Rooted Agritourism

This week, we talk all about Lisianthus. In 2020, I grew a total of 15 lisanthus plants. I didn’t grow any in 2021 or 2022, so in 2023 I decided to grow nearly 1700 plants. I made a few mistakes along the way.Peddling Perishable Products call:https://calendly.com/sunnymarymeadow/peddling-perishable-products

We continue with the twins from Blooming Creek as we get into part 2 of dahlias!Peddling Perishable Products signup: https://calendly.com/sunnymarymeadow/peddling-perishable-products

There is so much to unpack about dahlias, we couldn’t fit it in a single episode!Peddling Perishable Products signup: https://calendly.com/sunnymarymeadow/peddling-perishable-products

Peddling Perishable Products launches this fall. Here’s the calendly link to get more information: https://calendly.com/sunnymarymeadow/peddling-perishable-products

This week’s episode talks about how we support our flowers from toppling over, causing crooked stems. Peddling Perishable Products sign up: https://calendly.com/sunnymarymeadow/peddling-perishable-products

This week we are talking about growing zinneas as cut flowers!

In this week’s episode, I talk about the difference between a bouquet and an arrangement, and what my technique is to do this.

In this week's episode, we talk about tips and tricks for harvesting flowers. We pick & process about 40 5-gallon buckets per week, and it's important to streamline the task to get it done first thing in the morning so we can keep up with the other tasks of the day.

This week's episode is all about growing cut flowers in your landscaping. Not everyone has the space to devote to a cut flower garden, so it's nice to have ingredients you can add to bouquets that you grow around your house.

I am getting married this fall to my "Chapter 2", which is something we widows call it if we are fortunate enough to find love again. I discuss the flowers I am growing for my own wedding, along with what I would grow if I were getting married different months out of the year. This week, I have a special guest: Michelle of Cider Mill Blooms in Ontario, Canada. She also grew flowers for her "Chapter 2" wedding, and we discuss the pieces of us that have been saved through growing flowers.

In this episode I talk about gardening and flower farming with kids. It’s important to note, there is a difference. When running a flower business, imagine bringing your kid with you to work every day. I talk about balancing and taking turns and wearing one hat at a time. I’m sure most of you were hoping to hear some “how to” tips — but the truth is, my kids are much happier doing what they want to do and I’m much more productive when there is someone watching them. We use a combination of daycare, babysitters, and a nanny in the summer. I give tips on gardening with kids, and discuss the reality of running a business from home while you have children present.

Here in MN in Zone 4B, we are in between spring flowers and summer flowers in June. It’s a lot of pulling weeds and watering flowers and waiting for things to start blooming. We are making sales when we can to keep the bills paid, but it’s very much a “work without much reward right now” season.

In this week’s episode we talk all about growing ranunculus in zone 4B. This flower was a labor of love, but totally worth it.

In this week’s episode, I talk about the drip irrigation kit I use. I discuss pros and cons to drip irrigation, along with why kits are the best way to start.

Gina shares her incredible journey with how her son, Henry Lomheim was born early due to complications from his mother’s appendectomy surgery. He made his entrance into the world at 26 weeks, 6 days and weighed 2 lbs 7.5 oz. Henry spent 87 days in the St. Cloud Hospital NICU where he learned to breathe on his own, eat, and grow. We talk about a little bit of everything, but ultimately focusing on the positives in a crappy situation. She ultimately created a nonprofit called Henry’s Heroes and there is a walk taking place in St. Martin, MN on Saturday June 3. We hope you can join us!To donate to the nonprofit:https://henrys-heroes.square.site

In this episode, we talk about the many benefits of landscape fabric in cut flower farming. Not only does it reduce weeds, it helps with moisture retention, minuses soil disturbances, provides an easy way to space flowers, and it looks nice!The fabric I use: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SI9O9S/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_ZV5828TKTZPBQM597CBW?linkCode=ml2&tag=sunnymarymead-20

In this week's episode, I talk about cool hardy annuals and working with Mother Nature to not only get earlier blooms but spread out the work of planting and harvesting. I reference this book multiple times, so for an in-depth reference, get your copy of Cool Flowers by Lisa Mason Ziegler here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989268810/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_6VRRJW1B8ZGPE9818F3Q?linkCode=ml2&tag=sunnymarymead-20

This week we welcome Amanda Radke from rural South Dakota helping debunk confusing labels and marketing buzzwords in the agriculture industry. We talk about how it is confusing to use terms such as sustainable, as that is how farmers have been growing for decades. We talk about the confusion that end consumers get when those words aren’t used, and what exactly those practices mean.I truly hope that this episode is a conversation starter, and please reach out to either of us if you are confused or need more clarification. It is from conversations like this, that we all get better informed and can learn. The Soil Quilt book: https://amandaradke.com/collections/books-toys/products/pre-order-childrens-book-the-soil-quilt

This week we talk about everything tulips! I talk about the differences in growing them for cut flower production and growing them as a hobby gardener. I discuss how and when I plant them, how I store them, and some of the varieties I order.Questions? Send me an email [email protected] I promised I would include my favorite tool for harvesting them by the bulb in the episode notes: https://amzn.to/40RGqbL

This episode helps you better understand what the heck it means when someone says “tender annual” or “hardy annual” and many other terms. We also talk about a few things that work well in cut flower bouquets and arrangements, like raspberry bushes, that you wouldn’t normally think of.Not every flower has a great vase life, but they don’t all have to start from seed.

Do you wear your work ethic like a badge of honor? Hard work and making sacrifices to achieve your goals is important. It’s the stepping stone to getting you where you want to be. But what happens when you get there? Do you just keep climbing? What’s your end goal? After my husband died, I have taken a long hard look at what my life looks like and decided I didn’t like what I saw. I’m talking about why and how I hit the reset button. I’m here to talk about my “hustle culture” journey and what I’m doing about it from here on out. I wasn’t living the life I want to live. Now I’m chasing contentment & fulfillment while still going after those dreams at a more calculated pace. Bloom & Grow

How I produce over 5000 bouquets/year on less than 1/2 an acre.People are always expecting me to say that I grow on 5 acres or whatever, and they're shocked when I produce this many flowers on such a small space. The secret: succession planting and crop rotation. Knowing exactly the days to maturity and getting multiple harvests from the same ground. Maybe it's flowers that produce all summer long, or it's flowers that are finished early summer and can be replaced by another flower (like a sunflower) that can bloom 50 days from planting.Questions? email [email protected]: @sunnymarymeadow

How I decide the timing and location of my cut flowers after I have bought the seeds and plugs. I divided this episode into two parts, and this second part talks about how I decide where to plant things. Is it a premium cut? What are the water requirements? Does it require anything special for harvest? Shade? Sun? Height?The first part (Ep 5) first part talks about how I make and organize my calendar of when to plant things.

This is a tough one. After my husband died, I had a lot of people reach out in well-intentioned ways. I give examples of things to say and not to say, and most importantly WHY. Ask yourself: Am I doing this to make the grieving person feel better, or am I doing this to make myself feel better? Treat others how THEY want to be treated.I encourage grievers to give grace (within reason) but also take the initiative to tell people what you need. I know it’s not fair. You lost someone and now it’s YOUR job to tell people what you need. But sometimes that’s what needs to be done.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bloomandgrow.llc/Email: [email protected]

How I decide the timing and location of my cut flowers after I have bought the seeds and plugs. I divided this episode into two parts, and this first part talks about how I make and organize my calendar of when to plant things.I also shift gears halfway through and discuss what happens when everything goes “wrong” by sharing a story of a massive storm that hit our farm last May and did some significant damage.https://sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast/how-to-decide-what-to-plant-and-where-part-1/

This week we talk about using high tunnels (or hoop houses) for season extension. Special guest Ashley Vail from Vail Family Farm is here with us talking about Zone 6 and Zone 4 growing. We both use it to extend our seasons for tulips, ranunculus, and other plants. We each bought the same tunnel For full episode notes:https://sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast/high-tunnels-for-season-extension-in-cut-flower-farming-with-ashley-vail/https://www.instagram.com/sunnymarymeadow/

Our farm was named Sunny Mary Meadow in memory of Mary Fiedler. It thrives in honor of Josh Fiedler.When I first met my late husband, it was about 18 months since since his mom had passed away. Around the 2 year mark, I noticed a shift in him. He would get upset about anything related to her, and had unrealistic expectations of traditions he insisted we kept alive in order to maintain her memory. I didn't understand it. I didn't see how it was possible to "be fine" and then suddenly seem to start grieving.I now know, through my own experience, that grief doesn't have a timeline and it isn't linear. We worked through it together, and I finally understood that the progress of our relationship and talking about someday having children was bittersweet for him. He couldn't help thinking about the fact that his mom never got to be a Grandma -- and she would have been the best.I learned so much about secondary losses from him, and our conversations of his grief truly prepared me for what was to come -- we just didn't know it yet. Through his own grief, he commented on

https://sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast/how-to-choose-order-seeds-for-your-cut-flower-garden/Purchasing seeds for your cut flower garden can be overwhelming and expensive if you don't have a plan. Today we cover:How long is your growing season?Where are you going to purchase from?How soon do the seeds need to be planted?What’s your budget?What colors should you buy?When should you order?What types of flowers should you grow?What the heck are plugs?Are these going to bloom in time for me to actually enjoy them?How can I save some money on this hobby?

We prayed for over a year for a baby. When God finally answered that prayer, it was days after my husband died. I found out I was pregnant the day after funeral. We struggled with infertility, and ultimately we were blessed with a baby in the end. It wasn’t the happy ended we expected though.In this Bloom & Grow episode, I share my experience in hopes that you have a bit more empathy for those going through infertility, experiencing pregnancies after loss (including miscarriage), and understand the complexity of grief that doesn’t allow for complete and whole happiness.For more of the Bloom & Grow insights, check out www.instagram.com/bloomandgrow.llc/I would love to hear from you. My email is [email protected]

This week I talk about the 6 flowers I would grow if I was starting my first cut flower garden. These are some very beginner tips. I go into more detail in my e-book Every Room Blooms (found here: https://sunnymarymeadow.com/books/).This is perfect for someone just getting started gardening, or maybe has a vegetable garden and wants to add a corner of cut flowers to it.written transcription & links: https://sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast/a-guide-to-growing-your-first-cut-flower-garden/

Grief can affect us in many ways. I use my perspective of loving, losing, and moving forward to help people simply develop more of an understanding of grief. From understanding comes empathy, and that’s a step in the right direction of being considerate of other’s feelings.Equally as important, I share the lessons I learned after widowhood in giving grace to those that didn’t know what to say or said the wrong thing. If you get mad at everyone who doesn’t know what to say, you’re not going to have any friends left.https://www.instagram.com/bloomandgrow.llc/https://www.instagram.com/sunnymarymeadow/https://sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast/Would love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

The Sunny Mary Meadow farm story. I share how our cut flower farm grew from selling a 200 bouquets one year in a roadside stand to a full time business in 3 year seasons surpassing 3000 bouquets. This entire business is truly is a tribute to my late husband Josh as I work through grief and navigate widowhood by growing this business on the Century Farm he grew up on.Everything I learned about growing cut flowers was through reading books, blogs, and following other flower farmers on social media. This podcast caters to all levels from beginner hobby gardeners to those growing on a large scale like myself.This episode’s written summary: https://sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast/the-sunny-mary-meadow-story/A written summary of each episode is posted to my website www.sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast every Wednesday. If you have questions or comments I would love to hear from you at [email protected] you feel inclined, I would love if you took a screenshot of the episode and tag @sunnymarymeadow so I can see who is listening!Thanks!Liz

The Sunny Mary Meadow podcast is hosted by Liz Fiedler, a flower farmer and nurse practitioner in central MN. After the unexpected loss of her husband in 2020, she found herself turning to her flowers to get through the grief. She didn't expect her business to explode in the next few years the way it has. Bloom & Grow both flowers and your understanding of grief as she continues to move forward in life.For more on this episode: https://sunnymarymeadow.com/podcast/welcome-to-the-sunny-mary-meadow-podcast/