Lessons learnt Running a Flower farm

I’ve learnt a lot over the last 7 years of business, but as we approach our 5th birthday on the field (at the beginning of October) here’s 5 things I’ve learnt there:

• Lesson 1

  Growing on a field is NOTHING like a garden, market garden or allotment! Nothing. The scale and challenges of turning pasture into productive growing (inputs, outputs, pests) takes time, money and persistence.
  

• Lesson 2

  Size (of your plot) matters. There’s an incredibly fine balance between financial viability and capacity. Understanding what is too small and too big takes experience and math.
  

• Lesson 3

  Growing lots isn’t the business. (Think about it…)
  

• Lesson 4

  What other growers do is not my business; Closely linked to the previous point! Just because others grow a lot or grow some fancy variety doesn’t mean they make any money… what everyone else does is just a distraction.
  

• Lesson 5

  Trust your gut. Always. My instinct for people, opportunities, jobs… it’s always right!