Episode 593: Tom Precht and Sarah Daken of Grateful Gardeners, on buying farmland and establishing a new aquaponics greenhouse operation

Slow Flowers Podcast

https://youtu.be/KDBb7ebWnZw I'm excited to reintroduce Tom Precht and Sarah Daken, Maryland-based Slow Flowers members and owners of Grateful Gardeners back to the show today. I interviewed them for the Slow Flowers Podcast in the fall of 2019, before adding our video podcast (aka vodcast) feature. That's when we discussed the early chapters of Grateful Gardeners, when Tom and Sarah both had fulltime, off-farm careers that they were hoping to leave behind and grow flowers for both a living and a lifestyle. Sarah Daken and Tom Precht of Grateful Gardeners Well, lots has happened in the past few years, and they joined me last week in the to record an update to share with you. This is a full-blown conversation so I won't take too much time introducing my friends, Sarah and Tom. But I will share just a paragraph from Sarah's January 1st blog post: She wrote: "Dreams do Come True. We knew we needed to expand if we were ever going to try to make flower farming our livelihood. But could we ever have imagined in less than a year it would mean selling our old house, buying a new one, moving thousands of perennials, building new fields, building a greenhouse, a pavilion, a walk in cooler …. that we would spend over $300,000 dollars in 9 months! That we would win over $350,000 in grant money. Literally, you can’t make this up." So let's learn more and jump right in to meet Tom and Sarah. More resources: Follow Grateful Gardeners on Instagram and Facebook. Read More about Aquaponic Flower Growing PLENTY - Summer Growing 2022- Precht 1Download JFCLS_7510_R1_20221221_V1Download News for this Week I also want to remind you that registration continues for the 2023 Slow Flowers' Creative Writing Workshop -- and we've just extended the $100 discount through Sunday, January 22nd. This online course begins on January 28th and is designed to help you gain confidence with content as a write. Sign up for the Slow Flowers Creative Workshop: Floral Storytelling and receive the following: Three Modules; Ten Lessons; 19 Worksheets; Four Writing Templates; Two Guest Editor Sessions; 4 Weekly Q&As during Debra's "Office Hours," You'll also receive a 28-page workbook, "The Journey from Blog to Book." PLUS, you'll enjoy our BONUS MODULE - "Visual and Verbal Storytelling" with Debra Prinzing and BLOOM Imprint's Creative Director Robin Avni. The course is $297 and we will extend the $100-off discount through Sunday, January 22nd. Join our highly motivated group of students who have already signed up -- florists, designers, flower farmers and growers, gardeners and flower lovers who want to be better Floral Storytellers! Click to Register for $100-off through January 22nd Thank you to our Sponsors This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers. Thank you to our lead sponsor, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $10 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually. Discover more at farmgirlflowers.com. Thank you to The Gardener's Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important this year than ever, and you'll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com. Thank you to Details Flowers Software, a platform specifically designed to help florists and designers do more and earn more. With an elegant and easy-to-use system--Details is here to improve profitability, productivity, and organization for floral businesses of all shapes and sizes.