Strategies for getting kids interested in flower farming 

My daughter came home from preschool one day years ago with a message: “Be a bucket filler.” I had never heard this before, and it is based on a simple, human concept. Be kind to others. The entire idea behind bucket filling is to make someone feel special by doing or saying something nice. By doing so, you are filling up their emotional bucket and making them feel good. At the same time, you are filling up your own bucket. We all know how it feels to do something nice for someone else. It not only makes them feel good… it makes us feel good, too.  In the world today I think we can all afford to feel a little better. Our kids are no exception and perhaps the most deserving right now.  

 

A plug tray being used to sort flower petals by color to create art. All photos courtesy of the author.

 

One of the reasons I started growing cut flowers was because I knew how having a bouquet of fresh flowers on my kitchen table made me feel. I wanted to go outside into the garden, cut my own flowers and bring them inside. This grew to making sure I had enough flowers to cut and give to people that I love. Of all my family, friends and neighbors, not one of them doesn’t enjoy the beauty of a flower. Perhaps it is why gifting of flowers dates back to Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, the Roman Empire and beyond.  

Throughout history, we have used the gifting of flowers to express our emotions. We give flowers to express our love, our friendship, our sympathy and our gratitude. Even in the Victorian era this custom was widely practiced. It was frowned upon and not considered good manners to express feelings in words so they demonstrated their feelings by giving flower bouquets. The world needs flowers and doing my part to make sure there will always be plenty of them has been a big reason why I farm flowers for a living.  

Every time I gift flowers, I am filling someone’s bucket. Every time someone else buys flowers from our farm, I know an emotional bucket somewhere is being filled whether it is their own or a loved one’s. My all time favorite customer feedback always begins with “I bought your flowers and gave them to my Grandma…”   

My goal going forward is to help sow the seeds of the next generation of flower farmers to keep the world full of beautiful blooms. It is, without a doubt, very hard work to be a farmer as we all know, but I find happiness in all the sweat and tears that are poured into every day of it. I can enjoy it because I understand the impact flowers make on others and why we need them.  This understanding is what we need to teach our future farmers so their desire to continue this important work thrives. And what better way to teach them than to fill buckets both literally and figuratively.

Buckets and flower farming go hand in hand. I have hoards of buckets everywhere. If you farm flowers, I am sure you can relate. But before we can fill them, we have to start at the beginning. We have to start with the seeds. This reminds me of an Indian Proverb I once heard, “All the flowers of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.”  

Kids are naturally drawn to doing something with their own two hands and seeing what it creates. The pride they feel when painting a picture in school, making their own breakfast or even building a Lego set is felt most when they come to you with a big smile plastered across their face and say, “Look what I did!” The reward of having the actual physical thing they created in their hands is great but the pride and emotional reward is even greater.  

 

The author’s daughter, Leah Gardner, gifting flowers to our neighbor @hillviewdesigns, Nikki Beck.

 

So how do we get them sowing seeds? Easy. Kids like to play in dirt. Every time I start sowing seeds in the early winter months the lure of a bag of dirt reels them right in. I make sure to keep my kids involved even if it’s just playing in said dirt. In our seed starting room, I’ve created a spot where old flower pots, used six cell seedling containers, a bucket of dirt and kid friendly gloves and shovels live. My son also likes to keep a couple of toy construction trucks here because it is way more fun to fill a seedling tray with dirt when you’re using an excavator and a dump truck.  

Instead of tossing the containers you no longer use or have seen better days, let your kids play with them. Kids gain a love of learning through play and will often mirror what you are doing. Any time I am sowing seeds, I generally have a few leftover seeds that won’t fit into my trays and I set them aside. You can re-use any containers you have lying around to store these seeds. Yogurt containers, spaghetti sauce jars or even pill box containers. Label the containers and place them in your kids’ seed starting area. 

For the youngest kids, be sure not to give them seeds that are toxic if ingested such as Sweet Pea, Morning Glory or Foxglove. Also consider the size of the seeds. Larger seeds are easier for them to handle and plant versus the tiniest seeds like celosia and snapdragons. Zinnia, sunflower and even pumpkin seeds are great choices. (I know pumpkins are not flowers but who doesn’t love a good pumpkin?!) Have them grab a pot or cell tray, fill it with dirt and choose their seeds.  

Creating a daily ritual of checking on and watering their seeds teaches them patience and nurturing. Once that first sprout pokes out of the dirt, the excitement is off the charts. I’d be lying if I said I don’t still feel this way every year when I see those first sprouts. Almost like I never think this is going to work and then it does. Success! It doesn’t matter how old you are or how many times you’ve sowed seeds, it is still just as exciting.   

As soon as those little seedlings are ready to go out into the world, the caring for their flowers continues. I am a firm believer that a morning walk through the garden to check on all your plants is profoundly good for the soul. Take a watering can for giving them a drink and a bucket to pull any weeds. As a kid and as an adult before I began my flower farming journey I absolutely loathed weeding. It always felt like a chore (probably because it was) and I was always doing it at the worst times. Don’t make weeding a chore. Teach your kids about how a weed is taking up the nutrients and water that your plants need and if the weeds take over or get too close to your flower, they won’t grow big and tall and strong.  

 

This is one of my “kind buckets” that I give to kids for free so they can gift flowers out into the community.

 

Making this part of your daily or weekly routine can make it not feel so overwhelming.  Grabbing those pesky weeds when they are little and easier for their small hands to pull is ideal.  We all know weeding after a good watering or a rain storm is satisfying as the weeds pop right out of the wet soil. You want to make weeding as easy as possible so your kids learn to like it and know that it is a necessary part of the process and not just a boring and horrible chore. The satisfaction that comes from a weed free flower bed is just as exciting as seeing those first sprouts. It provides a sense of accomplishment and ownership.  

If you have more than one child, make it a game. Who can fill a bucket of weeds first? A few extra special seeds to try is a great reward. I don’t know about you but my kids love a good competition and it never seems to matter what the task is. One of my favorites is seeing who can fold their basket of laundry first. 

Perhaps the most exciting feeling of all is seeing all of your efforts come to fruition. For kids this is especially true. Throughout any learning process seeing the end result and finding out that all their hard work created something is magical. A spark is ignited and the desire to try more things to see what will happen begins to grow. “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”– Audrey Hepburn. 

Believing in tomorrow and having hope is incredibly important. Your child’s bucket will begin to fill with positive experiences, beautiful flowers they grew themselves and most importantly, special moments spent with you. Now is the time for your child to become a bucket filler and spread that joy out into the world. There is an inherent desire in each of us to gift a flower. As kids we find anything pretty in our yards or on the side of the road even if it is considered a weed and bring them inside to Mommy or Daddy or Grandma. I keep a mini vase in my kitchen for this very purpose. Kids just seem to know that giving a flower will make someone they care about smile. It is a way for even the littlest of children to express their love.

 This season I began a new initiative in my community. At our farm we provided an opportunity for any kid to sign up and receive a free bucket of flowers. The only rule was that they couldn’t keep the flowers for themselves. It was their job to decide who they wanted to gift the flowers to either as a handful, in an arrangement they made from the flowers in the bucket or as a single flower. They can give them to family members, neighbors, friends or even perfect strangers.  

 

The author’s son, Wyatt Gardner, sowing seeds during the winter months in their seedling room.

 

The unexpected gift of a flower “just because” can fill emotional buckets all over the community. How special it would be for your child to grow their own flowers and pass them on to bring smiles to anyone that may need it. Trust me when I tell you, your child’s own emotional bucket will be overflowing at the end of the process. I’ve seen it in my own kids and other kids in the community. Being kind to others is an impactful and important part of our daily lives now more than ever. If you are a flower farmer, my hope is that you will help to spread this bucket filling into your own communities.  

Providing a couple of buckets of flowers to kids during the season to pass on may just inspire one of them to grow their own flowers. If you decide to take part in this mission, I would love to see and hear your feedback. I’ve never met a flower farmer that didn’t have a kind soul. It is a group of people I am so proud to be a part of, and we all need to take the time to nurture the next generation of flower farmers by filling our childrens’ buckets and decorating their souls with flowers.

 Another way to help children learn to love flowers through play is to set up a still life of flowers for them to draw or paint. Focusing in on the beauty in the details of each flower or petal shows just how unique and special every flower truly is.

 

The author’s daughter, Charlie Gardner, filling up a bucket of weeds on the farm.

 

Also, when you are pinching or deadheading flowers, save the petals and have kids sort the petals by color. Fill a seedling tray with the different colors and then let them create artwork from the petals. They can either be glued down, pressed between the pages of a book or simply cleaned up to start all over again and again.

Have kids head into the garden and cut flowers they like. Provide a vase and basic instructions so they can use the flowers to create an arrangement. Keep the arrangement on their bedside table or in the kitchen for everyone to admire.

 

Melissa Gardner is the Owner & Farmer-Florist at Sweety Pea’s Flower Farm in Ballston Lake, New York. Sweety Pea’s is a small cut flower farm offering fresh, hand-wrapped bouquets and arrangements direct to the local community. You can find Melissa at sweetypeasflowers.com or on Instagram and Facebook @sweetypeasflowers.