Online Courses for Flower Farmers & Florists
Winter is for learning! While crop planning and seed ordering are always important for running a farm, flower farmers should not neglect to learn more about how to effectively run their business. After all, you can plant as many seeds as you want, but if you can’t get them harvested and sold, what’s the point? Join Jennie Love, of Love ‘n Fresh Flowers, for a series of live virtual seminars and online courses that will help improve your business and enhance your sales.
What is a “live virtual seminar”? These are single-session short online courses with a very focus topic. Typically three to four hours long over Zoom, seminar participants interact live with the instructor, rather than watching a pre-recorded video. All questions are answered live before the seminar is finished. Participants get a recording of the seminar as well as handouts. Seminars are kept small so the entire group can engage with Jennie by unmuting and asking their questions out loud.
Join Jennie for the following topics. Registration for each seminar will open 30 days before the event date.
HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL FLORAL CSAs & SUBSCRIPTIONS
Monday, November 28th (SOLD OUT)
4PM – 8PM Eastern
A flower CSA or subscription program can be a major boon for a small farm, be it a flower farm or veggie farm that wants to add something new to their offerings. However, a CSA or subscription program can come with a lot of headaches and put a real strain on a farmer, especially at a small or new farm that isn’t prepared for the volume of stems that will be needed to fulfill weekly orders.
Topics covered will include:
– crop planning for a floral CSA program
– tried and true recipes for CSA bouquets to get you started
– what options to offer or not offer
– the difference between a CSA and a subscription
– timing
– marketing + sales tools specific to CSAs/Subscriptions
– pricing
– delivery + logistics streamlining
– member communications + managing expectations
– a sample CSA member agreement
– hard lessons learned + classic newbie mistakes to avoid
Online Courses for Flower Farmers
SIMPLE STEPS TO BETTER MARKETING FOR FLOWER FARMERS AND FLORISTS
Thursday, December 29, 2022 (SOLD OUT)
4PM – 8PM Eastern
Have you been mystified by how to effectively market your small flower business? Tired of the “hustle” of content creation and wish there was a more stable way to secure sales? Learn the age-old (and easy) formula for engaging new customers with your brand and keeping them coming back.
Topics covered will include:
– The power of Google + SEO
– Building a brand story
– Best practices for newsletters
– Simple graphic design tools and techniques
– Pricing strategy as it relates to your brand
Online Courses for Flower Farmers
FOLIAGE FOR THE WIN
Monday, January 9, 2022 (SOLD OUT)
6PM – 8:30PM Eastern
Flowers usually take center stage when it comes to bouquets and centerpieces. But around Love ‘n Fresh Flowers, we covet and grow heaps of really interesting foliage, seed pods, grasses, etc. that make our bouquets stand out. Then flowers are just the icing on the cake!
During this live virtual seminar, Jennie will go into detail about all the varieties (60!) of foliage, both annual and perennial, that are grown at Love n’ Fresh Flowers. Tips for sourcing seeds and plants as well as proper stage of harvest for each type of foliage will be included. Students will receive a handout with every variety of foliage grown at Love ‘n Fresh Flowers listed. It’s a long list!
Online Courses for Flower Farmers
HIRING + MANAGING CREW
Thursday, February 23, 2023
4PM – 8PM Eastern
Feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work piling up at your small farm or market garden? Also feeling overwhelmed by the idea of hiring help? Tried hiring help but found it to be an emotional rollercoaster you’d rather not ride? This live virtual seminar will help fit some critical pieces of the puzzle together and give you an action plan for moving forward with greater confidence finding and leading a hardworking crew.
Topics covered in this seminar will be:
– How to advertise for help
– How to interview
– How to offer the job
– How to train
– How to manage crew workflow
– How to incentivize and keep a good crew
Online Courses for Flower Farmers
NO-TILL FLOWERS FARMING COHORT
6 Monthly Virtual Meetings in 2023
During each Cohort gathering, Jennie Love, host of the No-Till Flowers podcast will formally present for about 90 minutes on a specific subject related to regenerative farming practices, tailoring the information to flower farming in particular. The cohort members will be surveyed initially after registration to find out which topics feel most relevant to them. Anticipated subjects for presentations are making on-farm inputs for natural fertility, four season cover cropping, opening up new ground for production, using perennials for great resiliency, seed starting with boosting soil biology in mind, what flower crops love and hate no-till beds, etc. These presentations will be delivered live, not pre-recorded.
After the presentation, there will be 30-45 minutes to ask questions specifically about the material in the presentation to be sure everything is making sense to cohort members.
After the directed Q+A portion, cohort members will actively talk together about whatever challenges are presently arising at each of their farms that the hive mind may be able to help solve.
Will you offer ‘How to Run a CSA & Subscriptions’ again this “off” season?
Thanks for the inquiry, Robin. I teach that seminar each year in November when I feel it’s most relevant for everyone who is planning their CSA for the following season. So it won’t run again this winter but I’ll have in again in Nov 2023. 🙂
I hope you will consider doing the February foliage class!