

928
00:36:09,003 --> 00:36:11,557
go up over the weekend. So force can

929
00:36:11,557 --> 00:36:12,376
place orders

930
00:36:12,914 --> 00:36:14,644
over the weekend, and then we

931
00:36:15,083 --> 00:36:18,030
organize that, 1 of my colleague who leads

932
00:36:18,030 --> 00:36:20,580
the website sales katie, Travis of Da,

933
00:36:21,138 --> 00:36:24,085
our farm runs all of our online support,

934
00:36:24,419 --> 00:36:26,575
And then I run all the kind of,

935
00:36:26,655 --> 00:36:29,390
like, actually organizing our orders pulling

936
00:36:29,768 --> 00:36:31,945
what we need for the week. And then

937
00:36:32,323 --> 00:36:35,687
tomorrow, we, have... Picked up. So forest can

938
00:36:35,687 --> 00:36:36,802
come get their orders.

939
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,351
And then we also offer, like, on site

940
00:36:39,351 --> 00:36:41,820
sales. So we do, like, a market style

941
00:36:41,820 --> 00:36:42,957
pop up where

942
00:36:43,349 --> 00:36:45,747
for even if they haven't pre ordered, can

943
00:36:45,747 --> 00:36:46,865
come, shop, like,

944
00:36:47,505 --> 00:36:49,742
what we have, and that's really nice for

945
00:36:49,742 --> 00:36:52,952
them to just see visually product, and pick

946
00:36:52,952 --> 00:36:54,702
up extras, but it's really nice for the

947
00:36:54,702 --> 00:36:56,849
farmers because a lot of times, they have

948
00:36:56,849 --> 00:36:57,349
difficulty

949
00:36:57,804 --> 00:36:58,304
predicting,

950
00:36:59,729 --> 00:37:01,881
what is it gonna be available the following

951
00:37:01,881 --> 00:37:04,273
week. So if they they aren't able to

952
00:37:04,273 --> 00:37:06,186
do that, They can bring that last minute

953
00:37:06,186 --> 00:37:07,302
and still get sales,

954
00:37:08,034 --> 00:37:11,228
So it's really nice to see, like, so

955
00:37:11,228 --> 00:37:14,820
many small farms growing because we're able to

956
00:37:14,820 --> 00:37:16,417
create this market for them.

957
00:37:17,295 --> 00:37:19,694
That So... Yeah. What was the year you

958
00:37:19,694 --> 00:37:20,829
actually established

959
00:37:21,679 --> 00:37:23,744
and in the the current model that, you

960
00:37:23,744 --> 00:37:26,459
know, that this led to. So Well, the,

961
00:37:26,618 --> 00:37:29,317
like, kind of farmer to farmer started in

962
00:37:29,317 --> 00:37:29,952
20 20,

963
00:37:30,587 --> 00:37:30,984
whereas.

964
00:37:31,937 --> 00:37:34,477
No surprise. Yeah. We had a plan to,

965
00:37:34,636 --> 00:37:37,447
like, do more Flo sales, obviously that year,

966
00:37:37,846 --> 00:37:39,205
I think that would have been our official

967
00:37:39,205 --> 00:37:42,481
launch year. But as everyone knows about all

968
00:37:42,481 --> 00:37:43,041
the weddings,

969
00:37:44,255 --> 00:37:46,734
cease to exist. So we just did the

970
00:37:46,734 --> 00:37:48,574
kind of farmer farmer. And so I'd say

971
00:37:48,574 --> 00:37:51,315
20 21 is when we really

972
00:37:52,027 --> 00:37:54,093
started the model that we have now. So...

973
00:37:54,570 --> 00:37:56,795
That's great. That. I don't know. 21 20.

974
00:37:57,192 --> 00:37:58,384
That's 334

975
00:37:58,384 --> 00:38:00,302
years. Yeah. Well, Emily, you said you're gonna

976
00:38:00,302 --> 00:38:01,650
shoot a little video that we can share

977
00:38:01,650 --> 00:38:03,234
at the end of this. So maybe you

978
00:38:03,234 --> 00:38:05,690
can point out, like, the area of where...

979
00:38:07,055 --> 00:38:09,598
Where the collab takes place. Sure. People could

980
00:38:09,598 --> 00:38:11,983
envision it. Is it go from, like, spring

981
00:38:11,983 --> 00:38:13,945
to fall? What is... Was... 1 of the

982
00:38:14,302 --> 00:38:15,653
what's the length of time in the year

983
00:38:15,653 --> 00:38:18,515
that you are offering product? Yeah. We start

984
00:38:18,515 --> 00:38:20,661
having product around mid April.

985
00:38:21,535 --> 00:38:24,096
We... Myself and a couple of their growers

986
00:38:24,096 --> 00:38:24,972
do have tunnels.

987
00:38:25,530 --> 00:38:28,318
So we're able to grow some stuff on

988
00:38:28,318 --> 00:38:30,332
that shoulder season, and then

989
00:38:30,644 --> 00:38:32,318
you know, obviously, Mother's day is a big

990
00:38:32,318 --> 00:38:33,833
1. So we always try to get a

991
00:38:33,833 --> 00:38:36,224
few weeks in before that. And then we

992
00:38:36,224 --> 00:38:36,963
go usually

993
00:38:37,340 --> 00:38:38,456
until mid October.

994
00:38:39,750 --> 00:38:41,750
Maybe end of October, and a a lot

995
00:38:41,750 --> 00:38:44,309
of our growers dry product, so we usually

996
00:38:44,309 --> 00:38:46,309
do, like, a dried flower market at the

997
00:38:46,309 --> 00:38:47,269
end. Love it.

998
00:38:48,070 --> 00:38:49,758
Yeah. So... That's great.

999
00:38:50,554 --> 00:38:52,883
Well, you touched on a lot of these

1000
00:38:53,019 --> 00:38:56,398
collaborations and the piece that, you wrote. For

1001
00:38:56,456 --> 00:38:58,447
our current issue of

1002
00:38:59,402 --> 00:39:00,915
Slow flowers journal. I just wanted to pop

1003
00:39:00,915 --> 00:39:02,667
it up on the stay... On the page

1004
00:39:02,667 --> 00:39:04,123
here on the screen

1005
00:39:05,147 --> 00:39:05,647
and

1006
00:39:06,337 --> 00:39:08,796
the s the essay sa is in are

1007
00:39:08,796 --> 00:39:09,772
from the heart

1008
00:39:11,334 --> 00:39:13,415
department, I guess, every issue we try to

1009
00:39:13,415 --> 00:39:15,803
find someone to share our personal story.

1010
00:39:16,758 --> 00:39:17,634
So here is of,

1011
00:39:18,509 --> 00:39:20,362
the essay we we called

1012
00:39:20,832 --> 00:39:23,297
farm life, the future of affirming is in

1013
00:39:23,297 --> 00:39:25,761
community. This photo is of the collab group.

1014
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,736
Right? Yeah. Yeah. So some folks have, like,

1015
00:39:30,550 --> 00:39:31,429
literally moved.

1016
00:39:31,989 --> 00:39:34,489
So not everyone is in the the group

1017
00:39:34,550 --> 00:39:34,869
anymore,

1018
00:39:36,070 --> 00:39:37,269
and then we have a lot of new

1019
00:39:37,269 --> 00:39:39,525
growers. Yeah. You have, like, call growers this

1020
00:39:39,525 --> 00:39:41,065
year. We gotta get a good group.

1021
00:39:42,324 --> 00:39:43,784
It's really hard to get

1022
00:39:44,644 --> 00:39:46,724
you know, a bunch of farmers together when

1023
00:39:46,724 --> 00:39:49,697
it's actually nice outside So... And you have

1024
00:39:49,697 --> 00:39:52,172
buckets of flowers to share. Yeah. And this

1025
00:39:52,172 --> 00:39:53,848
is a really fun event that we did,

1026
00:39:54,327 --> 00:39:55,146
where we just

1027
00:39:55,844 --> 00:39:56,344
highlighted,

1028
00:39:57,853 --> 00:39:59,360
the the product that we had and we

1029
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:00,653
had flo come out

1030
00:40:01,105 --> 00:40:04,040
to a, neighboring farm and just kinda make

1031
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,099
bo and get to see, like, how quality,

1032
00:40:07,478 --> 00:40:09,235
you know, what the quality of our product

1033
00:40:09,235 --> 00:40:11,473
is and help you... And how much variety

1034
00:40:11,473 --> 00:40:13,789
we have and think it's always a work...

1035
00:40:13,964 --> 00:40:17,225
Constantly, you know, continuing to educate people on

1036
00:40:17,225 --> 00:40:19,771
the value of local followers. I page forward

1037
00:40:19,771 --> 00:40:21,777
a little too quickly, but Here you are

1038
00:40:21,777 --> 00:40:23,371
with a couple of your team members, and

1039
00:40:23,371 --> 00:40:24,887
you did talk about the fact that you

1040
00:40:24,887 --> 00:40:26,322
aren't completely solo.

1041
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,034
You now have grown to the part point

1042
00:40:29,034 --> 00:40:30,070
where you can have some...

1043
00:40:30,643 --> 00:40:33,423
Seasonal help at Freight not. Right? Yeah. This

1044
00:40:33,423 --> 00:40:36,226
is Jewel and Lexi, and they're incredible.

1045
00:40:37,713 --> 00:40:40,230
And I'm just so grateful that it is

1046
00:40:40,429 --> 00:40:43,484
just me alone now and we're really moving

1047
00:40:43,543 --> 00:40:45,559
into a space where we're all kind of

1048
00:40:45,698 --> 00:40:48,752
taking responsibility of the farm and, like, working

1049
00:40:48,811 --> 00:40:49,210
together,

1050
00:40:49,784 --> 00:40:51,459
you know, not just to do, you know,

1051
00:40:51,858 --> 00:40:54,728
specific tasks, but really, like, work together as

1052
00:40:54,728 --> 00:40:57,440
a team and a partnership, to grow the

1053
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,241
farm because, yeah. I that's how I see

1054
00:41:00,241 --> 00:41:02,063
the future of where we're going. It's just,

1055
00:41:02,222 --> 00:41:04,544
like, integrating more voices and

1056
00:41:05,549 --> 00:41:06,025
you know,

1057
00:41:06,833 --> 00:41:08,900
I'm really grateful that I was able to

1058
00:41:08,900 --> 00:41:11,523
start this, but I'm even more grateful to

1059
00:41:11,523 --> 00:41:13,613
see what the future holds in

1060
00:41:14,226 --> 00:41:17,022
collaboration and getting other folks. With other skills

1061
00:41:17,022 --> 00:41:19,958
like I said and and interest and, yeah,

1062
00:41:20,196 --> 00:41:22,998
Jewels like, has a huge passion for herbs

1063
00:41:23,943 --> 00:41:27,155
and medicinal and that's, like, created this really

1064
00:41:27,373 --> 00:41:30,803
lovely addition to, like, our case and and

1065
00:41:30,803 --> 00:41:32,876
our products and Lexi is

1066
00:41:33,689 --> 00:41:36,314
works at Great Lakes brewing company, which is

1067
00:41:36,314 --> 00:41:38,382
a our, like, local brewery,

1068
00:41:39,655 --> 00:41:41,603
and we've been able to to do beer

1069
00:41:41,902 --> 00:41:44,717
collaborations with them, which is super fun. And

1070
00:41:45,175 --> 00:41:47,889
yeah, she's really just super great at connecting

1071
00:41:47,889 --> 00:41:49,746
us with partners in the community

1072
00:41:50,618 --> 00:41:52,851
So I'm... III never would have been able

1073
00:41:52,851 --> 00:41:55,244
to do those things on my own. So,

1074
00:41:55,324 --> 00:41:57,898
yeah. I just hope that the peace encourages

1075
00:41:57,956 --> 00:41:59,014
folks to

1076
00:41:59,551 --> 00:42:02,669
not just get hard on themselves when they

1077
00:42:02,669 --> 00:42:05,395
feel like they can't do it all and

1078
00:42:05,929 --> 00:42:08,893
know that what we're up against as farmers

1079
00:42:09,030 --> 00:42:10,400
and changing climates.

1080
00:42:11,199 --> 00:42:11,839
Like, it's just...

1081
00:42:12,639 --> 00:42:14,880
It has to be done with with other

1082
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:17,759
people and and and leaning on each other

1083
00:42:17,759 --> 00:42:19,380
for that support. So

1084
00:42:19,934 --> 00:42:20,413
I love it.

1085
00:42:21,211 --> 00:42:23,286
Any of the other things that you... We...

1086
00:42:23,445 --> 00:42:25,121
You've featured in the story that you wanna

1087
00:42:25,121 --> 00:42:25,679
touch on

1088
00:42:26,158 --> 00:42:28,402
that you're still involved with... I mean sure

1089
00:42:28,402 --> 00:42:30,544
there's, like, opportunities to the point where now

1090
00:42:30,544 --> 00:42:32,289
you can't even say yes to everything. Right?

1091
00:42:32,606 --> 00:42:34,986
Yeah. For sure. And I think that I

1092
00:42:34,986 --> 00:42:36,830
definitely have been strict. Strategic about them.

1093
00:42:38,105 --> 00:42:41,054
You know, I've just found people luckily that

1094
00:42:41,054 --> 00:42:43,227
are have similar values and

1095
00:42:44,412 --> 00:42:46,159
Yeah. That's certain point, you do have to

1096
00:42:46,159 --> 00:42:47,827
say now, and I think just kinda hone

1097
00:42:47,827 --> 00:42:49,495
in on the relationships that you do have,

1098
00:42:49,653 --> 00:42:51,901
But 2 of the ones that I also

1099
00:42:51,957 --> 00:42:54,040
mentioned in the piece that I wanna highlight

1100
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:54,996
or 1,

1101
00:42:55,633 --> 00:42:56,748
Ohio City farm,

1102
00:42:57,226 --> 00:42:59,081
which is a urban farm

1103
00:42:59,617 --> 00:43:01,949
in, that that the city of Cleveland, and

1104
00:43:01,949 --> 00:43:02,449
they

1105
00:43:03,630 --> 00:43:06,210
are run by this organization that reset

1106
00:43:06,510 --> 00:43:07,010
refugees

1107
00:43:07,469 --> 00:43:09,885
in the city, we're a really big hub

1108
00:43:09,885 --> 00:43:12,684
in Cleveland for refugee reset. Wow.

1109
00:43:13,724 --> 00:43:15,885
To folks that work at that farm are

1110
00:43:15,885 --> 00:43:17,219
newly reset. So

1111
00:43:17,975 --> 00:43:20,146
folks from all over the world, and

1112
00:43:20,918 --> 00:43:22,373
they have a beautiful vegetable

1113
00:43:23,067 --> 00:43:25,851
share, but don't have really room for flowers,

1114
00:43:26,184 --> 00:43:28,422
So we were kind of in

1115
00:43:29,381 --> 00:43:32,817
relationship together and talked about doing a our

1116
00:43:32,977 --> 00:43:35,295
Csa. So we are an add on to

1117
00:43:35,295 --> 00:43:38,682
their. Vegetable share and their customers can buy

1118
00:43:39,059 --> 00:43:42,010
flower bo, a weekly in addition to the

1119
00:43:42,010 --> 00:43:44,184
the vegetables. So that's been an awesome

1120
00:43:44,801 --> 00:43:45,040
partnership,

1121
00:43:46,253 --> 00:43:47,132
and then also,

1122
00:43:47,931 --> 00:43:51,527
some dear friends, Jenny and Andrew of room

1123
00:43:51,527 --> 00:43:51,927
service,

1124
00:43:52,486 --> 00:43:54,579
boutique, and now they have a a French

1125
00:43:54,579 --> 00:43:57,236
cafe that they just opens up and

1126
00:43:58,494 --> 00:44:00,732
wanted to highlight that because they were really

1127
00:44:00,732 --> 00:44:01,791
early supporters

1128
00:44:02,170 --> 00:44:02,670
in

1129
00:44:03,223 --> 00:44:06,509
in us and helped us launch our Csa

1130
00:44:06,567 --> 00:44:08,499
program in the first place. And,

1131
00:44:08,954 --> 00:44:10,920
you know, I I always talked to folks

1132
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:14,016
that are starting, like subscription services or Csa

1133
00:44:14,155 --> 00:44:16,632
to find folks like Jenny and Andrew,

1134
00:44:17,272 --> 00:44:20,157
because of the deliveries and that the logistics

1135
00:44:20,157 --> 00:44:22,223
can be a lot of work, but why

1136
00:44:22,223 --> 00:44:24,844
not partner with folks that care about what

1137
00:44:24,844 --> 00:44:26,513
you do and also wanna highlight it in

1138
00:44:26,513 --> 00:44:28,598
their shop, and then also So hopefully get

1139
00:44:28,598 --> 00:44:31,235
some patrons shipped to their space, and then

1140
00:44:31,235 --> 00:44:33,014
they can help support

1141
00:44:33,793 --> 00:44:35,951
that pickup instead of you having to do

1142
00:44:35,951 --> 00:44:37,010
it all. So

1143
00:44:37,803 --> 00:44:38,122
yeah.

1144
00:44:39,001 --> 00:44:41,635
That's really, really amazing. So you have the

1145
00:44:41,714 --> 00:44:42,214
Csa,

1146
00:44:44,907 --> 00:44:45,865
both through the...

1147
00:44:46,438 --> 00:44:48,981
Home goods, restaurant pickup, and then do you

1148
00:44:48,981 --> 00:44:51,286
also have 1 on your farm or how

1149
00:44:51,286 --> 00:44:53,193
are you managing all of that? Because it's

1150
00:44:53,193 --> 00:44:54,862
a big... It is a big lift.

1151
00:44:55,593 --> 00:44:58,620
Yeah. So we did scale back our subscriptions

1152
00:44:58,620 --> 00:44:59,815
a little bit this year so we could

1153
00:44:59,815 --> 00:45:02,285
focus on our wholesale in the club. Yeah.

1154
00:45:02,524 --> 00:45:04,515
And but in previous years, yes, we were...

1155
00:45:06,128 --> 00:45:08,285
The the restaurant and Home Goods store. They

1156
00:45:08,285 --> 00:45:09,563
were a pickup location.

1157
00:45:10,442 --> 00:45:12,931
Now we're just offering retail bow. To them.

1158
00:45:13,328 --> 00:45:15,869
But cool. So... Yeah. Which is really nice.

1159
00:45:16,583 --> 00:45:17,322
And then

1160
00:45:18,092 --> 00:45:20,077
with our Ohio City farm, they've become our

1161
00:45:20,077 --> 00:45:23,190
exclusive, like Csa pickup So they have actually

1162
00:45:23,190 --> 00:45:26,447
2 locations that folks can pick up from.

1163
00:45:26,606 --> 00:45:28,512
So again, it makes it really easy on

1164
00:45:28,512 --> 00:45:30,577
us to be able to just aggregate it

1165
00:45:30,577 --> 00:45:33,298
through them. So, so we don't actually have

1166
00:45:33,298 --> 00:45:36,030
any pickup on our farm, and

1167
00:45:36,566 --> 00:45:39,117
that's kind of by design too because we're

1168
00:45:39,117 --> 00:45:41,764
a working farm, and we have some really

1169
00:45:41,764 --> 00:45:43,438
awesome events through the year, but we're not

1170
00:45:43,438 --> 00:45:46,868
really situated to have, like, kind of that

1171
00:45:46,868 --> 00:45:47,368
management.

1172
00:45:48,543 --> 00:45:50,735
So it's nice to have

1173
00:45:51,035 --> 00:45:51,355
partnerships.

1174
00:45:51,994 --> 00:45:54,235
Like I mentioned to be able to support

1175
00:45:54,235 --> 00:45:56,315
that. So... Well, that's that's the theme of

1176
00:45:56,315 --> 00:45:58,315
this conversation and the theme of the essay

1177
00:45:58,315 --> 00:45:59,847
that you shared and that It's... Just...

1178
00:46:01,518 --> 00:46:03,904
It's hard it's hard. Yeah. And no forming

1179
00:46:03,904 --> 00:46:06,234
is hard. And if you have

1180
00:46:06,703 --> 00:46:10,045
people who make that journey more enjoyable just

1181
00:46:10,045 --> 00:46:12,112
because of, you know, feeling that you've got...

1182
00:46:12,272 --> 00:46:13,624
They've got your back and you've got theirs.

1183
00:46:13,863 --> 00:46:14,999
It's just also

1184
00:46:15,787 --> 00:46:19,444
elevate everyone. And, obviously, elevate your community, and

1185
00:46:19,444 --> 00:46:21,353
sounds like a really beautiful community that you

1186
00:46:21,353 --> 00:46:22,625
have built and,

1187
00:46:23,594 --> 00:46:25,588
know, in the Greater Cleveland area. So I

1188
00:46:25,588 --> 00:46:27,023
wish like they come visit. Sounds wonderful.

1189
00:46:27,740 --> 00:46:30,610
You're welcome anytime. Okay. We have a late,

1190
00:46:30,849 --> 00:46:31,668
kids beautiful.

1191
00:46:32,539 --> 00:46:34,377
It's it's it's a great it's a great

1192
00:46:34,377 --> 00:46:36,294
space. And I mean, I think Cleveland really

1193
00:46:36,294 --> 00:46:38,611
well situated to, like, facilitate a lot of

1194
00:46:38,611 --> 00:46:40,777
these partnerships. Too, and that's why I love

1195
00:46:40,777 --> 00:46:42,869
this city so much because

1196
00:46:43,323 --> 00:46:45,573
it it makes it easier to meet people

1197
00:46:45,869 --> 00:46:46,369
and

1198
00:46:47,393 --> 00:46:49,614
be able to form these connections,

1199
00:46:50,249 --> 00:46:53,106
because everyone kinda has this, like, solidarity with

1200
00:46:53,106 --> 00:46:53,503
each other,

1201
00:46:54,073 --> 00:46:56,452
and love for the city. So I think

1202
00:46:56,452 --> 00:46:58,593
it it I think you can replicate this

1203
00:46:58,593 --> 00:47:01,130
kind of model anywhere, but I think it's

1204
00:47:01,130 --> 00:47:01,630
been

1205
00:47:02,500 --> 00:47:05,619
especially, you know, successful in, like, the, kind

1206
00:47:05,619 --> 00:47:07,539
of smaller city that we do have.

1207
00:47:08,420 --> 00:47:10,119
Yeah. And I think

1208
00:47:11,072 --> 00:47:13,246
You know, I hope people feel encouraged

1209
00:47:13,703 --> 00:47:16,277
to to ask, you know, ask people

1210
00:47:16,654 --> 00:47:19,206
in your community, you know, how they might

1211
00:47:19,206 --> 00:47:21,684
wanna us or and you'd be surprised, like,

1212
00:47:21,843 --> 00:47:23,216
how many people really

1213
00:47:23,827 --> 00:47:26,606
have something that you might not have that

1214
00:47:26,606 --> 00:47:28,804
they can be met mutually beneficial or

1215
00:47:29,562 --> 00:47:31,157
I love it. I love it. Well, we

1216
00:47:31,157 --> 00:47:32,673
could keep keep going, but I'm gonna let

1217
00:47:32,673 --> 00:47:33,869
you go because I know you've got a

1218
00:47:33,869 --> 00:47:36,103
wedding to design for and I didn't know

1219
00:47:36,103 --> 00:47:38,336
the club was going on today, but I'm

1220
00:47:38,336 --> 00:47:41,132
site excited to share this conversation,

1221
00:47:42,005 --> 00:47:43,276
Emily is going to also

1222
00:47:44,467 --> 00:47:45,976
take a little video, and we'll add that.

1223
00:47:46,135 --> 00:47:47,983
And then I have so more photos that

1224
00:47:47,983 --> 00:47:49,342
you shared that we weren't able to use

1225
00:47:49,342 --> 00:47:51,100
with the your column. So I'll put those

1226
00:47:51,100 --> 00:47:53,198
in our show notes when this airs

1227
00:47:53,737 --> 00:47:55,575
s r's podcast dot com. So,

1228
00:47:56,469 --> 00:47:58,061
best wishes for the rest of the season.

1229
00:47:59,255 --> 00:48:00,767
And what are you do in your downtime,

1230
00:48:00,926 --> 00:48:01,324
Emily?

1231
00:48:02,279 --> 00:48:03,098
What downtime?

1232
00:48:04,605 --> 00:48:06,285
I don't know when the dried flower season

1233
00:48:06,285 --> 00:48:09,644
is over. Yeah. Then that's planting season, but

1234
00:48:09,644 --> 00:48:09,965
no,

1235
00:48:10,845 --> 00:48:12,692
I like... I mean, I mentioned the lake.

1236
00:48:12,930 --> 00:48:14,361
I love to go swimming in the lake.

1237
00:48:14,838 --> 00:48:16,746
I I have 2 very cute cats that

1238
00:48:16,905 --> 00:48:17,780
I like mine with.

1239
00:48:18,973 --> 00:48:19,211
I mean,

1240
00:48:19,943 --> 00:48:22,179
All jokes aside. Like, I think it's... I

1241
00:48:22,179 --> 00:48:23,855
don't wanna glorify, like,

1242
00:48:24,653 --> 00:48:27,608
you know, burnout out or working too hard.

1243
00:48:27,847 --> 00:48:28,826
I think absolutely...

1244
00:48:29,298 --> 00:48:31,926
Folks need to rest, especially farmers. They can

1245
00:48:31,926 --> 00:48:33,917
get... As I said in the article, it's

1246
00:48:33,917 --> 00:48:35,213
really easy to

1247
00:48:35,668 --> 00:48:37,992
get completely consumed by it, and I been

1248
00:48:37,992 --> 00:48:40,299
trying really hard this year, especially to, like,

1249
00:48:40,458 --> 00:48:42,526
separate myself a little bit from that and

1250
00:48:42,526 --> 00:48:44,276
create better work life balance,

1251
00:48:45,166 --> 00:48:47,153
But that being said, like, I do love

1252
00:48:47,153 --> 00:48:49,697
what I do, and I love, like, the

1253
00:48:49,697 --> 00:48:51,946
folks that I get to interact with. So

1254
00:48:52,653 --> 00:48:54,715
it it does feel like a lot of

1255
00:48:54,715 --> 00:48:57,333
times, just such a joy to, like, take

1256
00:48:57,333 --> 00:48:59,023
on these projects, and

1257
00:48:59,967 --> 00:49:03,170
work with them, but rest is important and,

1258
00:49:04,498 --> 00:49:07,121
finding time off the farm and out to

1259
00:49:07,121 --> 00:49:09,840
work. Is also important. III

1260
00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:12,567
love, like, kind of doing embroidery

1261
00:49:13,022 --> 00:49:13,522
and,

1262
00:49:14,056 --> 00:49:16,522
like, textile work. Actually, I've been really getting

1263
00:49:16,522 --> 00:49:17,579
into. I wonder.

1264
00:49:17,969 --> 00:49:19,485
So I've been I've been trying to do

1265
00:49:19,485 --> 00:49:21,880
that is, I've been trying to relearn what

1266
00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:22,757
a hobby needs.

1267
00:49:24,273 --> 00:49:26,761
Well, it's a lifestyle that... So many people

1268
00:49:26,761 --> 00:49:29,073
aspire to, and so few people can actually

1269
00:49:29,073 --> 00:49:31,725
follow through on it and and just admire

1270
00:49:31,943 --> 00:49:35,249
you so much for being honest. And transparent

1271
00:49:35,388 --> 00:49:37,965
and sharing your story, and I'm excited to

1272
00:49:38,265 --> 00:49:40,822
share with the broader slow flowers community through

1273
00:49:40,822 --> 00:49:42,675
the podcast in the video. So Thank you,

1274
00:49:42,835 --> 00:49:44,275
emily. I really appreciate it.

1275
00:49:44,914 --> 00:49:46,434
Thank you so much. I have to say,

1276
00:49:46,594 --> 00:49:48,594
like, I've been listening to the podcast since

1277
00:49:48,755 --> 00:49:51,155
I started farming, so this is a really...

1278
00:49:51,648 --> 00:49:54,189
Big honor, and I've, like, been so inspired

1279
00:49:54,189 --> 00:49:55,777
by so many of the stories that you've

1280
00:49:55,777 --> 00:49:56,675
told and

1281
00:49:57,604 --> 00:49:59,748
it's really helped me to get to this

1282
00:49:59,748 --> 00:50:02,713
point. So I really appreciate it. Thanks. And

1283
00:50:02,713 --> 00:50:04,471
now you're 1 more voice in that collection.

1284
00:50:04,790 --> 00:50:05,509
So thank you.

1285
00:50:06,148 --> 00:50:08,226
We'll talk soon, Emily. Thanks a lot. Bye

1286
00:50:08,226 --> 00:50:08,865
bye. I.

1287
00:50:39,844 --> 00:50:41,828
Thanks so much for joining me today. Please

1288
00:50:41,828 --> 00:50:44,648
visit. Slow flowers podcast dot com to

1289
00:50:45,103 --> 00:50:47,329
find episode 673.

1290
00:50:47,726 --> 00:50:50,056
You can watch the replay video of my

1291
00:50:50,192 --> 00:50:52,754
conversation with Emily and find links to afraid

1292
00:50:52,754 --> 00:50:54,272
not farms social places.

1293
00:50:54,831 --> 00:50:57,468
The bonus video includes footage that Emily filmed

1294
00:50:57,468 --> 00:50:59,865
separately and share with me after our main

1295
00:50:59,865 --> 00:51:02,429
interview As mentioned, I will also include a

1296
00:51:02,588 --> 00:51:05,158
Pdf of Emily's with Heart Essay

1297
00:51:05,534 --> 00:51:08,161
recently published in the summer 20 24 issue

1298
00:51:08,161 --> 00:51:09,451
of. Flow flowers journal.

1299
00:51:10,964 --> 00:51:13,355
Thank you to Johnny selected seats, an employee

1300
00:51:13,355 --> 00:51:15,800
owned company that provides our industry with the

1301
00:51:15,998 --> 00:51:17,982
best flour herb and vegetable seeds,

1302
00:51:18,855 --> 00:51:21,554
supplied to farms large and small, and even

1303
00:51:21,554 --> 00:51:24,192
tobacco cutting gardens like mine. Find the full

1304
00:51:24,192 --> 00:51:27,404
catalog of flower seeds and bulbs at johnny's

1305
00:51:27,462 --> 00:51:30,174
seeds dot com. And thank you to the

1306
00:51:30,254 --> 00:51:33,045
Gardener workshop, which offers a full curriculum of

1307
00:51:33,045 --> 00:51:36,650
online education for flower farmers and farmer flo.

1308
00:51:37,527 --> 00:51:39,681
Online education is more important than ever, and

1309
00:51:39,681 --> 00:51:41,457
you'll want to check out the course offerings

1310
00:51:41,515 --> 00:51:43,841
at the Gardeners workshop. Dot com.

1311
00:51:45,112 --> 00:51:46,701
I'm so glad you joined us today. The

1312
00:51:46,701 --> 00:51:49,561
slow flowers podcast is a member supported endeavor,

1313
00:51:50,197 --> 00:51:52,940
downloaded more than 1000000 times dot by listeners

1314
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:53,480
like you.

1315
00:51:54,039 --> 00:51:56,760
Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing, it

1316
00:51:56,760 --> 00:51:59,480
means so much. As our movement gains more

1317
00:51:59,480 --> 00:52:01,500
supporters and more passionate participants

1318
00:52:01,973 --> 00:52:04,121
who believe in the importance of our domestic

1319
00:52:04,121 --> 00:52:07,306
cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I

1320
00:52:07,306 --> 00:52:09,295
know you feel it too. If you're new

1321
00:52:09,295 --> 00:52:10,967
to our weekly show or a long running

1322
00:52:10,967 --> 00:52:13,611
podcast check out all of our resources at

1323
00:52:13,611 --> 00:52:15,125
s flower society dot com.

1324
00:52:15,842 --> 00:52:17,994
I'm Deborah P, host and producer of the

1325
00:52:18,073 --> 00:52:18,790
Sunflower flower show,

1326
00:52:19,442 --> 00:52:22,466
and the So podcast. The So podcast is

1327
00:52:22,466 --> 00:52:25,729
engineered and edited by Andrew B. The content

1328
00:52:25,729 --> 00:52:28,276
and opinions expressed here are either mine alone

1329
00:52:28,276 --> 00:52:29,801
or those of my guests alone,

1330
00:52:30,516 --> 00:52:33,217
independent of any podcast sponsor or other person

1331
00:52:33,217 --> 00:52:34,487
company or organization.

1332
00:52:35,202 --> 00:52:36,791
Next week, you're invited to join me in

1333
00:52:36,791 --> 00:52:39,594
putting more slow flowers on table, 1 stem,

1334
00:52:39,914 --> 00:52:41,994
1 vase at a time. Thanks so much

1335
00:52:41,994 --> 00:52:43,994
for joining us today. And I'll see you

1336
00:52:43,994 --> 00:52:44,555
next week.