The Cut Flower Podcast

British Blooms & Bold Dreams: Sarah Turner on Becoming a Flower Farmer

• Roz Chandler • Season 1 • Episode 127

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Text Agony Aunt Roz with your Cutflower Questions.

In this inspiring episode of the Cut Flower Podcast, Roz sits down with Sarah Turner, a graphic designer turned budding flower farmer. Sarah shares her journey of balancing a creative career while nurturing a deep passion for flowers, discussing the therapeutic benefits of gardening and the lessons learned from growing blooms from seed to stem.

Together, Roz and Sarah explore the practical and emotional aspects of flower farming, from the challenges of selling locally grown flowers and accessing land, to imposter syndrome and finding community support. They discuss the rising appreciation for British-grown flowers, the often-overlooked value of perennials and foliage, and Sarah’s future dream of opening a “pick-your-own” flower farm. With honest insights and hopeful aspirations, this episode is a must-listen for anyone dreaming of digging deeper into a life with flowers.

Key Takeaways:

  • Flower farming can be a powerful creative outlet and source of mental wellness
  • Transitioning careers takes courage and clarity - but it's possible
  • Locally grown, seasonal flowers are gaining momentum with consumers
  • Foliage and perennials are crucial (and often underrated) elements in flower farming
  • Imposter syndrome is real, especially for new growers - but community helps
  • Sustainable practices and education are cornerstones of long-term flower success
  • Finding land and balancing life are ongoing challenges in the flower farming journey
  • Passion and persistence can turn a hobby into a meaningful business

Find out more about Sarah and her journey here

Make the most of your garden by visiting bramblecrest.com and use the code FIELDGATE at checkout. See website for full details.


Roz (00:01)
So I'm delighted to welcome Sarah Turner of Pod & Posey to our podcast today. Sarah's been on a journey. She joined, I think you joined my Seed to vase course a few years ago, which is a growing course over eight months. So Sarah, tell us a little bit about you, where you live, your journey, how you came across any growing whatsoever.

Sarah (00:22)
Okay, I'm ⁓ currently, well I'm a graphic designer, that's what I do for living, which I still do alongside Pod & Posey. So I'm spinning many plates, but it's great. I'm based in North Lincolnshire in a little village that's near the Humber Bridge. And Pod & Posey started probably two or three years ago now. ⁓ I think it was a culmination of things. I turned 40 and reached a point in my life where

I think there was a lot of people that seemed to get to that age and think, right, and obviously not. And around that time, I also lost my dad. So being in the garden, massive, yeah. So being in the garden really helped with that initial sort of grief process of getting through that. And it was a healer. And so it started off mainly with the seeds, know, like collecting seeds and then putting them down and growing them and nurturing them. I thought, oh, this is really good. I like this. So we built three raised beds in the garden.

Roz (00:58)
That has another catalyst, yeah.

Sarah (01:20)
which we still use and what I still use and yeah, that's how it started. Twenty twenty twenty two, something like that. Twenty twenty three around that sort of time. So we're still very much just in the garden that we have now and where we are. So I've now got another bed, which is slightly bigger than the others and another area that I grow in as well for cutting, which I also just put around the garden as well. The garden just ends up.

Roz (01:26)
Yeah.

Bye.

It's a bit

addictive, doesn't it? becomes...

Sarah (01:45)
really

addictive and I find myself just looking at plants and thinking hmm stem length things like that will that cut will that do this rather than thinking that would look nice in the garden it's just would that cut yeah

Roz (01:51)
It's flutters.

I know, I know you start thinking about

stem length. I went out to lunch with somebody today who's a friend of mine who's massively into horticulture and propagation and we were walking through the garden center and she was saying, ⁓ that's a really nice nepeta. And I said, well, it's no use, stem length's no good. And I thought, my God, I've turned into a stem length. That's all I care about is what's the stem length of something.

Sarah (02:10)
Hahaha!

Yeah, well, so I do just look at the

back of things and think it's not very big. I can't do anything with that. Yeah, just carry on and get something else. Yeah, like colors and things as well. Obviously, sort of them very aware of colors and then looking at different foliage and seeing how that is and thinking, that's nice. Finding out the names of different things and wanting to then introduce it into the garden sort of things so can cut from it. Yeah. So that's how we started. So then I went to local markets ⁓ with my

Roz (02:18)
I start tall enough.

I'm through.

Sarah (02:43)
seeds that I'd harvested because that was the main thing that I was doing at the time and then I was also growing ⁓ seeds like into plants that people could buy and the flowers was like a separate thing so that I just take flowers along as well which then turned itself around into that I just had seeds and flowers which is what I still do now sort of thing so I do do the seed side because I think the act of nurturing something from seed to flower is fantastic for mental well-being which is why

We also do the seed kits and stuff as well. it's yeah, we did massive range. I just like that.

Roz (03:19)
Seed kits now that people can buy on your website, aren't they?

Sarah (03:22)
Yeah, yeah,

so we do one that is like a cut flower kit. So if people did want to just have a go, just the simple act of growing a set of seeds that will grow well, cut well, and put them in a vase in your house. It's massive and it's such a sense of achievement and it's great. that's... Mmm.

Roz (03:39)
I didn't underestimate that at all because

it's almost like when you first plant them, do remember the days you go out and see if they've germinated yet and you look and they don't and then when they absolutely do, every hour, nothing's happened. The best thing to do is sweep peas because they germinate really quickly so they've done really well and then you try more challenging things and it doesn't always work and germination might only be 50 percent.

Sarah (03:47)
Like every day. Morning and night.

Yeah, yeah.

It doesn't.

And I think that is the frustrating thing when I've spent money on like really nice like coloured cosmos seeds and I've not managed to get any to germinate this time. And it's so frustrating. But then I think, right, well, that's that. Those are probably the only lows that I've had up to now where I've spent a lot of money on seeds that just haven't done anything. And you just have to then adapt and think, well, I'll just grow the ones that I know what I'm doing with at the minute. So that's where we are. Yeah.

Roz (04:11)
Yeah, me too.

Don't do anything.

It happens, it happens all the time.

So even talking to the team today, we were having sort of an audit of what we short of. And we came to conclusion we're short of zinnias this year because some haven't germinated when they should have done. And we're probably short of helichrysum because we use a lot of those dried flowers in the winter. But again, you know, we planned and it was fine and we had enough seeds and everything, but the germination rates weren't that great. So whether it wasn't hot enough, too cold, too much water, not enough water, who knows?

Sarah (04:54)
Yeah.

And it's strange when you do something like the previous year and it's gone really well. So you think, yeah, I'll stick with all them. They've done really well last year. Obviously we've got completely different growing conditions this year to what we had last year. So it's just, it's just another, yeah, that like huge learning curves all the time, which is, it's great. We definitely could do it in some rain. Yeah. Like the watering is just, so I'm sort of up at six, outwatering, going off to work, coming home, sorting things out. Like, yeah, it's, it's great.

Roz (05:09)
Yeah.

We could do with some rain. I'll be doing a rain dance very quickly.

in between two children? Probably is your sanity.

Sarah (05:27)
It's in between two children.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, it is. It's what yeah, it really is. It's like you outlet to go off and yeah, just be yourself.

Roz (05:39)
You're

in North Lincolnshire which is obviously famed for growing so you've an ideal climate up there generally.

Sarah (05:43)
It is, yeah.

Yeah,

but mainly sort of North Lincolnshire is more sort of vegetables and stuff and South Lincolnshire is used for the flowers. So it's yeah, it's tricky trying to land basically, because everybody's obviously using the land to grow vegetables on and like farm animals on and things like that. So yeah, that's where that's where we are at the minute trying to. Or definitely, definitely. Yeah, yeah, that is the yeah.

Roz (05:52)
Yeah.

Yes.

Is that what you'd like to do? You'd like to get some land and expand?

The dream is to be the full-time flower farmer and go and get the land.

Sarah (06:12)
Full time, yeah, for it to sort of flip

so that I just do the graphic designers as and when I want to, because I do still enjoy it, but have the flower farm as the main thing, yeah.

Roz (06:19)
Yeah.

I've always told people

going into flower farming is kind of a transition because it isn't something that you have a full-time job and you can give up on a Friday and on Monday be a flower farmer because it takes years, certainly in terms of growing foliage and the investment and the money. And obviously if you don't need to earn, that's fine. But of course most people do. And therefore I always say just do it really slowly and do it at your own pace. I was just talking about foliage to this person I met at lunchtime today and we were talking about, you know, and if I had my time again, I probably would have a foliage farm.

Sarah (06:27)
Yeah.

So, yeah.

Roz (06:53)
because ⁓ actually there's a massive demand for foliate across the UK.

Sarah (06:57)
There is, yeah, because you sort of have all these flowers

and then there's nothing to sort of put in because even like established foliage we've got in the garden, it's probably not that long or it's not, it's not just not right and it's yeah, you sort of end up, yeah, it's not definitely foliage, yeah.

Roz (07:08)
No.

foliage.

And for anything that's going to be any decent length is at least three years, maybe even five. And if you're talking about trees and you're using them on big installations like oak or beech, you're talking years and years. So yeah, I think don't, I always say to people, the first thing you do is get the foliage in and then worry about the flowers, the rose. Yeah. So I mean, some of our foliage has been in 10 years. So it's kind of like,

Sarah (07:18)
Mm.

a long time, yeah, definitely.

Yeah, so they didn't grow and yeah, definitely.

Yeah.

Roz (07:39)
obviously we've got lengths of something like a phisocarpus, might be something like, I don't know, six foot now. And the reason it's six foot is because it's been in 10 years and we've pruned it really well. So, so my recommendation to anyone listening is to have a foliage farm. And you heard this first, but because it's a real, you know, when even if I buy it this time of year from another British wholesaler from Cornwall, for instance, foliage, I haven't got any foliage down until October.

Sarah (07:48)
And you've left it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

⁓ Yeah, it is, yeah, definitely,

Roz (08:08)
So it is an issue. Foliage is definitely an issue.

So that would be my recommendation. Get your foliage in first. But getting land is interesting. Certainly where you are, I used to work in Louth. I used to be a board director for an agricultural buying group in Louth. And they, and I've got 800 farmers and they're all generally cereal farmers up in that neck of the woods. And they're all looking to diversify and earn money off their farms.

Sarah (08:14)
What's wrong with

Right, yeah.

Yeah.

Roz (08:35)
So, and it's interesting to see which way they're going a lot go Airbnb, some go solar, some go other products or byproducts. But there is lots of land. So it's about finding a nice friendly farmer. Yeah.

Sarah (08:46)
Yeah, there is. it's just finding,

yeah, just to say, can I just have a little bit of it, please? Just to, yeah, maybe just a half, just, yeah, just a half acre just to start with, just to get used to farming, being away from the house sort of thing, where you know that you have to go somewhere to do it and water systems and things like that in place. Whereas obviously when you're doing it at home, it's a lot easier to obviously still work. Yeah, and just go out and do that when, yeah, so only work part time. So it's...

Roz (08:53)
And I just have an acre of the corner and an acre to live in is nothing.

Yes.

Just walk out and do it.

Sarah (09:16)
It's nice to have those days off that I can assign to Pod and Posey.

Roz (09:21)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because that's what you need to do. You need to assign, obviously, and build that up and get your perennials in and get your foliage in and get yourself ready for the time you can. So it's almost like, suppose, if you have five days a week, then drop one day, go down to four. And if you go to four, drop one and go down to three and transition into flower farming ⁓ is the best way. You're doing it the best way around, for sure. And you know you love it anyway. It's just.

Sarah (09:28)
it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I do love

it. Yeah. It's so, it's so therapeutic. It's, and I think just the sheer thrill of growing something and then somebody buying what you've grown and put together. I don't, it's brilliant. Nothing beats it. It's, it's fantastic. It's yeah. just. How do I sell? I go to markets. I've got, I go to a pop-up shop once a month at a local farm when they do like a little farmer's market. I drop off.

Roz (09:58)
Yeah. So how do you sell? How do you sell? What markets do you...

nice.

Sarah (10:13)
flowers every Friday to a shop in the next town to me. So I'm sort of, and now that we're obviously into the season, that's great. Now I'm sort of fueling them. And then when we had all the brilliant hot weather about a month ago, all the tulips just went like, all the tulips came at once and I was like, there's far too many, they're all gonna go. So we just put them at the gate at the front of the house. And we were just in a little village, but everything I put out just kept selling. And I was like,

Roz (10:28)
I know.

Sarah (10:41)
this is doing really well. It's so lovely because then I can get up before work, from going out to work, sort these out, put them at the gate and know that that's then sorted and then it's done. I know I can then see on my phone when people are buying and things like that and it's nice. I'm then at work like, ⁓ wow, there's another sale and things. It's lovely. Every time we've put out up to now, they've always sold.

Yeah, it's going really well. Yeah, so we just see how we keep going. So at the minute, that's what I'm doing. And I have people that have bought from me for a while now, and they'll sort of message and say, have you got any flowers? Can I pick up a bunch? I need a bunch for somebody. Or they'll just want them for themselves. And they'd rather. What I'm finding is people are now wanting to have locally grown flowers. So it's, which is great. To me, that's how it should be. it's.

It's nice to be a part of something that's slowly sort of uprights and it feels like of all these like British growers, the flowers that are offering these seasonal blooms to people and yeah, and it's this is switch like I'm getting some lovely feedback from the shop that I delivered to in the next town and they're saying that the lady was like, they just smell so good. They're so fresh and they last ages and that's like we say, well, yeah, they will because they will.

put last night, been conditioned overnight and then they're there and they're yours and there's nothing, we don't use any chemicals, there's no, it's all sustainable and organic as we can do. So it's, yeah, that's why it works, I think, and why people are slowly starting to appreciate British-grown flowers, yeah.

Roz (12:23)
I mean, I've been growing for 15 years and in the beginning we used to have to educate people that there was a difference and what that difference was. And that was quite big and quite time consuming. And now as the years have gone on, if you say we're locally growing British flowers, people get it now. People get it. Getting the no pesticides, no, that's harder, but we're still working on that. And then when you go into sustainable floristry and we start talking about no foam and it's like, woo.

Sarah (12:28)
⁓

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Roz (12:52)
And that's still an education. mean, we do quite a lot of funeral flowers and still someone will ring me almost daily and say, can I have letters, mum, dad, sister? And you go, Because you could make them in willow. You can do it, but the time it would take to do that and the amount of flowers you would need. Because even if you think about a mum, let's say in the old traditional foam, they're always filled.

Sarah (12:52)
Yeah.

Unless we can fashion it out of wire, to like remasse, then you might be able to have some but yeah. Yeah, Yeah, too.

Roz (13:21)
Croissants and gerbers because they're the cheapest flowers and they're just using their heads. And then they have this massive silk ribbon around the horrible polyester ribbon around it in order to cover up the foam. But that's an education. Because when somebody rings me and I say something like, oh, I'm sorry, we don't do foam letters, they go, what do you mean? And I say, well, it's obviously it's oasis and it's not a biodegradable product. And it's kind of, I don't want to be too preachy at that point because obviously they're grieving but we don't do it. So it's really hard.

Sarah (13:47)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah.

Roz (13:50)
If they just get rid of those blooming letters, we'd be fine. But yeah, we don't do the letters. It's like, so tell us about your highs and lows then. So I mean, you obviously did the seed to vase course, you're part of the growth Club. ⁓

Sarah (13:54)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

I did and it was fantastic. It was so

even the master classes just fantastic. Absolutely. Because I came into it knowing a little bit about growing because even as a youngster, like my parents had the garden and we'd go out and my mum would be showing me all the different flowers and so I was aware of growing and how you do things and everything. But then you learn then like successional sewing and things like that and just like the basics of.

this is what you need to do to do this process. It's phenomenal. And then I remember the chat we had with the peony flower lady, Eleanor, ⁓ it was amazing. Like now, peonies are there, put them in the bed, left them alone, because I know that we need to leave them alone now. For the first couple of years to get the buds up as you need them to be, even though there's buds on them this year, they won't be cut, they're left. It's just such vital information like that. It's phenomenal. Yeah.

Roz (14:38)
Yeah, lady, I don't know.

Yeah.

Don't pick them. Yeah.

Sarah (14:59)
people need to do that cause.

Roz (14:59)
Yeah, because we're obviously

we run it every year. I suppose we're now in our fifth year now and talking about Eleanor, she's actually coming. She's our guest speaker, which makes me laugh. So they've all been there, you know, five years being our guest speakers and so on. exactly, is being is the one thing I learned about being is it's always every day is a school day, isn't it? Is that they last longer than a donkey. And so it's like, well, a donkey can live between 50 and 75 years. And then you're thinking.

Sarah (15:07)
Let's see, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, definitely.

Roz (15:26)
Hold on a minute, can a peony last that long? And the truth of the matter is, if we plant a peony today, it'll probably outlive us. And it's like a legacy, really, because it's like,

Sarah (15:28)
Yeah

Yeah, yeah, I remember like learning that. Yeah, like when we learned that fact,

it was what? So I've sort of invested quite a lot in perennials because obviously we learn on the course as well, perennials more than annuals so that you know that you've got your stock that you can then cut from when you waiting for your annuals to sort themselves out. It's an even like hardy annuals in the autumn to make sure they're ready for the next for the spring so that when my tulip's ready, have like stuff to put with them. was it's all yeah.

Roz (15:41)
Yes, 100%.

Yeah.

Good now. Yeah, yeah.

Sarah (16:01)
like all the biannuals, like Sweet Rocket, which is just amazing. Thank you so much for introducing me to that flower. is so, I love it. It smells so good. Yeah, it's lovely. And it's a really good filler. Like it just adds a little bit extra when you put in something together, when you think, people might not want just five stems of tulips and you just put something else in there and it just looks, yeah, it's brilliant. Yeah.

Roz (16:10)
It's tall, it goes with everything and it looks fantastic.

Yeah.

Yeah, rocket is the answer that time of year. And obviously it's a

biennial, but it's self-seed to actually get it annually. So it's it's worth its weight in gold. I mean, I think looking out in the field, I've got a cut, I don't know, 400 stems of sweet rocket tomorrow. And I love it because A, it's tall, it's easy to pick. B, it has a big market for it. I can feel the van take it into London and sell it easily. And it's great. It looks after itself. But perennials is the answer as well, for sure.

Sarah (16:31)
Yeah, I'm just leaving it now to let it do its thing. ⁓

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Roz (16:57)
If you can get 65 % of your stock in perennials and another 20 in foliage and the rest in annuals, you're about right. But perennial stock is harder because it's more expensive and not everything grows from seed. Yeah, and you have to wait.

Sarah (17:07)
Yeah, and you have to wait that little bit longer to

get it. Luckily when we moved into this house, there was bit of an established garden. there are sort of things I can snip at that are, but obviously I'm snipping at it, so it's reducing as it's...

Roz (17:21)
I still snip from my garden. None of this. I

have no ego at all. So like somebody wants some salvia and my salvia in my own garden is brilliant. So I'll be snipping that tomorrow. The salvia will be well and truly come. And yeah, every day's a school day. Like for the first year this year, we grew sweet peas in a tunnel. It is the first year we've ever done it. The stems are much longer. They've come much earlier.

Sarah (17:33)
Yeah.

⁓ okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Roz (17:49)
But mean, the stems really significantly, they're like 40 centimeters. And you think, that doesn't really look like a smith, that's really long. Because again, we're back to stem length again, I think I dream of stem length And when we sell a lot of wholesale to florists, basically, we have to stay on by the stem length. We have to almost take tape measure out and say, our sweet peas this week are 40 centimeters and our sweet rocket is 1.2 meters. And that's the way we're selling and it's kind of like...

Sarah (17:54)
That's, yeah.

Yes, that's the main thing, that's all that counts.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Roz (18:17)
Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it, that you learn that fairly on.

Sarah (18:19)
Yeah,

yeah, quite quickly, like learn what works like, yeah, even though the flowers are beautiful. But they're more of a garden flower than a cut flower. it's yeah, yeah.

Roz (18:29)
Yeah. I think

you definitely learn the difference between a cut flower and a flower, don't you? And you do find that mentally all you ever want is a cut flower now, because then it's got to do with purpose. It's got a job to do. It's like I've emptied some pots in one of our own gardens today, because I thought, oh, I know, go and get some nice plants and put in there. I can't do it. I'm sitting there thinking, well, maybe if I just put some cosmos in as a direct sow, I could do this.

Sarah (18:33)
Yeah.

Yeah, it's got a job.

Yeah, then I can use that.

Roz (18:58)
So it's like

the days of buying for beauty have gone I think but it's kind of like a mental thing and you're also into floristry now then what you've done. Yeah, you've done our on trusted course. Yeah

Sarah (19:01)
Yeah.

Yeah, I did your eco course. Yeah, yeah,

it was more. I like to learn and I mean, I'm really into like sustainability and things like that and making sure it's as British and as proper and as good as we can do it as clean as we can do it and things like that. So when I found that you were doing the eco floristry course I jumped on it because it was if I did go into that side of things that I've got the tools there.

Roz (19:14)
Me too.

Sarah (19:33)
to be able to do it sort of thing. was,

Roz (19:34)
Yeah. Yeah.

And certainly if you expand going forward, you're a flower farmer, you know, getting into eco funerals, for instance, is a really good thing to do.

Sarah (19:41)
Yeah, which, which,

yeah, yeah, I mean, I've done one wreath, which I did was all moss, sort of moss based wreath. And I used all different flowers and foliage on it and sort of thing. And yeah, and when I took it to the funeral home, they were like, oh, we don't normally get them like this. And I said, oh, well, there we go. Like this is the thing. And I said, it can stay there. Yeah, it can stay there. You don't need to put it in the bin. It can just stay and rest and be as it is at the grave side. doesn't need to. Yeah, you don't need to bin it.

Roz (19:56)
No, you see. Yeah, yeah. And that's an education. That's an education for them.

Yeah, brilliant.

yeah, you see you're going to find some land now. Need to get you some land. So if you're going to any land in North Lincolnshire, what village do you live in? What village? There you go, right under the Humble Bridge then. And if anyone knows of any land anywhere around there, yeah, because you really need it to be within five miles of home.

Sarah (20:11)
Yeah.

I am learning. Yeah, definitely. I'm in Barrow, Barrow upon Humber. Yeah, we are, yeah.

Yeah, so it's not, doesn't feel like too much of a trek or a chore. Yeah, to go, No.

Roz (20:41)
of a trip. Yeah, you can't go 20 minutes. It's

too hard unless it's on the way to the school or on the way home from school. If it's actually a 20 minute drive before you've even got there and all you wanted to do was nip and pick a bit for something you had to do, it's too hard. So I would say to people just really think about that. And also access to water and access to electric is quite important.

Sarah (20:49)
Mm.

Hmm, yeah, definitely. Yeah.

Yeah,

there's things like that, like the water part of things. It's then learning about how to do all that. That's then what then would come with having an actual field and doing it properly.

Roz (21:13)
Yeah, yeah, it'd nice if it had a well and it'd be if it had water and not even

better if it had some IBC tanks hanging around that just collected water with a pump in them. That would be really good. That would be the dream And if they had a couple of poly tunnels sitting there as well, that would be really good. Perfect. I know.

Sarah (21:25)
If anyone's got that, then thank you very much.

⁓ perfect. I there's plenty of polytunnels around empty, green out, like big green houses

just left empty and I think, ⁓ they would be, I'd love one of them.

Roz (21:39)
When I drive

up, when I used to drive up from here to Louth, I used to spend my time looking at empty greenhouses and thinking, ⁓ my goodness, in the 70s, these would have been filled, you know.

Sarah (21:49)
There's so much opportunity

that's just wasted, where it could be that where people are going and doing this over there. It's, yeah, definitely.

Roz (21:57)
Very

wasted. think, you we kind of let that industry die and slowly it's coming back, which is what the Dutch did really well is they didn't let the industry die and they invested heavily in it, which is why they're the hub of Europe for flowers from Kenya and Ethiopia. Yeah. And that's really annoying. So what's been your greatest challenge in running this business? Obviously you've got time issues, haven't you? You've got a job and children.

Sarah (22:05)
Yeah, thank you.

Imported flowers. Yeah.

Yeah, time.

Time's a big one. I'd say...

My one of my main challenges is imposter syndrome. It's ⁓ yeah, I think it's when you go from doing one career since I left university, this is all I've, I've always done this job. And then I'm now doing something else. So you don't feel, and I'm, because I've not gone and learned how to do a platform. Obviously I did your course and then it kind of thought, right, well, I've done that course. So I do know how to do this now because I've

Roz (22:31)
Yeah, it's very normal.

You do. ⁓

Sarah (22:54)
I've learned how to do it and I've been showing all the things and I've got the things that can look back on if this, you know, like if you forget things or things haven't worked out. So, yeah, definitely imposter syndrome is huge. But I think the more that I do it and the more I get used to it, it should disappear. But it's. Yeah.

Roz (23:01)
Go back.

It's very, very normal. Should I,

could I, how would I, what if it doesn't? All of that, I don't know, we're kind of built with this script in our head, which tells us that unless, you know, we've got qualification on a piece of paper, which tells us that we're qualified to do something, and even then, I'm not sure we really understand that we know how to do it. ⁓ Yeah, it's probably the most prevalent in career changes.

Sarah (23:21)
Mmm.

Yes.

Yeah.

Roz (23:40)
is an imposter syndrome, so it's really normal.

Sarah (23:42)
And probably at this age as well, which you think, well, just stay doing what you're doing. You you're you've done it all this time and but then I just want something that's mine, if that makes sense, what I want to do. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

Roz (23:52)
Yeah, I was going to say you've got another 20 years. So that's quite a long time. You'll be doing something you don't love for 20 years. So what would be

your recommendation to anyone thinking of this as a career? Any pointers where you go? Yeah, just go for it. Yeah.

Sarah (24:09)
Go for it. Go for it.

Literally go for it. Read the books, join the groups, do the courses, sow some seeds, just sow some seeds. Just get even just corn like, mean, cornflowers are my favourite flower. Just get some corn. Yeah, I love them. Get some range of colours. Oh, they're just they're amazing. Just get some cornflowers. They germinate brilliantly. Grow them, put them in a, grow them to flower. Put them in a vase in your house and think.

Roz (24:23)
Are they? Yeah.

Yeah. ⁓

Sarah (24:37)
that looks good, what can I do next? And just run with it, just go with it. Yeah, they're brilliant. Even the seed heads are lovely as well. they're just great. And then they give you the seeds for next time. You don't even have to then buy your seeds next year because they give you them back to... They're great. I love them.

Roz (24:40)
Yeah. Long stem length.

Yeah, I agree.

I know, yeah.

So as a business, you need to be everything, don't you? You need to be a marketer, a social media whiz, an accountant, a creative director, you'd be good at that one, and a customer service guru. What do you find the most challenging in it all?

Sarah (25:04)
Yeah.

I would say without a shadow of a doubt, accounts. Yeah, I think being creative at heart, the accounts just don't fit into my day to day being and things like that. So I do have to make myself sit and do them. They don't sort of, yeah, it's not like a, wow, yeah, let's do the accounts. it's no, it's not. It's not. yes, I'm doing the accounts today, but no, it's so yeah, definitely.

Roz (25:25)
Yeah.

Me too, by the way. It's not an accent. no, yippee-doo, let's do it again.

No.

Sarah (25:43)
Yeah, but I think and also the many hats you like you say there is so many hats you have to wear to to do this as well. Like you say, like social media, all sorts, making sure like your marketing looks all right, your branding looks all right. This is you've speaking to people, you're taking back feedback and using that to do other things. And yeah, try not to compare yourself too much to what others are doing, because they may have been doing it for years and years and years. So just

Stick in your lane and go for it. It's, yeah.

Roz (26:13)
Done.

Yeah, I think

we all have to accept we're not brilliant at everything. And therefore get some help if need be as time goes on. But yeah, the accounts is definitely something I do. No, I'd rather be outside. Thank you. I'd rather be outside or doing something else or creating something else. I know. Yeah, I actually have to put it in my diary and make myself do it. Yeah.

Sarah (26:20)
Mm.

Yeah, definitely. ⁓ mean, some people love it and it's just not for me. ⁓

Yeah,

yeah, it's not my favourite task. So yeah, definitely accounts, not my favourite task.

Roz (26:45)
So what are you most proud of?

Sarah (26:48)
I think I'm most proud of quite simple, but doing it, just going for it. ⁓ Just thinking, no, I am going to do something that fits for me, if that makes sense. to just saying yes and having a go and putting myself out there and yeah, doing everything. Just giving it a go, yeah. I think I am proud of myself for doing that. It's, yeah, just... ⁓

Roz (27:10)
Just giving it a go. ⁓

Yeah,

I am. I'm proud of you. I'm glad you've done it from nothing. You've come from nothing and learned it all and done the course and read the books and decided that's what you want to do and have a dream and know what that looks like.

Sarah (27:17)
seeking out these opportunities. Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, I think it's a

big thing to an end goal of where you know you want to be. People that you think, yeah, I want that, that's what I want to get to. And then when you get to that, then think, no, I want to be where they are then. And then you just keep going and going and going. Yeah, definitely.

Roz (27:45)
Keep going.

So that brings me on to who is your inspiration? Who does keep you going?

Sarah (27:53)
well you're very inspiring for one. No you are, it's like huge inspiration. To know that you came from like three raised beds and things like that and it's, you sort of kink, well if you've come from three raised beds and look how successful you are and I know that you told us that on when we first started the course and I was like wow that's what I have and it does make you think, but I'm also inspired a lot by just, just when you see other flower farmers that you see what they're doing and things and you think it's just great.

Roz (27:56)
Aww.

That's it.

Yeah.

Sarah (28:22)
Like they're just inspiring and you see the different flowers that they're growing and things like that and you think, I'd like to, you just sort of get inspiration from others that are around you doing the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Roz (28:34)
Yeah, it's always something to learn, always to learn.

So. ⁓

Sarah (28:39)
I'd say it's probably

family that keeps me going. my youngest, yeah, my youngest is five and he's desperate to be a farmer when he's older. Absolutely desperate. That's all he wants to do in life is be a farmer. So we've decided that he will take on the flower farm that we're going to have when I'm eventually not able, when I eventually give it up or whatever, whenever that will be. But yeah, that's what he wants to do. yeah, that's where we are. So that sort of keeps me going as well.

Roz (28:42)
Come on, you can do this.

Is it?

⁓ clever succession.

It can come out and start that, you know, when, when it gets to about seven, eight, nine, 10, you can have him cutting for you and all sorts. can be like your little Saturday, Saturday helper. Does it?

Sarah (29:09)
Yeah.

Well he sits and does the seeds with me.

Yeah, yeah he loves it. Yeah, he'll come out and water with me and he's asking what all the flowers are called and yeah he loves it. yeah, I know.

Roz (29:26)
Wow, brilliant.

So what next then? What comes next then? You're looking for this piece of land? How soon? What was your time scale?

Sarah (29:32)
Yeah.

In the next couple of years, I'd say. I think I want to outgrow where we are, like outgrow the land I've got here first. Because the next, the bigger bed that we put in this year, we did this in March. So I've put perennials into there and I'm putting the annuals out into there as well. So there's a mixture. So when that's at capacity and I'm starting to use that and get used to that, then I'll then think, right, I know what I'm doing on that. I can then.

Roz (29:38)
You

Yeah, definitely.

Sarah (30:05)
put a lot of them into a field and nowhere to go. So, but the big dream that I want to get to is like a field where people can come and pick their own. That's, that is the, yeah, that's what I want. That is the, yeah, that is the dream.

Roz (30:16)
well, okay.

So when

you know that, when you know you want to pick your own, then you basically have a business around it, which means that A, it's accessible and there's car parking and there's water and it's not at your house actually. Because to have a pick your own at your house is actually your house. That's not really what you want to know. So then you build something like that for that reason. ⁓ And I've known a lot of flower farmers have really successful pick your own businesses.

Sarah (30:27)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, which makes the land, yeah. Yeah.

No, I wouldn't. Yeah, it would be separate. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's good. That gives me hope. Yeah, yeah.

Roz (30:49)
Yeah, no, no, no, it's brilliant. No, you know,

one hundred percent. Lots of rules around it, around, know, what you're allowing people to cart and how many stems for a bucket and all those sort of things and how you run it. But it's much less labor intensive than a lot of other areas. So. Yeah.

Sarah (31:05)
Yeah, yeah, because you can make

it into sort of an event where people go to and it's like a, yeah, a day out almost. So, onto the flower farm and do what they need to do, yeah.

Roz (31:13)
100%.

Under the humber bridge, what more could you want?

Sarah (31:18)
Well, hopefully if someone is willing to offer some land there, it's great destination then.

Roz (31:24)
It is. I know. Yeah, that's what you've got. Yeah. Yeah. And then the best thing to do probably is find some flower farmers anywhere in the UK that run pick their own and pick ask to have a conversation with them. You've got in competition with them just say, okay, what what what were your learnings and there'll be loads. ⁓

Sarah (31:36)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, and go and visit them

and see what happens and yeah, definitely, yeah.

Roz (31:47)
Definitely. That's a bit of research. Well, Sarah, it is. Yeah, because I want to follow your progress and see where you are. Keep in touch. Let me know how things happen. And thank you very much for coming over today. I really appreciate it. You inspired others to just give it a go. I mean, that's the main thing. Yeah.

Sarah (31:49)
⁓ Which is good research.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah.

Thank you for having me.

Yeah, definitely. Just go for it. Yeah, just go for it and don't worry about

having a job and doing it because I'm doing it. It's yeah, just go for it.

Roz (32:14)
allows you to just, yeah, finish your

job, go out and walk around. I love it. Yeah. So when I've been sitting at my desk for more than an hour or something, I have to get up and go, ⁓ I'm sure there's something I need to be doing. Yeah, exactly. That'll be tonight's job. It keeps threatening to rain, but we haven't had any yet. So it's weird. That's going to be our biggest challenge in the next 10 years. We'll be the club.

Sarah (32:18)
Definitely, yeah.

Yeah, I need some water.

We haven't had any either. It's, yeah.

Yeah, definitely.

climate. Thank you so much for having me. It's been an absolute honour. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, great. Thank you. Thanks, Roz.

Roz (32:41)
So we have to take that into consideration. But thank you for coming. Stay in touch. That will be really lovely.

Take care. Take care, bye bye bye.