Jenny Elliott: Flower Farmer, Mom, Inspiration
Just talking to Jenny Elliott about her work at Tiny Hearts Farm in Copake, New York makes me tired! We chatted on the way to and from Albany, where we were headed to the studios of WAMC to tape an interview about the upcomin Hidden Gardens fundraising event at the Spencertown Academy on June 15. As I am one of the co-chairs for that garden extravaganza and Jenny is our guest lecturer this year, we were together for a couple of precious hours, away from our busy lives and demanding jobs, with a rare chance to “hang.”
I am personally really looking forward to her illustrated talk, “Growing Cut Flowers for your Garden and Home” (along with the Continental breakfast). The Academy doors open at 8:30 a.m., with lecture and Q&A from 9 to 10 a.m., just in time to head out to see the five private gardens on the tour.
I love buying flowers, cutting flowers from my garden, and being given flowers for any occasion (or no occasion at all). I seem to have more vases than I do dishes, so getting the inside scoop on soil needs, plant types and best varieties from a pro is very exciting to me. I recently attended one of Jenny’s talks on growing dahlias and, even though I’m a professional gardener who has grown them for years, I learned so much about technique from this expert.
During our ride I asked her about how she got into flower gardening, knowing she has a master’s degree in musicology. The whole story is on her website but, in brief, she always loved gardening, even as a child growing up in Carmel, Calif., and she remembers ordering dahlia catalogs (pre-internet) to pore over the lush photos.
But she especially liked growing vegetables. That’s where she and husband Luke Franco started, with just one acre in Westchester. Flowers were a sideline for them. Farmers markets were the venue for their sales; whatever flowers they brought always sold out and the demand grew. Price resistance seemed non-existent and there was less competition. So the cash crop gradually switched over to exclusively flowers.
Fast forward to 2014 and a move northward to take part in the Copake Agricultural Center Project, which enabled them to lease 25 acres to grow more flowers — and do it organically and sustainably. Two years ago, the couple opened a beautiful retail store in Hillsdale where they sell cut flowers and the accessories, run a CSA program, give classes and workshops, and consult with brides and planners for the event component of their sales strategy. Somewhere in there, they added a three-year-old and a one-year-old to the “staff” and expanded their wholesale flower business, too. Aren’t you tired now?
Running a flower-growing business with all these components means they face not only the challenges that all farmers face — weather setbacks, crop failure, insect damage, and wildlife interference — but they must time their bulb planting and seed sowing perfectly to keep the blooms coming from early spring through summer and into fall.
The truth is, Jenny actually energizes and inspires me with her charming and accessible manner, her willingness to learn, and her generosity as a natural teacher sharing what she knows with others. I encourage you to come see what I mean for yourself on June 15 in Spencertown.
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