Ten Years of Farmer Bailey
Anniversary Farmer Feature: Brooke's Fresh Cut Flower Farm
By Felicia D'Ambrosio
Brooke Freeman is an author, first generation flower farmer, credentialed therapist, and devoted mother. Family is her North Star: Brooke's Fresh Cut Flower Farm in Goldsboro, North Carolina is not only a business, but realized dream of a place where generations can gather, run in the fields, and get muddy.
"My Papa was a Master Gardener. My Granddaddy planted a field of corn every year for the family," writes Brooke. "Growing up, my Mom and Dad created a flower and vegetable garden for my sister and I around our little playhouse. There were usually zinnias, sunflowers, strawberries, and tomatoes. We spent many afternoons out there playing together. I played outside for many hours every day and have the best childhood memories."
"I know we can’t all be farmers, but let me encourage you to get in touch with the spirit of many of your ancestors; plant a small garden or at least some flower pots. Experiment with seeds; tend to them by providing sunshine and water and carefully pull out the weeds. If you kill them, you’ll lose a few bucks; you can start over again…and again. You might gain something priceless from this if you manage to keep your little baby plants alive until they become big plants...
Encouragement, hope, maybe a reason to get out of bed!"
Read on for an interview with Brooke about why she added Farmer Bailey plugs to her farm in 2020, her best advice for new flower farmers, and how she finds the fun in farming every day.
When did you begin buying plants from Farmer Bailey?
I believe it was 2020! I started using Farmer Bailey for the harder to grow and more time consuming plants. I have a small 8x10 grow room where I start thousands of seeds for my business, but things like Lisianthus–that take a really long time, and take up space my grow room for the entire period of time–are just much simpler outsourced. Last year we grew like 5 greenhouses full of Lisianthus.
What flowers did you start with, and have you pivoted?
One year I grew Lisianthus myself, from seed, since then I have purchased them from Farmer Bailey.
How has Farmer Bailey supported your business? What are the advantages of plugs?
It is wonderful to purchase healthy plants, ready to be planted immediately upon arrival.
What do you consider your area of expertise, or greatest area of growth?
Our area of expertise is weddings, our secondary areas are a weekly flower subscription and deliveries as a traditional florist.
What are your challenges?
We killed every single Hellebore we bought a couple of years ago, due to them experiencing too much water in the winter. It was really our fault–not yours–but I’d love a do over. I didn’t get crop insurance on them. I’ve never had crop insurance. Maybe this is my year for that.
When I’m ready to make the investment, I will buy a few hundred Hellebores again. I bought a small amount this year.
What is your best advice for new flower farmers? What would you have wanted to know in your first year of flower farming?
Everyone says “start small”… but I think, do what ever the hell you want. Do it as big as you can afford to do and survive. Your life will change. You’ll be out there working at it 24/7. But what else would you be doing? There are so many worse things you could be doing. Farming is good for your spirit and overall physical health.
How many years have you been flower farming?
This year will make eight years. I am a first generation female farmer who has basically walked away from doing therapy (with a masters degree) to grow and arrange flowers and host weddings.
What is your typical business model? Has this changed over the years?
Full service weddings, a local (30 mile radius) weekly flower subscription, local deliveries as a traditional florist. In the beginning, I did a lot of markets, selling bouquets in other stores, I TRIED to sell to every florist in town over and over again, sold more DIY buckets etc.
How do you spend your non-farming time? What brings you great joy?
I have two children. They actually love coming to the farm and exploring. It’s a place for them to run free and explore nature. My oldest is so proud to tell others that her mom is a FARMER. We are very involved in our church and I teach Sunday school and the young children on Wednesday nights. We go to the beach and mountains on the weekends a few times a year. Becoming a farmer has really made me a homebody. I enjoy the lists of work I create for myself. I enjoy working in nature.
Tell us about yourself!
Farming is a lot of FUN. The business side of things–when comes to customer service and managing employees–are the hard parts. Becoming a good businesswoman is learning to kiss a lot of a$$ and keep moving.
I strive to prioritize my health, exercise daily, and sit as little as possible at a desk. I want to be a “fit mom” so I can be the best mom and wife to my ability, for my family.
My hope for my farm is that it will become (and be) a place where my children WANT to be and bring their friends and hang out with me.
Is there anything else you'd like to say that we did not ask?
Farmer Bailey has helped me grow more plants than I can produce myself.
I have nothing bad at all to say about Farmer Bailey.
When crops have failed (very rare) they’ve reached out and let me know and given me a refund or rescheduled a delivery for a different week.
I do LOVE “Ready to Ship” availability. Sometimes broke come winter when I need to order a LOT of plugs, and then the “Ready to Ship” selection saves me, later in the year.
