Flower farm Tour in Mesa Arizona!

Hey guys, it's John here. I'm with my dear friend Jodi. She owns a flower farm here in East Mesa and we're going to do a little tour of her farm. Thanks for having us, Jodi. You're very welcome. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Jodi has, how big is your property here? I think that our growing space is a little over half an acre. A little over half an acre, but it is packed full of so many blooms. There are so many fun things that I cannot wait to show you guys. Jodi does, does she do eupychs? Yes, we are primarily a eupych farm. We do public eupychs monthly and we also do private eupychs. We do not have open public hours, so if you'd like to schedule a eupych or a private event, reach out on my website and I would be, I would love to connect with you. We also do, I make bouquets, photography sessions, but mainly, primarily public and private eupychs. Awesome. And when is your next eupych? March 21. March 21st. Okay, so that is coming up very soon. Well, this Saturday. Yeah, awesome. And you guys are not going to want to miss her eupychs. They are so much fun and you guys get to cut from all of these beautiful blooms and make some gorgeous bouquets to take home to friends and family. So Jodi, what is, what was this property like? Was this always a flower farm here? This was not always a flower farm. Good question. Yeah. This whole flower farm was a pen for our donkeys. Wow. We were very involved with livestock for a lot of years, so we had some donkeys for our grandkids. Then they kind of grew out of the donkeys and I've always loved flowers. My husband is from the Netherlands, so I have seen the beautiful fields of tulips, but I never thought you could grow flowers in Arizona. But this is where you come in. Do you want this story? Yeah, sure. Okay. Yeah. So how I got started in flower farming is partially because of John Miller. A good friend of mine posted a beautiful bouquet on Instagram and said, thanks, John's Plant Adventures. So I quickly texted her, who is John's Plant Adventures? Then she went on to explain the story of how she bought your grandparents' property where the two of you grew flowers. And at the end of that season, you brought her a beautiful bouquet, which sent me on a research trail because I never knew you could grow flowers like that in Arizona. Because my husband is from Holland and they are known to be frugal. In my husband's Dutchiness, he had a hard time buying flowers from America. Understandably so. So I said, I've never grown anything. I'm going to grow my own. John has proven that you can grow beautiful blooms in Arizona. So that is truly how I got started. So I'm fangirling a little bit. It's kind of a full circle moment because I was out here, was it two years ago? Yes. And I consulted Jodi on how to grow flowers here. And now she's growing these amazing, beautiful flowers. Because of your consultations. Yes. Oh my goodness. Okay. A huge part of my story. Yeah, no, for sure. So we're at Rulestem Flower Farm and we're a you-pick flower farm, correct? Correct. Yes. And so Rulestem hosts you-picks and so people can come. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about that? Okay, great. We will post our events on Instagram and on the website and you'll purchase a ticket and we will provide everything you need to come wander the garden, snip your own flowers with some instruction and come into our cottage and create a beautiful bouquet to take home while enjoying some light snacks. That's awesome. And so you'll show them how to actually pick the flowers too? Yes. Perfect. Yes. That's great. So if you're looking to grow or not grow, if you're looking to cut your own flower bouquet or get some pictures with some beautiful flowers, grab some tickets to Rulestem's you-pick and you guys can enjoy her beautiful flower fields behind us. And where are we located here? We are in East Mesa. Obviously we're under the 202. Yeah, which is part of the joy of Rulestem's. We have Gateway Airport nearby. We've got the freeway in the back. But somehow when you walk through that gate, it just is a quiet, peaceful place to enjoy beauty, connect with others. It's just a joyful and peaceful spot. It's beautiful. I know the freeway is right there, but it does feel just tranquil being in this space here. So we're going to do a little tour of her flowers and we'll show you guys all that's blooming here. Okay. We're going to walk around and show you guys all of the flowers, but it first started with these beds. Yeah. Yeah. These are the OG flower beds at the flower farm. And what do we, what do we have in here? We have some really pretty snap dragons in here. Yeah, this is gorgeous. Some scabiosa. Ooh. And why don't you chat about this support system that you have in here? Yeah, this is great. So I knew that supporting plants was important, but to work with that netting on my own just about drove me insane. So this is kind of a funny story. I looked on YouTube and I saw a man with a livestock panel. He put a piece of wood and he just pulled it up. So I said to my husband, Hey, can you please do that for me? We showed livestock. So we had a few panels laying around. So he comes in and says, okay, that was way harder than it looks like on your video because we have a much higher gauge for sure. So now he heats them all up with our welder and then he's able to bend them. And this is just such a better way for me to handle support. Um, well, and these just last forever. They last forever. You don't have to deal with the flimsy plastic and we'll show you guys those there's all over her fields here. Um, they're just a great way to support your flowers here. And this was originally because I grow hardy annuals. Gotcha. When I first started, yes, I did frost cloth over this, but I have now since got too tall for frost cloth. And this is good for shade cloth too. Yeah. These are great. This is just, um, it's like a rebar reinforcement thing. Yeah. These are perfect. Correct. Um, so yeah, this just started as a hobby, so I just grew a little bit of what I love everything here. And so this is kind of a hodgepodge. These are fun. We have a lot of, a lot of snapdragons, her great cut flower in the springtime. Um, and these are to give us some double ones and some butterfly. Those are pretty. And I love apple blossom. Gorgeous. Yes. I love a good apple blossom. I've got a lot of those pink blush. Isn't that gorgeous? She's so pretty. So pretty. We have some straw flowers in here, which grow everywhere on their own. Oh, do they sell? Oh my goodness. Everywhere. They're tall too. Yeah. They're very tall. I love straw. Well, my husband said, honey, because you're tall, you're going to need these very tall beds. And I said, you do realize that the flowers are going to be now above my head, like six feet tall. Yeah. You know, everything's a big experiment around here. So we're learning. This is great learning. You know, I've had such a hard time growing straw flowers in the ground, but I feel like they do so well in raised beds and containers. They're in here. You can grow them in the ground and they're over there also. You're a master at this. Oh, I'm not a master. Never grew anything in my life. It's just this wonderful experiment. Oh, it is all experiment. It's so fun. Is this a black night or is this a scoop? Yes, black night. Okay. Look at that. That color is just beautiful. And then I have scoop ones over there that are this big. They're so pretty. Oh my goodness. I love them. They're so pretty. I love them. More straw flower status. Yeah. In Holland, when you show up at someone's door, you just have a large bouquet of flowers. So that's kind of how it started. I just wanted it to be a hobby. You're my friend. Here's some flowers. But then I had way more. It just turned into more and more and more. I know. It just keeps going. So originally it was those beds and this fence line. Yeah. And then kind of landed on upicks. Really wanted to not be fearful that one upick was going to wipe out my whole garden. Even learning simple things like that. Yeah. But now you kind of know how flowers grow, what's going to still be there. Correct. And I'm not as nervous. So I'm much more consistent with upicks this season. That's awesome. Yeah. Once you learn how to succession plant, it kind of makes it a little easier. I'm learning that this year. Last year, I planted everything at the same time. Everything bloomed at the same time. So this year, one of the goals was improved quality of stems. Yeah. Succession planting. I'm always learning about, obviously, support. Yes. Spacing. I'm not great at spacing yet, John. So let's talk about spacing. Yes. How far apart to usually space these? Well, usually is every six inches, no matter what. Yeah. When they're small, you can't really tell that they're going to take up a lot of space later. So this second season, I have even broke down and done 12 inches apart. Okay. When I know they're going to spread. Yes. When they're going to grow out. But it's all learning. It is all learning. You're just learning. So. But this year. Doing a little bit better. This irrigation, do we use drip tape here? We use drip tape. Okay. Yes. And it's every like six inch spacing? These are every six. So I did every other, no, I did everyone on the outside, but on the center, then I skipped. Every other. So that it wasn't just a big wall of. Of Ranunculus. Or sorry, of the. Yeah. Of the blooms. Yeah. That's perfect. I love using drip tape. Yeah. It really has been very handy. Now this year, we also did a little bit thicker drip tape. Yeah. You know, live and learn. That's perfect. Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about these Ranunculus varieties. Is this, what variety is this? Do you remember? If you don't remember. The sign is on the other side. No, I'm doing much better with. Well, this is the Chamelo. The Chamelo. Okay. Yes. She was one of my favorites. Yeah. With that pink blush. So pretty. And then Elegant, Paradise, Mix. Beautiful. Yeah. I just have them marked better. Gotcha. Now we can read them. The Wedding Pastel. Oh, that is so pretty. Oh, I love the Wedding Pastel. Yeah, I do too. It's such a beautiful color. This is the. The Wedding Pastel. Yes. I can't. Look at this. Oh my gosh. I know. That's great. And this is a great stage to harvest, is that right? I know. Yeah. I have three you picks this week. I love that. Perfect. And then I'm really kind of, I love bright colors also. So I plant a little bit of every color. That's awesome. So these are the Elegance, Elegance Salmon and Elegance Amadine Italian Elegance La Dolce Vita. Isn't that pretty? I love the different personalities. There's so many. I love the different personalities. Some people come in and they just want, you know, the bridal colors, the blush, the pink, which is great. They're beautiful. Gorgeous. And then other people want bright and cheerful. Yes. And then, you know, some people want, you know, the moodier blooms, which also are lovely. They're so pretty. So I just think when you have a you pick different personalities of people and you don't, you have, you want to cover a large market. Yeah. I just, I love all the colors too. I just do all of them. It's so pretty. Is this Tango? Oh yeah. I think it's Tango. Elegance Rosa Chiaro. Rosa Chiaro. Okay. That's a really pretty variety. Oh, look at that salmon color. I just love that. Oh, I'm a sucker for salmon. Yeah. I love salmon also. The Ariande. Yeah. The butterflies. Those are really pretty. Oh my gosh. And this, this, this one's so pretty. Oh, backyard posy mix. No. Close. This looks like the, almost like the, um, the wedding pastel. Yeah. Those are so pretty. Oh my gosh. And I love the more, I love the traditional. I just love the traditional looking they're so pretty. But also what I do love is within a flower, all the different varieties with, I didn't know that. Like I wasn't a fan of say such and such, but then when you look at the varieties, like, Oh, that is gorgeous. Or that's gorgeous. So yeah, that's super fun. There's so many, this is a hard one to keep fresh. Yeah. Sometimes I'm not going to grow that color. Yeah. I know sometimes the darker colors can be harder to manage with like pests and stuff like that. Yes. Which is now I'm on a war against pests. That's my new thing. What's your, I'm in my second cycle of assassin beetle, larva, nematodes in my soil. That is too much. Yes. The nematodes are crazy. It's like a Tecolote almost. That is so pretty. How many, how many ranunculus do you think are in this bed? If you were to guess, I don't know. It's okay. I just keep, there's a lot. I keep planting until the row is over and I have more over there because I had more corn. There's so many. Yeah. But it's nice because I waited a couple of weeks before I did those. Totally. So it's, you know, it's a little bit of a succession planting and with this heat that's been so hard. I know. Yeah. It's been in the nineties recently and it's supposed to be in the hundreds. So I put shade cloth on this. They're going to like that. Yeah. Um, we have a lot of let's more snapdragons back here. Some bupleurum filler. I love bupleurum. This is a great filler you guys. Yeah. I love bupleurum. I have a lot of that. It is so gorgeous. Just that really pretty chartreuse gold color goes with so many flowers. It's just perfect. And then we have more of those white snapdragons, the double white, the dam white. Okay. I'm obsessed with Orlea. Yes. The florists love Orlea. Yeah. I'm, I love that. They love Orlea. And then this is, yes, this is lovely, but it's big. It is big. And I don't, I don't really know where to cut it. You know, some of these are like, this is too short, but what are you supposed to cut the tree at? It's a lot. The reason I love, I like the closed buds too. That's what I'm learning. Like this is done, but I think it's cute. Look at this Orlea bud. Look at that. Like that's a great textural element. You can just add it to bouquets. So yeah, now I just cut it early and cut it like that. And this is Dara, a flowering carrot, but this is a great stage to harvest it. Cause it's just nice and nice and tight there. Yeah. Okay. Some more foliage. I tried to. Eucalyptus. Growing some eucalyptus. Love it. Bells of Ireland. I adore. I love bells of Ireland. I love bells. It's perfect. I have them everywhere. And Veronica, how's this going? Yeah, pretty good. First they were a little wimpy, so I just chopped them to the ground and now they're growing like much taller second time around. That's so cool. I'm curious to see if they like over summer and they'll. Yeah. I'm not sure. Yeah. We'll find out. Yeah. We'll find out. We'll find out. I'm waiting for fever few. This is supposed to be soon. I always hope this is blooming by now, but it always blooms like right after. Yeah. So some delphinium, more fever few. Gorgeous. The mystery tray of foxglove. Oh, and there's some sweet peas back there. Look at this. Yes. I have a little couple sections of sweet peas. Yeah. Here, I'll stand over here actually. Look at these foxgloves. Do you know what variety this is? It might be a Camelot, but it's like a cream color. It was the mystery tray. It's a mystery box. It was the mystery tray. Yes. This is so pretty. I love it with the white too. Yeah. White delphinium. That's. Yeah. I like the spray. The spray is a good size. I do too. I think this is a belladonna or something. That's really pretty. Yeah. I do like that. It's more white. These little white delphiniums are the perfect size. Sometimes the big ones, like the ones that we grow in our garden are way too big to add into like a bouquet. So these like smaller spray ones are the perfect like dainty addition back there. Okay. Yeah. More straw flowers. And opposite of dainty. I love these straw flowers. Oh my gosh. You're doing such a great job. Once again. So my husband gets to these support system. Yeah. Sometimes too late to put on. For sure. So. Because that's the one thing when you're using these cages is you got to put them on. Right away. Before the plants get tall. Before it gets too tall. No, that's, that's the one caveat. But yeah. Once you get in the rhythm of it, it's much easier to do. But they're easy to take off and then reshape your bed. And this is Plectranthus. This is a great like filler in bouquets. It is nice. It's gorgeous. I've never seen it like grown like this. And it's so pretty. And this, you want to talk about this? Well, I'll talk about it. But do you know how to say it correctly? Petulis. Yeah. Petuli. I don't know how to say it. And it's a little bit old. I'm not sure I should chop it all down. So I grew, I put it in last year and it grew some, a few wimpy things. For sure. Yeah. So I just cut it down. Yeah. And then about the time I'm going to go pull it up because I don't know whether to keep or pull. So I always pull. There was some green leaves. I thought, well, I'm not going to pull. I'm just going to leave it. And now it's taking over. It's beautiful. Like this would be a great like landscape plant too. This is gorgeous. And it's super easy. I mean, it's so easy. Yeah. And it just creates a real sweet little aspect in a bouquet. Oh, for sure. It's just such a soft plant here. Yeah. I love this. Oh my goodness. And this basil is my favorite basil. Yes. Cardinal basil. Cardinal basil. Yeah. I love it too. Look at that. And it overwinters pretty, I mean. Great. We had an old warm winter, but she does pretty well. And I let it reseed. And so this is all new. Cardinal basil. Yeah. Beautiful. It's going to be so beautiful. Yeah. Basil is just a great filler to add into bouquets like that. And it makes your bouquet smell nice. So good. So good. So good. Chantilly pink. Yes. My favorite. Y'all know I love pink. Yeah. Chantilly pinks. And we have a madame pink. Like a double pink. Look at that. I think so. She's pretty. Oh yeah, that is. She's so pretty. That double pink. We have zinnias. We're succession planting some zinnias here. Yeah. I know. It's been so warm that I'm planting all of my warm season stuff. Right now. Yeah. Really. Usually we wait until like April. Yes. But I thought, well, it's warm. I'm going to put it in. And there's no colder days on the forecast. Jodi, so we did part of the tour. We still have some flowers to do. But how long have you been gardening for? Because this is some beautiful stuff. Okay. So this is my second growing season. So in 20. 2024. 24. Yeah. Yes. Started seeds under lights in the house in October, planted those and then covered them all winter. So then last spring was my first season of actually having a nice amount of flowers. Incredible. So this is my second season. This is, you guys, for two years of growing flowers, like this is absolutely incredible. Like this looks like you've been growing flowers for like decades. Yeah. This is beautiful work. So we're going to do some more flower tours and show you the rest of her flower garden. So this row, Jodi said she's trying to make it into like more of a perennial section so she can have some beautiful flowers here and like just some structure here right here. Right. That's great. We're not quite there. We still have some hardy annuals. Yeah. But that's perfect. Trying to transfer that over to perennials here and along that other fence line. That's perfect. Yeah. We all need some perennials in our lives to make things a little easier. Easier. These are some sweet peas. They are, I don't think those are perennials, but. No, they're not. They're not. And I just planted them just this season. They're a great trellis filler, but roses are definitely a great perennial. Those are so pretty. I was never a big fan of roses, but then when you start looking at these David Austin roses and the ones with all the frilly insides. They're so prolific. Huge fan of scented geranium. This is a great filler, the scented geranium. Great filler. Do you have to cover this like in the summer? No, I do not. She does great. Wow. We just cut it back last week. That's gorgeous. It's phenomenal. That's perfect. And we have more roses over here. Yes. And you guys know I love mahogany splendor hibiscus. Look at beautiful this is. Just perfect. And these were two like little plants that kept dying. They kept dying and I kept chopping and then I would sprout a little leaf and I left it and now it is kind of taken over. She's taken off. She's taken over. And she's blooming, which is crazy because it's just been so warm. She's just loving her life. So, yeah, no, I grow a ton of these in containers just because they're such a beautiful great foliage. I love them. My rose tree there. Some weird things happen here. Yeah, that's so fun. It got some cool green roses. Yeah, look at that. I love these. I love to put them in bouquets. That's a great little filler. Good texture. Yeah, that's so fun. I'm a big fan. You got a couple of them. That's fun. And then you have more veronica. Okay, those look good. Yes. And then this is an obedience plant. Do you know much about those? Well, they're, I don't. They're kind of taking over. Yeah, they're not being very obedient. What do they look like? You know, it's another spike flower. So I might pull this because, okay, I guess I love spike flowers. Tall, strong, it's spike flowers. It's hard to find them outside of the spring. Yes. And so to have something later on. So here's my funny bell story. I had a very small section of bells down here and they got crispy. So I cut them down. I love my leaf blower. So I leaf blow. I think I blew bells of Ireland seeds all over this farm. Because now they're, I'm from here to here. And I always say I'll never be without bells, but truly I think I will never be without bells because they just reseed and they regrow. But I love the smell. Someone told me they smell like Irish spring soap. Oh, I always think it smells like green apple. Oh yes. Yeah. Oh, I can see that. I love, I love. They're just such a great filler. My freshest ones are on the other fence line. Yeah. This I love is this purple dara. Yeah. I love this. She's so pretty. She's so beautiful. This is great. Yeah. I'm surprised to see her here right now. Yeah. She's not doing super well. Yeah. I mean, she's a little out of season, but she's a great little, but she's a great filler. That's what I'm learning also is I don't really, you're great at this. And that was, has been one thing that you've been more than so helpful to me is knowing what the right season is. For sure. I know that we're in nine B. I know that we do first and last frost, but then it's like Arizona. We don't really have a frost, you know? So, so. And what's the succession plan too? I mean, it's all trial and error. I will tell you. Yeah. I'm a big fan of auctions. So that farmer of Bailey shipped now I'm like, Oh, I want to ship now. Like then I think, Oh, was that the right season? Right. No, but I put it in the ground anyways. Cause I have space. So like these little hot biscuit ones. Yeah. Not the great season, but I put them in the ground and they're probably liking this warm winter. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. The warm winter. And then we have this cute status. Yes. I love, but there is a pest that specifically loves this plant. That is so interesting. And of course I will find him. I'm in a war against it. I will eradicate it. I believe in you. Yes. But look, we have some solid Dago. Okay. Yes. Am I in the right season? You know, we'll find out. I've never grown this before, but this is a moonlight glory. Again, she's ready to ship, you know, farmer Bailey. I must have it. I'm an auction girl in Michigan. And this was like a wildflower there. Oh, beautiful. There's new varieties that they're coming out with all the time. But this, this, uh, white one is going to be, it's kind of, I think that's going to be really pretty. Yeah. And it's so healthy. There you go, Kyle. Solid Dago. Solid Dago. That looks so healthy. It's so great. And of course y'all, Lysianthus. I'm a huge fan of Lysianthus. When did you plant this bed? In the fall or the last year? No, in the fall. In the fall. Okay. So these are overwintered Lysianthus. They are overwintered Lysianthus. And they're just now starting to take off. How many stems they're going to make on these. They're really healthy plants. I pinched them. Yeah. So they're going to, they're going to explode in the next couple months. They're already kind of jumping up. Yeah. And we have some Yarrow over here. Yarrow, I love. Yarrow is so pretty. I didn't realize it was a perennial, so I sort of put it on the fence. Well, now you know. Live and learn. Now I know. You can always plant some more there. Um, and some beautiful Crispidia is a perennial too. Crispidia. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great little drumstick flower with a yellow billy ball. And when will that actually, am I late with that? So they're usually blooming like now, but they'll over summer and probably bloom again next year. Okay. But yeah, they just bloom for so long. Oh yeah. Oh, perfect. For sure. And these are more Scabioses. Yep. Yeah. So pretty. Those are going to be blooming for Mother's Day, which will be nice. They're beautiful. We're always looking for things to bloom on Mother's Day. And this is not a cut flower specifically, but this is like a little tribute to, yeah, a friend of our daughters had a tragic loss of a baby girl and she got pregnant with a little guy. So I saw this at a nursery. And so now we call this Carter's Bush and I just don't have the heart to pull it out. Because really the, um, it's a great foliage filler. Yeah, for sure. We use it. And these baby blue flowers are really cute. They're really beautiful. That's really cute. Adgeratum. Beautiful. Yeah. Beautiful. I never grew this actually. So easy. Did you fall plant this? Yes. Okay. So easy. Oh my goodness. We'll have to try that. Did it take the cold pretty well? Great. Okay. No, absolutely great. Wow. Okay. This is beautiful. Just color is just gorgeous. Okay. This is funny. What is this? This section was empty. I thought. Yeah. And I was weeding along and I never plant outside of my bed. For sure. But all of a sudden, I don't know what it is. Okay. What is it? Mystery. Mystery. I don't know what this is. But maybe, is it a weed? It's not a weed. I don't think, I've never seen this before. I guess you'll find out. I will find out. So this is my little mystery section. Oh my goodness. So. That's cute. More feverfew. I'm waiting. Yeah. We love feverfew. Now, dahlias. Yes, dahlias. Yeah, bishop's children. Okay. That's like a darker color. Yeah. And all super colorful. That's a really pretty one. Yes. Dahlias are kind of like a Goldilocks plant here. They don't like the cold. They don't, not that we got that cold here, but they don't like the heat either. So we usually plant them like. But they're beautiful for, for eupychs. Yes. In that I, I have a hard time, like focal flowers. Right. And these are a little bit more kind of, I call them production dahlias. They don't, they don't get as tall. This one's beautiful. They don't get as tall, but they are prolific producers. And eupychs that I'm not, don't cut the dahlias. Totally. Never grown daffodils before. These are cute. Yeah. That's a really pretty color. It's one of those, not a huge fan of them, but the different varieties. And these are perennials too. Are they? They'll come back. Yeah. That's okay. Yeah. We don't need to love everything. There's a cafe. Well, here is my funny story. I think it's a cafe. This was all dahlias. Last year. But they were little brown stems that looked very dead. Yeah. So my son said one morning, Hey mom, what can I do? I said, please dig up all these tubers. I'm just going to start over. Yeah. Well, he missed one. Oh my gosh. What if I had a whole row of things that look like this? So now I'm kicking myself. I know to leave them in the ground. I'm a rookie. So I'm learning. For sure. For sure. So these are all the bishops ones. Uh, uh, that's bishops. Some of this, um, do I have a sign? You can tell the flowers are going to be darker a little bit. The karma. I do like the karma, Irene karma, karma Caroline. Yes. And they seem to be very prolific producers. So you can cut them. So I like that karma variety. They do well. I had those last year also. And they did very well. They're gorgeous. Oh my gosh. This is going to be so pretty in like a month or two. Yeah. In a month or two. Yes. Blue lagoon. I love that. It's like a purple one. Yes. Gorgeous. Oh, these are the ones I gave you. Probably. I think they're probably, I think so. These are the magic peach. Yeah. They're a little short. They're a little dwarf. But I am the queen of mason jars. So they work well for mason jars because they can just kind of be the focal flower peeking out over the edge of the mason jar. For sure. And then I'm always a sucker for kind of a on sale mix. Yes. And so, oh, these are gorgeous. It was an anemone and ranunculus mixed. You guys, there's so many blooms on one plant here. Let me count one of these. So this is one plant. I know this is one plant. Yeah. Look at, this is crazy. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 stems, you guys on this one plant. Isn't that crazy? Awesome. I'll tell you a funny story. Everyone says, how do your plants get like trees? How do they grow so tall? Well, my husband thinks it's his secret formula. We were dairy farmers for 35 years. Yeah. So he had a lot of aged dry cow manure. So he has a, he says, don't tell them the secret, but he thinks he has like the perfect secret formula. Does he? But obviously it's doing well. Oh, it's doing great. But it does include aged cow manure. As it should. As it should. A few little zinnias coming up. More fever few. Yeah. Oh, I love fever few. Yes. But you guys, look at these. I love them. Long stem length. Oh my God. Not a lot of leaves. This is like a two foot stem, you guys. Yeah. Yeah. They're beautiful. Yeah. This is one of our favorites. It's the blackberry and black cherry. I think black cherry, black cherry or blackberry. They are so beautiful and you can kind of tell how big they are. Oh my gosh. They're like drumsticks. Easy to process. Easy to process. Yes. Much. Yeah. And I love the contrast of like a light bouquet and then you pop in a couple of dark blooms and the contrast is so beautiful. They do so well. Oh my goodness. And these are actually a perennial too. Really? I've had them come back. Oh. Yeah. Oh, we might have to take notes after this is done. I know. I know. Oh my gosh. And this is what, this looks like candy or like popsicle or something. Yeah. Look at that color. Oh my gosh. Oh, that's so pretty. So I'm going to plant leftover blue plurum everywhere. Volunteer blue plurum. Oh my gosh. Love, love. I could grow an entire row of scabioses. I love scabioses. They're so pretty. And the hollyhock. Okay. This was the very first thing I ever planted because I saw them in Holland. I thought, oh, my husband will be so happy. Yeah. I can't get rid of it. Like I cut it to the ground. I was not strong enough to pull the root ball. Yeah. And it just keeps growing. And I do, they are beautiful. They are gorgeous. I don't know how they do in a vase for a bouquet. I don't think they last too long. Not very long. But we're growing lavaterra, which is like an annual hollyhock. Oh, look, they're already doing. Oh, they're gorgeous. Oh, you got it. Like a darker color. We grow lavaterra, which is like an annual hollyhock. And that does pretty well in the vase. But it's funny because this is a biennial, right? It's supposed to die after they bloom. But I feel like they just keep coming back. I cannot. Yeah. It's always here. And these leaves are so pretty. And so when I'm trying to be more like, you know, rows of things. Yeah. The things that are just one. Yeah. It's kind of hard to do. But yeah, it does make pretty flowers. It's a nice end cap. And people love it. It's a nice end cap. And one gal wrote me and said, I'd like to get my picture taken in front of a hollyhock. Do you have one? I'm like, oh, I have one. Yeah. Ding, ding, ding. I got one. That's perfect. So. Oh, my gosh. More snapdragons. Yeah. Not truly supported area. Too late to throw on the lavender. The lavender. That's a beautiful color. Yeah. That is a beautiful color. I'm obsessed with that. Yeah. That's a beautiful color. It's the first time I've grown those. And I'm so happy with the color. They're so pretty. Super happy with the color. I'm a sucker for anything purple. More straw flowers. Is this a mix? I think so. Yeah. Giant mix. Yeah. And these are a great dried flower too, you guys. So gorgeous. Yeah. I was asked for one little group of gals to make flower crowns. Oh, cute. And it was the first time. So we did some experimenting, but things like straw flower status. Perfect. Gomphrena. They love that. Stayed on there nicely. And I said, it dries well. So you probably could have that little flower crown for a longer time. Yeah. No, that's perfect. I tried one with a ranuncula, but it was so juicy and heavy that it just flopped. They're just so big. I grew a few bachelor buttons. Oh, bachelor buttons. Yeah. Or no, cornflower. What's the blue? I think they're the same thing. Yeah. I think it's the same thing. Yeah. Last year I had a huge space of them and to deadhead them took me so long and I refused, but I also didn't have support. So I thought I'm going to put a small section because, you know, a little pop of blue, bright blue is fun. Oh yeah. Did you succession plant these? Yes. Yeah. This is great. Yeah. There's a, there's different types of snapdragons you can get. So, you know, different groups, one, two, three, and four. Yes. Explain those John. Yes. Okay. So the, this is a later blooming though. I think so. Yeah. Um, so if you plant all the right, the group one, two, three, and four, you'll have a much larger window of, uh, snapdragons. Correct. Um, and Potomac's, I don't know if these are Potomac's, but those were always our favorite, like later blooming ones. Oh yeah. Um, they did great. Oh my goodness. So many snapdragons. These are just a great cut flower. I love them. You could grow so many of them. And they're easy to process and they, they have great, great color. They're gorgeous. They just come in so many varieties. And every bouquet needs, you know, a little spike. Over here. And pink, so much pink. Now these are a little bit older, but I keep them because when people walk in the gate, I kind of want them to be able to have a visual of, so they're not really pretty ones. I, I get in here and cut quite a bit. Cause this means they're done, right? Yeah. When they're young, they're all seated up like that. That's so great. But now past here, is that going to re? It could rebloom like the smaller stems here. Yeah. That'd be good for like a bud base. So this is older, but I just like people to see it when they come in. Let's show these Larkspurs cause I think we forgot these. Oh yeah, we did. We totally missed these. They're beautiful. Look at that. That's the first year of growing them. Your first year. Well, you did a great job. You just, did you direct seed these? Uh, they were plugs. Okay. Yeah. Look how beautiful that it's like a mini delphinium almost. Yes. They're gorgeous. And I like them. They're strong. They're hardy. Yeah. Some flowers. Well, I used to grow flowers for people I love and my sister-in-law loved poppies. Okay. Beautiful opening up. They did great. You go to cut them and away go the petals, like come back. I need you to be in my base. This is so pretty. So I told my sister-in-law, as much as I love you, I'm not growing poppies. No, they're good for the pods though. They're beautiful. Yes. They're super pretty, but look at this. It's like a pastel mix of like purple and lavender and pink and white. I think I've never grown before. I go ahead and get the mix because I think, okay, you got to find your favorite. A little bit of everything. You got to find your favorite. Um, and then more of the white. You can't go wrong with white. Can't go wrong with white. More of the merrier. Yeah. So awesome. And we have some more Plectranthus that does really well. I think this is Silver Shield. That's a really pretty filler. It's kind of old, but I love it so much. She's great. And then we have some Campanula. You guys, I love, you know, I love Campanula. They're like little like fairy teacups. Yeah. They're super cute. Super cute. Love them. And they'll be blooming more for like Mother's Day, but we're expanding. We are expanding. Originally we did this part of the garden and that fence line after the raised beds. Then I asked for the four rows that we just looked at for the Ranunculus and that will have all one flower, different varieties, all one flower, different varieties. So I never asked for these rows, but my husband just put them in and then announced there's not one more inch of space for any more flowers. So he just finished these up a day or two ago. So I'll staple down that drip tape and get to planting. So what do you, what do you want to plant in here? Yes. Yeah. I'm, I'm everything, everything. I have a lot of trays that I'm, I'm kind of keeping alive on my wash rack. Yeah. This is perfect. Yeah. And so you have four, this, how, how wide are these beds? Four foot. Four foot wide. So because I have wide spaces in between the beds because I knew I just wanted it to be a place where people could gather and have space and you know, walk along. For you pigs and stuff like that. Oh yes. Walk between the, the, oh our dog. Hi. Yeah. She's old. Yeah. She's a sweetheart. My husband was going to take care of her. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Yeah. She's old and has these weird bumps. Yeah. It's okay. Oh my goodness. But what I love about these beds is that they're set up so you can turn each line on and off. Yeah. Individual. Yeah. No, that's perfect. That's so smart. So these are perfect. Originally. Yeah. I did three feet, four feet in between, three feet. Yeah. And that worked well. But I said to my husband, I'm pretty tall. I can reach the middle. Correct. Let's do four. But it takes two cages to cover a four foot. Does it really? Yeah. It's a little harder. Yeah. And I said, so for the high tunnel, I said, we can do three foot again. Yeah. And. That's perfect. Do a single, single. Single one going on. Yeah. Awesome. And then over here is two kind of little. Two little ones over there. But I thought I'm going to make that kind of the children's garden. Oh. I'll do things that will work for a flower crown. Yeah. Things that kids love to go and kind of pop off the heads of flowers. Shorter things. Things from like Kansas or something. Yeah. Crispidia. Yeah. Zinnias. How cute. Things that you. Yeah. You just. That's perfect. Chop away. Yeah. And have fun. Go for it. Small child. Who I adore. So. Yeah. A few more. Succession planting. Daffodils and more ranunculus. That's perfect. Yeah. You can never have too many ranunculus. Yeah. I think it's the same. I agree. Awesome. So let's chat a little more about the space. So you have this workshop space. Okay. Yes. So. Where people can cut. I think I mentioned earlier our flower farm was a pen for our donkeys. Yes. This cottage was the shade for our donkeys. Okay. So my husband said, he took the phone and said, you want something like that? And I said. What is that? Have you been on Pinterest? And he said, no. I Googled flower shed. Yeah. I said, are you offering me that? And he said, yeah, I need a project. So he. This is a great project. With some help. Yeah. Built this out. Oh my gosh. And it's just been so dreamy. It's perfect. Of a place to host our you picks. Totally. Come on in. We're able to have air conditioning inside. When it's nice out, people will sit outside. Yeah. Yes. This is gorgeous. And we can fit two tables in here. Actually tried to do three. Okay. One summer in the beginning. Yeah. But with, with that many people going in and out the door, it was, it was a little much. So now we kind of cap it at 12. That's perfect. So it's kind of an event space. It's also kind of work area. Yeah. Although I do most of my dirty work over in the barn for sure. Um, yeah. Coffee tea storage for a basis. Yeah. You got to have your base shelf. Nice cozy little corner over here. Yep. So with where we serve our snacks. Yeah. That's perfect. Awesome. And it's air conditioning, which is pretty simple. My husband said, do you want me to raise the roof? I said, no, just, this is perfect. Just build it out and we're good. Awesome. Yeah. Great, great space to make flowers on a, on a toasty day. Hey Jodi. So if someone just wants a bouquet, let's say like for a birthday party or like a graduation, can they just order a bouquet from you? They can. Yeah. I love to create bouquets. Um, on our website, there's a section for special orders and you can go on there and let me know the date that you need it. Uh, maybe a color palette that you enjoy, what event it is for, and then we will organize a time for pickup. And yeah, I, I love to do bouquets. We have done birthdays. We've done gender reveals. Sometimes I get a, could you do a pink? Can you do a blue for gender reveals? That's been super fun. Um, I've done a funeral for a funeral, uh, all sorts of activities and yeah, I enjoy creating bouquets. Cool. And I will leave her website link down below for you guys to check that out too, if you guys are interested in that. We're actually expanding this way too. Can you tell us what we're building out here? Because there's going to be some really fun stuff. Yes. Well, I'm now hooked on flower farming and I love it so much. Um, I wanted to extend my growing season and be able to grow some kind of specialty flowers in a, you know, temperature controlled area. Um, so my darling husband has agreed and tomorrow up goes our high tunnel, uh, 84 feet long, 30 feet wide. That is so exciting. Yeah. It's very exciting. Oh my goodness. Delivered yesterday. So all the pieces are here. I have a crew flying in from Michigan today. And then, well, we opted for a community build. So two people from the company. And then now I have a nephew coming, uh, some friends, some worker co-workers of my husband. So, yeah, that's awesome. That's going to be so fun to have. Yeah. I'll have to come back and check that out. Yes, please. It'll be for bridal florists to be able to gather more flowers in there. Yeah. And it's a great space to start seeds too. That's another seed starter. I love to start seeds. Yeah. Like you do. So yes, it's addicting. My husband did kind of the dirt work. He said, once it's up, I can't get my loader in there. So he's been working on that. And wow. Yeah. Tomorrow's the day. That'll be fun. Yes. I'm excited. Okay. So when you come to Jodi's farm, this is kind of the setup you'll get. Um, this is where we'll pick all of our flowers in. And then once we pick all of our flowers, we will come in and make a beautiful arrangement with our little Mason jar and our little snips. So let's go make a little bouquet. Okay. We just harvested our beautiful flowers. Now it's time to arrange them. So we have them in this tin right now, but we're going to put them in this cute little Mason jar full of water. Okay. This is the final bouquet you guys. And believe it or not, we only have 12 stems in here. We chopped up some of these stems, like the bells of Ireland and the blue plurum and the, um, the pilot is, I think is what it's called. And it really just filled out that bouquet. Absolutely. Beautifully. We've got some of the scabioses, snapdragons, argeratum, straw flower, of course, beautiful ranunculus. And look how gorgeous that is. So now we get to take this home and put it on our kitchen table. Thank you so much, Jodi, for having us. It was a pleasure spending the morning with you. Thank you for coming. Yeah. But if you guys want to come visit Rolestem, we will leave all of her information down below for you guys.