Announcing a New Farmer-Florist Online Course
What’s typically my “slow season” has proven to be anything but this winter. December and January have been a whirlwind of learning for me as I’ve tackled a special, new project: creating a farmer-florist online course specifically geared towards the business of weddings!
I’ve been teaching in the floral world for over a decade now. I taught my very first floral workshop back in 2010, a sweet little gathering called “Flowers in Thyme” held among the historic roses at Wyck Gardens. Since then, I’ve hosted over 100 workshops at my own farm as well as traveled all over the U.S. and Canada to teach flower devotees near and far. I’ve deeply enjoyed these opportunities to connect on a personal level, however briefly, with sooooo many other flower lovers and to help them along their floral journey however I could.
In recent years, the request has repeatedly arisen for a farmer-florist online course as well. However, online learning is not my natural habitat, both as a teacher and as a student. I’m a tactile learner myself and a surprisingly tactile teacher in some ways as well. Thus, the online environment hasn’t felt like the right fit for me. Until very recently, I was really confident that I would never do one. The answer to every request for me to do an farmer-florist online course has always been “No, I really like to be able to work on a more personal level, helping each student individually in person.” That was until Lisa Zeigler at the Gardeners Workshop started bending my ear yet again on the topic last November at the ASCFG conference.
Lisa felt strongly that I did need to create an online course and she made several good arguments for it. But I really wasn’t listening until she promised me that I could still achieve a one-on-one connection with each student in an online course environment through the Live Q&A sessions she had incorporated in her own online courses. She also advocated with passion for all the potential students out there who might benefit immensely from one of my master classes but who just couldn’t make the trip to my farm due to family commitments, anxieties about travel, or simply a lack of funds to tack airfare and hotel expenses on to the expense of attending a class.
I’m still strongly in favor of in-person learning experiences whenever possible and will continue to host many hands-on workshops at my farm and travel extensively to teach. But I am pleased to now have another means of helping the farmer-florist movement. For me, creating an online course is an opportunity to strengthen our entire community with critical business and design training and to make sure the rising tide towards more sustainable florals gains as much momentum as it possibly can at this critical juncture.
Having just wrapped up recording my new online course, “The Wedding Process”, for the newly minted Farmer-Florist School Online I’ve created with Lisa, I can say with absolute certainty that I dumped my whole heart and soul into it. While the process of creating an online course has been challenging and not one of my favorite projects to date (it’s involved over a hundred hours of staring at a computer screen as well as more than 30 hours of recording, blech!), it is one that I firmly believe has tremendous potential to stimulate healthy, profitable growth for so many small flower farmers and floral designers. Our niche industry has exploded in recent years, but hasn’t proven profitable for many.
I’ve worked as a solo boss lady for the past 12 years and built my farm from the ground up, farming full time since day one. I went from a tiny community garden plot working completely alone in the beginning to buying a four-acre farm in the heart of the city and having a dedicated team of both farm hands and designers today. All of this was made possible because I’ve been committed to not only growing the flowers but also designing with them and tackling the challenging world of weddings. It’s not always been an easy path, but by focusing on it as a business first and mastering the workflow to manage it all professionally has meant that it’s been very worthwhile. I’m really excited to help other flower farmers do the same!
Registration for the online course opens February 10th and will close on February 15th. The course is six weeks long and starts the first week of March. I’ll be hosting live Q&A sessions every week of the course as well as a few after the course to make sure every student feels like they’ve gotten pertinent advice for their own situation. Students have lifetime access to the course materials and can review them over and over again at any time.
If you have any questions about the course, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’ll be sure to answer them. And head over to the Farmer Florist School Online page to read more and sign up for notifications about the course, including a special offer.
I wanted to know the cost of the course, as I couldn’t find it anywhere
The course is $695, but you can get a $200 discount if you sign up for course news and alerts via this link: https://www.thegardenersworkshop.com/course-news-sign-up-jennie-love/
There have been so many online courses I’ve considered doing in the past, but I think this one’s a must! How much will it cost? Will there be a payment plan option? What day/time will you do the live Q &A sessions? Thank you!
Aw, thanks for the kind words, Christine! I’m really excited to help others in their farmer-florist journeys. The cost is $695, but there’s a great $200 discount being offered to those who sign up for the course mailing list if you want to sign up. Click here to do that. I’m not sure about the payment plan option… I’m actually not the administrator for the course. The course is being hosted through the Gardener’s Workshop Online School so they are handling all administrative tasks like payments and registration so you’ll have to check in with the gals at the Gardener’s Workshop directly about payment option. The live sessions will be on Tuesday evenings, 8PM EST. You can re-watch the live sessions any time and you can even submit questions in advance so if for some reason you can’t actually “attend” a live session, you can still totally participate. Hopefully that answers your questions. Would love to be able to help you with this course! 🙂
I watched your video with Lisa explaining the course. You said you’d cover crop planning for events. Will you be sharing your planning tools (spreadsheets) as well as your materials lists (foliage, flowers, filler suggestions)? In looking at your bouquets, I see some things I’ve never seen before. Love your work!
Thanks for your kind words! 🙂 Yes, we’ll be covering crop planning in detail in the course and students get a sample crop plan like the ones I use when planning my own events. I’ll also be sharing my recipe template for designs along with a few real life samples so you can get rolling easily with making your own flower magic.
This looks like just the sort of class I need. I did a couple of weddings last year, and one of my biggest issues is figuring out what to charge. I also lacked confidence (even thought both brides were very happy). I still don’t feel ready to advertise my services just yet. May just stick to a few small weddings this summer. (one one the books for early summer) I’m thinking this class will give me the boost I need. My goal is to retire from school bus driving and be a full time farmer/florist. Part time business gets part time results. I know taking Lisa’s class was a game changer for our flower farm when it came to seed starting. Congratulations on finishing your online class! I’m really looking forward to it. You’re an inspiration!
This class will definitely help boost your confidence, Jessica! Part time business definitely gets part time results. I’m so glad I jumped in full time right from the start… it meant I was able to really focus and grow my business quickly. Hopefully you can do the same too soon! Would love to help you do that! 🙂
I am the lady who did not want to do weddings but wanted to grow for them in a town with 6 wedding chapels… Can you give the other 4 weeks titles? Still trying to decide as I took Lisa’s class in the fall, and am currently taking Dave’s class. I am nervous about taking on too much at one time. I did a little “test” selling at my neighbors farm stand last year and I want to hit the ground running this year, with brides in mind. Is it too much in a short amount of time? I am a very driven gal…
Hi Sheri! If you go over to Lisa’s Facebook page, she did a Live video on the full course syllabus, including the titles of all the individual sessions…. there’s a lot of them so it’s probably easier to go watch that video than it is for me to type them all out here. I’m not sure how to directly link to the video, but it’s pinned to the top of her page currently and it’s the one where she’s wearing a black and white floral top. About halfway through that video she starts going into detail about the course syllabus. Hope that helps!! I’m absolutely sure you can tackle weddings! I’d love to help you!
https://www.facebook.com/Gardeners-Workshop-Cut-Flower-Farm-314412151912073/
I am so excited to do this course and trust wholeheartedly it will be awesome! Why? Because these two ladies (Jennie and Lisa) working together couldn’t be beat!
I have invested in every course and book Lisa has produced and they’re amazing, and Lisa chose Jennie for a reason folks – she trusts her and her information and talent! Jennie finally agreed to an online course for a reason too – she trusts Lisa!
I can’t wait to start! Thank you to you two ladies for sharing with us all!
Aw, thanks, Nancy, for the enthusiastic cheer-leading!!