Thank you very much for joining us today, Hannah, I am so delighted to welcome you. Please tell the listeners a little bit about you your background how you come to be a flower farmer. And you're definitely not the average age for a flower farmer. So you can tell everybody what age you are, I tend to tell I'm 60 and I think the average age of a flower farmer probably if we took across the whole UK, maybe even the whole of the UK in the US would probably be somewhere between 45 and 60.
Hannah Benson:I was actually gonna say I would say 60s quite young.
Roz Chandler:I like you're ready
Hannah Benson:as as a flower farmer. Yeah. Like most know, most, most of the people I would say, I know all eight is.
Roz Chandler:Oh, right. Okay, God, how physically do they cope with it? Is I mean, it is a physical job. There's no doubt about that. Yeah. Yeah, that's impressive. That's really impressive. So tell us about your background where you are what you do. Tell us a little bit about you.
Hannah Benson:Yeah, so I'm 25. And I grow in Lincolnshire, so probably like one of the prime spots for flower growing. And so I'm at East Kirkby and I've been growing flowers now since 2015. I think so I was at college. I've done a first year agriculture course at rhizome and then went on to do horticulture because we grow veg. So they said, I didn't really fit in the agricultural bit. So yeah, I switched over to horticulture and did productive horticulture. And that's pretty much when it started happening. Really? Yeah. So I started growing and from there no intention of originally doing that. It was just one of those things my dad had a conversation about. I had to do quite a few sort of bits to pass my college course. And we've been been in productive horticulture vegetables. Yeah, those things that didn't really cover either agriculture or horticulture. So then that's when I started growing some flowers. So yeah,
Roz Chandler:yeah, there's more money in flowers than there is in vegetables. Just tell your dad that.
Hannah Benson:You're right.
Roz Chandler:No, it's true. It's absolutely true. It's not as much. I mean, the whole market drives it. Of course. We're about to Lincolnshire. Did you say you weren't in school, but Kirby's Kirkby?
Hannah Benson:Where's that? It's sort of East, Middle East. It's near spill. Boston. Probably people know Boston more. Yeah, it's where the aviation centres and the lung can
Roz Chandler:only be I only ask because my sister lives. Exactly. Well, my sister lives in tointon tointon, some pizza, which is their sales Spilsby. And I also I was director of Ward Marsh who are obviously based in love. And I was a non exec director for them for three years, which was obviously dealing with farmers who were buying it was a it's a Purchasing Group, isn't it? It's a cooperative purchasing group. And so as a non exec directors, I know Lincolnshire really well, it's just I couldn't place it. And I thought, wow, you know, and the times I've driven up to
Hannah Benson:well tightened tape here. It's not fun.
Roz Chandler:Oh, no, I have to come and see when I can see my sister. That's so weird. Yeah, I'll be careful. You know, it's funny. But I used to drive up and see all these empty greenhouses. greenhouses on as I drove up, and it was really sad. Because partly, I wanted to just move them these big glass greenhouses and thought I could do with those, move those that would be amazing. And then the other part of it, I thought, gosh, these are derelict because these were this was the industry in the 1970s, sort of early 80s. And it's been decimated. And the whole Lincolnshire has been decimated. So you have some big growers there still, don't you You've obviously got your Smith and Munster and then you've got other big, quite big commercial growers, because that's the ideal place to grow cut flowers. But the industry as a whole has been quite decimated. It's quite sad.
Hannah Benson:Yeah. Yeah, you don't see like when you go time for you to bring it back. When Yeah, when you go to like Spalding way like say that's where main growers are. So I'm quite a bit not like 30 miles north of that. But when you're driving along, most of the fields are wheat and barley now where I mean, when I was younger, none of the fields were wheat and barley down there. It's all fed. It's all flowers, tulips, you'd see fields full of tulips. I mean, you'd never even see them now I know a lot of them are grown under glass anyway. But yeah, I mean, the closest thing to us that something a little bit different is dye so with this strawberries
Roz Chandler:Yeah, you're gonna have to change that you're gonna have to bring it back to Lincolnshire, because a you've got the ideal climate. b You've got the ideal soil. You know, it was the whole industry that was decimated and you've got the land. It's flat, except the fen bit, but it is fairly flat. So So
Hannah Benson:yeah, I don't know, I think maybe it's going to come back. But who knows what will happen?
Roz Chandler:We hope so. So tell us about your growing space, what you're actually growing what your growing space looks like.
Hannah Benson:So I'm pretty small scale, we've got five acres in total. It's sort of split half and half with veg and flowers. But I'm slowly taken over a bit by bit. So yeah, so I do about two and a half acres of flowers. Were in the flats are in the foot of the world. We've got irrigation. So we have reservoirs as well. Because I mean, that is one of the main things you need nowadays, if you want to grow anything. Yeah, and grow a wide range of things, rarely. A lot of annuals, but I'm really increasing other perennials, because I think that's the way forward. So yeah, I've got a lot of them. And that's what I was sort of established in the last three years. So I'm really now seeing them flourish. And then I grow a few by annuals as well. But yeah, that's it's pretty much it really like, yeah, we're on five acres. And it's kind of good because we've got veg as
Roz Chandler:lots of foliage, the grow lots of
Hannah Benson:Merlin No, not really, I started to try and increase it because I know it's, it's something I do need. So I planted some eucalyptus trees, I've planted spruce trees. And I've planted Holly, luckily, my dad and my granddad was way ahead of the game many, many years ago and planted a lot of like Bay trees, and not conifer pine, all that sort of stuff. So when it comes to Christmas, I'm totally self sufficient in that way when I do REITs, but not necessarily foliage that you would use for your flowers. And you read in arrangements in that way. So I'm trying to get on that from Bob says, you know, foliage takes a long time, doesn't it? You know, you need to be? It's a long game with foliage. It's not a quick guy. Yeah. So years. Yeah.
Roz Chandler:Yeah, it's amazing. So tell us all about your very modest about your trip onto country file. Tell us about it. It's very exciting. Tell tell our whole listeners, how did they approach you? What was it about? What you know, and I mean, and I know, they came up for two days of filming, which is immense. So tell us all about it.
Hannah Benson:So I wasn't approached directly. So the auction house where you see that film they was they approached them and asked them if they could come up and do the filming of the auction. And then they wanted a grower. So recently, there's a new manager in there, and he's fairly young. Anyway, I just happen to be in the right time, right place at the right time. And it was a morning and they come in anyway, to me, you grow flowers, don't you? I said, Yeah. I said, I've got some in there right now. And he says, Well, I've had Countryfile on the phone, one of the forward researchers. And she's really keen, and she wants to come film the auction house, but she wants to see a grower as well. So sort of film it from growing in the field to then sell in in the auction. And he asked me, Did I ever grow it? And that? I said, No. I said, I don't actually because I was a little bit selfish, because I thought it'd be my Lord, I would suggest all these other people as well, because I think they wanted seven. And I thought I'd never ended up on it, because that is just my look up. But yeah, so he said, Okay, leave it with me. I don't know how it's gonna go down. He's got to speak to like the directors of the auction house as well, because they have been on a couple of TV programmes before. So it was a bit up in the air. And he says, I'll let you know. Didn't really hear anything. He rang me up and said, Oh, can I pass your details on? So I said, Yeah. And the forward researcher girl, she will have her parents actually used to grow flowers down south but had to pack in, in the I think early noughties because they couldn't make it pay. So she was quite keen to sort of showcase that. And I think from what the manager at the Auction House said he was quite there was quite keen to have somebody younger on it and sort of promote it that way. So then they got in touch with me with who loaded questions was on the phone for about half an hour asking all these things to send a load of photographs over and she said yeah, we'll be in touch. And then yeah, she rang me back several weeks later said we're quite keen to come we've got this as the filming day. The idea is that one of the presenters will come see you caught everything. And then we'll take it to the market on the next day and then you'll be filmed seeing it being auctioned off. So I obviously wasn't going to say no, because I'm gonna win You get an opportunity like that. So yeah. And when he said when she said sorry, that a presenter was going to call, but I was like, Oh, this actually means it's a bit of a big deal. You know, they're not just going to fill view without one. So I was quite keen. Yeah, to do it. I was a bit nervous. And then, once the forward researcher passed on my details to the actual researcher, she contacted me more. And then they commented directly, as they said, and that director come on the Monday. They filmed me on the Tuesday cutting the flowers in the field. And then on the Wednesday, they filmed me in the auction house. So yeah, it was about probably 10 hours of filming, I'd say, for like seven minutes, which, you know, seven minutes is great on the TV. Wow. But you know, when you think of how many hours we've actually been filming for two, then it be cooked down into seven minutes, you can imagine there was a lot that wasn't shown sort of thing. So yeah, it was it was good. And I'll tell you what, I didn't really do a lot, because obviously I was filming and there was getting shots and stuff. But by those two days, I was so tired. I was well tired and a full day's cutting flowers.
Roz Chandler:So do you take your flowers to auction? And is that how you sell them? Is that your market?
Hannah Benson:Yeah, so that's how I originally started. So I used to only do wholesale and take them to the market, because that used to go with his batch. So that's sort of how I got into doing it. And I was the youngest vendor there at the time. And so that's what I did. And then during COVID They shot. So I had to find means a ways of selling flowers. So I already had like my facebook and instagram page. And I just happened to put it on, like my local village page, because Jordan COVID Those sort of things come like a big thing didn't like the local Facebook village page, because if you needed help, so I put it on there. And then it just took off and like more people started seeing it and then the started going direct into my actual page. And it just went from there. So then I sort of shifted to public and general public and then florists and then actually I was building up my perennials to the point I had so much stuff as is gonna have to go back to wholesale as well. So I do both now. But since the whole country bail thing I've had a have taken on to more other wholesalers as well. So I don't just did the option now. So yeah, it's mad. It's crazy.
Roz Chandler:Wow. Is it just you if you've got a team, come on, this sounds like a big operation to me. Wholesale florist. Retail is quite big.
Hannah Benson:It's just me and that has been Dad and I do dad helps me call and it will help me plan and I help him with the batch. So we take it in turns when I'm not doing spot. But all the bouquets that you see all the like wrapping and wedding work and anything I just do it on my own. Yeah. So it's all me were touched. Do it. Okay.
Roz Chandler:Wow, that I mean, we grow over about the same size as you. And I would have a team of four. And the florist, say be separate to the team of four. So the team of four or the horticulturalists if you like and sort of running the farm from a horticultural point of view, weeding, cutting, taking buds, disbudding days, which drives me mad at the moment. So they will do all that. And then you have the florist who do the arranging the weddings and funerals and bouquets and so on. And we do like you we do wholesale. We do Florida, we do wholesale into florists, and then a lot of London florists, and that because we're not that far away, which is really good for us. And then things like Will we sell into florists in London and then locally into florists and then we have a direct business as well. So you've got to get it all really in order to be able to be sustainable. Yeah.
Hannah Benson:Well, that's what I'm saying. You've got all these people. Honestly, I couldn't afford to apply your miles. I mean, Lincolnshire is a great place like you say you can grow but sales wise here in Lincolnshire, it's probably it is good, but it's also because people see it all the time and don't really appreciate how it's grown. How much effort has grown into it all the cost behind it because they're seeing it all the time. And the thing you know, farmers are riding around in tractors and this and that, oh, they must be loaded because they're able to afford a tractor or 150,000 pounds. But and then they weren't paying much for the the actual crop. Yeah, so it's a bit of a double edged sword being in Lincolnshire people are tight in Lincolnshire, I'm sorry to say today. Yeah, so like you say you've got your London you're not that far. Amazing because you know They'll spend more money down there than there will appear to be doing so yeah, I at the code, Stan. Yeah, I couldn't afford to even employ somebody at those times, like the last three weeks. I've not been getting into like 10 o'clock at night. And then I've had people email now, have you seen my email yet? Because I do that in the evening. And I haven't got time because I'm so busy at the minute. So yeah, I could really do with somebody doing like admin or like social media, but hits like, where do you take that leap? Do you know what I mean? So yeah, and I tried, I tried to always keep it just me and Dad.
Roz Chandler:Yeah, I mean, you take the leap, probably, with a freelance student in the summer holidays. It's the picking that takes the time. It doesn't it is the honestly, it's the picking. Yeah, not necessarily growing or the weeding, although that does. But if you need to pick 2000 stems or something, it's a long time, it takes you all day. So that's where you could probably get some student help in the summer at peak time. So you talked about pricing on your Tiktok. So at the wholesale you obviously, they were filming, you're looking at pricing, which is always a very new point with flower farmers and actually flowers as a whole, you know, what do you sell it for? Is it post them is it but then wholesale right? So they you know, are they a third of what a retail rate is two after mark my flower a normal florist who's buying in from overseas would mark like a florist in the high street would mark their stem up by three and a half times three, three and a half times three and a half if they can get away with it in order to cover their overhead so it's massive. So at wholesale, they need to be buying it quite cheap from you in order to be able to mark it up in order to be able to sell it.
Hannah Benson:Yeah. So when when there was filming Countryfile obviously you do hear the prices I don't know if you've heard if you've listened back Joe Crowley actually says those sweet Williams make ATP a step but it was actually ATP. So I wish that didn't make ATP or stem. But yeah, so yeah. But yeah, when they asked me they said oh, we will film that and then they did ring me up afterwards and saying can we talk about like doing over like talk over and say can we say how much you made and my instinct was to say no, but then I was like do I say yes because then people understand how cheap things really are. But in the end I did go for no but yeah it's it's one of those things I could have just said I'm thinking chair the markets are very cheap I would say round here and sometimes it is a case of
Roz Chandler:definitely because that that sweet William that sweet William might have fell to a florist for 75 P I said one once that one not person Wow. Yes them Yeah,
Hannah Benson:but then I see I do get it so Hannah,
Roz Chandler:we we need to talk you need to supply your flowers to a different market. And now
Hannah Benson:it's just finding the market isn't it and where we are it's so limited that even selling to florists in Lincolnshire is quite difficult. It's very difficult to try and convert them but also I do try to be realistic because you're competing with supermarket out you like people it's easy when the shopping they see a bunch of flowers there they pick it up and then put it in their trolley sweet wheeling to the supermarket what 350 A bunch. So then I have to try and like compete with that. And I know sometimes you say oh you shouldn't you should be in a different market. But then I have to relate that back to I live in Lincolnshire and where I live. It's not like I live in Lincoln or I live closer to Peterborough which is maybe a bit more wealthy. You know where I am, you know that the market is massive. So you have to be realistic I think where you're based on what you can get for things. But yeah, I mean, prices do need to go up I think a bit more especially you know, like in the auction house they do get stuff very very cheap. It's like ridiculously cheap.
Roz Chandler:I'm coming to that auction house because that's really what I could buy it there cheaper than I can actually grow it myself.
Hannah Benson:Well actually, there's quite a lot in London grounders I'll come to the come up to it and buy it there and then sell it back down south to florists and stuff like that. Yeah, there's quite a lot because it's so cheap. So yeah, I mean, it is cheap. Sometimes you get not bad prices and I suppose it still is cheap for the even the Not bad prices. But yeah, it's it's one of those double edged sword sort of thing you're in. You're in Lincolnshire where you can grow stuff, great. But yeah, that's why I can't afford to
Roz Chandler:have to do go into my business mode. Now. You'll have to Do flowers by post or something? Get out of Lincolnshire get the flowers out of Lincolnshire. Yeah, dare we say? But some other way, or dare I say, and there's a massive up near you who takes it all down to London?
Hannah Benson:I mean, I've went after country for so yeah,
Roz Chandler:I love to come. And I'd love to come and spend some time with your hand.
Hannah Benson:Yeah, after Countryfile did get quite a lot of messages from people saying, Can you post them and things? My problem is British flowers, some things will travel well, some things won't will that and I've just really worried that if I was to put them in a box, and they got them was altered or wilted or whatever like that. It comes back on you doesn't it as a and then oh, your flowers aren't very good. And we know we're from these big people who are doing these Bach flowers and through the posts. I've heard so many people come to me who go, oh, somebody sent me some flowers because it was convenient to just go online send the box. And they there's only a few stems in the box and the half dead. And they go we wish we'd just come to you anyway. And like, yeah, you know, come to me. So that's what I would hate if my flowers went in a box. And that happened. So yeah, it's it's one of those I haven't broached the postal. And I don't think I will, I'm broke, I'm trying to breach it a little bit with REITs and dried flowers, but fresh at the minute, I'm a bit scared to jump that way.
Roz Chandler:The only way to do it is to research the market and go to some British florists are already doing it and order from them and see what their packaging is. Because I know a lot a number of them don't really well. And they're actually delivering them in in water or in some way. So they're not, they're not out of water, that sort of water mechanisms if you like. But it's tough, because distribution is so expensive. Now, you know, during COVID The cost of delivering a package is so high. So But there must be a way I'll be putting my thinking cap on, you know. So what's been your biggest challenge since setting up?
Hannah Benson:I think honestly, since setting up. I mean, I've been quite lucky because obviously I already got the land. So I'm quite fortunate in that way. And I've already got the use of like dad's equipment and things. And I'm even though we've had to buy a lot of new so I think my biggest challenge is finding what grows well, and being ahead of the game ahead of the market. So growing things that nobody else really grows trying to do that. Because I think like, when I first started, and I was putting things in markets and stuff, I would see what everybody else was growing, I think, Oh, well, you know, I'll just grow that. And then it was affecting a lot. And I think you know, I need to think a somewhat different here like so John COVID was a great thing for me. So it got me thinking, I'm changing my market here. Now I'm not just doing wholesale. I'm doing like bouquets and stuff. So I need a variety of things. So I started growing a lot more different things. Then I got to the point where I had so much stuff, that wrap just put it into wholesalers. And all of a sudden it was that prices went from like down here to up here with it because I've not seen it before in there. And also, no actually you need to drive the market you don't need to follow it you need to drive it so I'm constantly trying to think of new things that can grow some things are a flop and never grow again. So I think that is my biggest challenge. And I suppose it's anyone's challenge as a grower, but to try and push it because you need to lead nothing comes fashionable just randomly it's pushed to become fashionable. So yeah, that's I think that's my biggest challenge alongside the weather. But yeah, I'd say try to be on top of the market the best you can and finding new things and trying to push it Yeah,
Roz Chandler:yeah, definitely. Yeah. You get a bigger bigger price for something that's unusual and also follow I tend to follow trends in interior designer in Brighton will tell you that this year for instance is apricot and peach with a dark colour. Well if you'd have asked me 18 months ago I'd have gone really so you know it's all apricot cosmos and and cappuccino flocks and kind of thinks of Yeah, it's quite interesting and obviously you've got to be a year ahead so we're now looking at our autumn saying thinking what shall be so awesome and yeah, it's tough but you've got to do it. I think
Hannah Benson:a lot of my stuff is quite Pinky. What's your favourite flower
Roz Chandler:to grow?
Hannah Benson:To grow? Yeah. Ah something that I actually really do like Sweet Williams to grow, because they're quite simple, aren't they? So I would say sweet one into my favourite thing to grow. My least favourite thing to grow has to be cosmos. I absolutely hate it. It grows well. I love it. It grows. Well do you say? Yeah, but it grows well, and it germinates well and everything like that. But it's just ah, it's just a nightmare, isn't it? It drops. And yeah, it's one of those things where I think to myself, do I keep growing it but then I know people want it for weddings and stuff. So I'm keeping growing in it for that. For Oh, I hate putting it as well, that that's probably one of my worst things. And I'll tell you what else I really do like growing amaranth. First up, it is easy to grow. But I think people are starting to get into it a bit more. Now, like grow hot biscuit, which is the brown oak, right one? Yes, I really like it. And a lot of people I think the last couple of years have gotten the cooler is not nice, but like I say, now people are getting into these new D type colours. And so I think it's becoming quite popular. And I was I was saying to one of my wholesale ladies, and I said to her so what I've got that ready, it needs to go and I do the velvet up right one as well. Like the more like perfectly coloured one. And I thought I'm not telling that that's ready. Yeah. Yeah, yes. I'm not telling that that's the hot biscuits going first, because then no, that would be the least one that would SAP so no assets. But yeah, that's really should our struggle struggle like that to sell it. And she's managed to sell it really well. And I said, I think if I stopped growing it next year, I didn't grow it, everybody who'd want it. So I'm gonna carry on growing it. And I think it's just becoming popular. Those corners are if you put them in with the right thing. It looks really good. If you put them in with the wrong thing. Looks a bit yeah. Like it's gone over. Yeah, hopefully. So. But yeah, I think, yeah, I think this is probably one of my my favourite things to grow. Anything easy. I mean, don't we want things that are easy?
Roz Chandler:So what's your biggest learning or your biggest mistake that you've made along the way?
Hannah Benson:I think my biggest mistake is when I started growing flowers, like said didn't really have intention of doing it. But I don't think I jumped on it quick enough than I should have done. I was quite slow. I mean, I was only 17 When I started doing it. And now sort of like 90 And when I was self employed, but I feel like now it's become quite a big market. It's quite saturated, where then when I started, it wasn't as big like, and I think I should have jumped on it a lot quicker. And I think I would have been in a better position to what I am now. But then Hindsight is a great thing, isn't it? So I think that's my biggest learning when I think back and look back, and I think I should have been more enthusiastic. And I should have been more of it. And breached out a bit more than what I did. But I am where I am now. So he was 17 Give me some still a school.
Roz Chandler:It was 17 i No wonder you didn't jump on it. I mean, even to what you've done. Now. When you imagine the two years a bit is COVID. Yes. So that kind of a bit of a last year is really that how far you've come since you've started and gone self employed. Nice thing.
Hannah Benson:I know when I speak to people, obviously that's their opinions on it. Yeah, I think maybe when I just compare it to the market what it is now, I wished I'd you know what I mean? Maybe if I was 2510 years ago, and I was out of being more on it, you know? So yeah, I think that's my biggest regret. But you know, I'm sure when I'm 35. I'll be looking back and go with when I was 25. I really wish I would have jumped on that a bit more. Who knows?
Roz Chandler:I'll tell you what I do. I look back and think if I my time all over again and I was your age. I build a foliage farm number one, because I'd have time. I'd plant loads of peonies because I can't pick them for three years. And that will be great. But I plant 1000s of them, because that's fine. And they last 75 years. So you're building for the future. I'd be doing loads more perennials, because it's got a longer life and much longer life. And that would be Yeah, I would there were things that people in the UK both florists wholesalers and retail really really miss out on is foliage. So it's kind of like if I hadn't if I had my time again and I was your age, I would do at least one. But there you go.
Hannah Benson:So what you're telling me is I need to start doing foliage and no flowers.
Roz Chandler:I'll just add some mean, add some in like, say more eucalyptus, Burnham, Tinus Yeah, cotinus stuff that your pittosporum stuff, you're not going to be able to pick for three years really in reality. And therefore if you put it in now and it's a little shrub, that's going to be your future, in terms of, you know, if you if anyone I speak to regrets not having enough foliage.
Hannah Benson:Well, I'm trying to now I've been looking at it recently like to start start putting some in. Because I've saved that now three years since the start those perennials, really, and that's gone so quick. I'm thinking, Yeah, I need to be ahead of it that I've got the eucalyptus in. That's been in like three years now. And other things, but yeah, I do. Yeah, I'm gonna try and jump on the more foliage because like you say, it's something that we like everybody grows flowers, I suppose. Thank you for your advice. It won't be 100 flowers in 10 years, however, how does foliage
Roz Chandler:Alright, yeah, I'll be watching. That was. You think about the moment there isn't a mass mass foliage provider in the UK. There's one in Ireland, but they're selling through. Wholesalers not they're not going direct to florist. So florists when she wants to put together an art like tomorrow, for instance, I'm going to drive an hour and drop off a whole van load. And I mean, a whole van load full of foliage. That's it. So we I'm doing Beach, I'm doing oak, I'm doing hornbeam I'm doing wait for Apple, I'm doing cotinus For Burnham and raspberry, because it's a really nice quiet green foliage, as well as some rosemary and mint and something like that, because they are going to build for a wedding venue. They're going to be a big hoops and they're going to build down the table foliage. And it's all about foliage. And I can't tell you my van is going to be packed full of foliage completely packed. And that's a really profitable thing to do.
Hannah Benson:I'm gonna take your idea and I'm gonna I'm gonna how quote you in many years time
Roz Chandler:rolls on this podcast is I have a foliage farm. And no one else would be listening and no one else will follow it. So you better do it quick. But you know, speak to somebody like Hillary it harder Eucalyptus. I mean, she's a brilliant I don't if you've spoken to Hillary harder eucalyptus, they're based over in Worcestershire. And what she doesn't know about Eucalyptus is not worth knowing. So if you actually said this is my soil, this is my site, this is what I want to grow. This is where I want it to be able to cut it from she tell exactly what to grow. It's amazing. And she's written a book, I think it's called Fantastic foliage. And she's really good at that. So I would give her
Hannah Benson:a copy to go to speak to her because actually a lot. I lost a lot of my eucalyptus trees this year. I think it was the frost. Yeah. We just I just had to put up posts. Yeah, yeah, I put posts up. So I've hacked on a lot of people's commenting, like hacking. I was like, Yes, that was what I was doing. I was backing up, I wasn't trimming them, I was backing up. And actually the ones that I have hacked up there have survived. They're not in the shape that I want them in, but fingers crossed. Yeah. But actually, there is somebody quite local,
Roz Chandler:she's got a blog in her website, have a look at it, a blog, and it talked about frost in the winter, and how the plants were ruined and what you could do about it and how you could scratch the bark and go a bit further and see if it actually still got some life in it and what you needed to do with it. And we did it with a lot of hours. And there was life further down. So it was fine. So worth having a go. But give her a ring. They're lovely, no problem at all. So I was going to ask you what's next for you? A Polish farm. Now what's next for you? Have you got any plans now you're going to keep with your two and a half acres.
Hannah Benson:I would love to I would love to expand it it's finding lung to expand. That's a problem. It's quite, you know, it's a bit of a game in it trying to even find any. And I know potentially maybe 10 years down the line there might be some quite close by but that's a waiting game. I think veg wise we're still trying to work on the veg so if it becomes to the point where veg is not profitable, then we will go more into flower so I'll expand there anyway. I'm just um, I'm in the mindset at the minute I'm still gonna keep my public customers because obviously they kept going through COVID But I understand And to think to myself, do I need to start going more wholesale and down that route? So yeah, it's a bit of a balance at the minute. I'm trying to work it all out, I think because this whole country files gone on. And it's just like, spoil everything around my head is a bit like, well, famous, you're famous? Well, I would say I'm famous. But so yeah, it's at the minute like, I think I need to sort of once the season's died down, really think about it, what I'm going to do, but also, you obviously need to plan what you're going to do, but sometimes the best things that when you don't plan happen, don't they? So yeah, my idea is to keep developing it and keep going with it. And I think you have to keep evolve in any way. You know, like, say, you could naturally start planting more foliage. And before you know it, you could not even be growing flowers and be growing foliage. And then in another 20 years time, you could be growing more flowers again, you just don't know. So, yeah, I'm trying to play by ear at the minute. I want to, you know, develop more into wholesale, but we'll see how things go. Really, I think I need to wait for the season to end and actually sit and think before making any rash decisions.
Roz Chandler:I think going forward, you talk about 10 or 20 years from now, it's going to be about drought resistant plants, you know, our whole model of rowing will change. And I did a podcast actually last week with this lady Sally Morgan. And she has written a book called The Climate Change garden. And basically, we are going to have to have drought tolerant plants, we are going there are some plants, we are just not going to be able to grow. And that's quite interesting to see. And she was saying her advice. You know, if we were thinking about apples or fruit, she gave us an example, that you we should look further south and see what are they growing in the middle of France or southern France, because they should be the varieties we're planting now, not worrying about what we're planting as a British Apple because that won't survive. Go further south and get okay. That's the climate we're going to end up with. So I should plant those trees. Now. It was really interesting.
Hannah Benson:Yeah, I was just going to say actually, when you said that, really, some of the flowers were growing now, like say, we might not even be growing, but we might be growing things that more grown on the continent. I'm not saying you know, because if the weather is changing, so things that we've maybe never been able to grow, we might start being able to grow, you just don't know, do you? And we'll say I mean, we have two reservoirs, but there is never enough water. I mean, we have a lot of water running off our sheds, which is what we save. And we we use it all for the plants in the greenhouse when we're starting them off and everything because everything we do is from seed. But yeah, we ran out. And I mean, we had a lot of water to go out. And we ran out. And it's only now that we're getting all this rain. So yeah, I think that is a big worry, to be honest. The weather, and so British weather for you that. I mean, it's July, but it feels more like November.
Roz Chandler:I read something that said that in 2050. The climate in the UK was going to be the same as Barcelona. Wow, that's a long way south. And I mean 2050 Okay, is still 25 ish years away. It's not that far. So we're actually going to be moving that way anyway. So it's quite interesting. It's almost worth taking a trip to Barcelona and see what they grow. And then go right, well grow that then
Hannah Benson:we'll start growing oranges. Probably lemons. Yeah. Yeah, that's my maybe where I'll be going next.
Roz Chandler:I'm going to be ahead of it. Yeah. Well, lovely. Hannah, thank you very much for joining me and giving up your time. I really, really appreciate it. I wanted to show that at the age of 25. What you've done is amazing. And getting on country bar. I mean, there aren't many. In fact, there are very few flower farmers who have ever been on Countryfile. So you should be really proud of that. And that, you know, if you can do it, it'd be really lovely to see more people of your age going into flower farming, rather than crusty. 68 to 7080 year olds that will be really good. So thank you.
Hannah Benson:Thank you for having me on. It's been, you know, a real experience. I was quite nervous originally. But yeah, it was nice. It's just good to have a good chat. So
Roz Chandler:you don't have to be nervous about talking to me, that's for sure. Thank you, Hannah.
Hannah Benson:A few things anyway.
Roz Chandler:Thank you very much darling.