Beautiful Missoula Business Has Opportunity to Expand

While Montana may be known for its animal products and crops like grain, it may be less well known as a state that produces flower farms. But one urban flower farm in Missoula is having a major impact, and that impact may soon be "growing."

Farm Hand Farm

"Had you asked me 10 years ago if I'd be growing flowers as a career choice, I'd have been incredulous," Adelaide Every says on her website, the farmer and florist at Farm Hand Farm. Now in its sixth year, FHF has a flower CSA and local clients that include:

• Clyde Coffee
• Bernice's Bakery
• Canvas Studios
• Le Petit Outre

Every also grows microgreens on a rotating schedule through her CSA that features plants like Daikon Radish, Purple Kohlrabi, and Waltham 29 Broccoli.

What Does Your Garden Grow?

Every says the types of flowers she grows often depend on how she'll be using them. "For my flower CSA, I gravitate towards brighter colors, so I'll choose varieties that will look good together in arrangements," she says, "In growing for wedding work, I'll do some research on upcoming color trends as well as pull color palettes for weddings that I've already booked at this point to choose blooms and foliage that meet those." She has already ordered tulip bulbs for fall planting and is looking to order lisianthus plugs and dahlia tubers, too. 

The Expansion

Every grows on a 1/4 acre, but a recent arrangement with Kathy and Adam Serba of Mighty Find Farm, an adjacent landowner, will nearly double the land.

"The biggest benefit to this new-to-me field is that all the infrastructure that is already there- i.e. irrigation system, etc.  One of the largest tasks in starting a field is building everything out, and this is essentially a turn-key operation. There's even a propagation house that I'll use to start many of the seeds and will become the seedlings that I'll plant in the new field."  

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One challenge of an expansion like this for a flower business is having a large enough flower cooler to accommodate the additional blooms. "I'm considering going large on flowers that dry well next season in the new field. I've been drying flowers for off-season projects for many seasons now, but it would be great to have an official online outlet for these products, similar to Lovejoy Farms in Washington or Charles Little and Co. in Oregon. I'd also love to partner with additional local businesses to offer fresh and dried bouquets and expand my roster of weekly bouquet service clients.  And book more weddings!" 

For those interested in dried flowers now, Every will be leading a Flower Crown Workshop at the ZooTown Community Arts Center on October 10th at 6 pm. For more information about the flower CSA visit farmhandfarm.com.