NatWest Bring it 2020 has provided £500 of match funding
Gardner's Blooms Environmentally Conscious Flowers
Harpole, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Local, sustainable, low waste, environmentally conscious alternative to imported flowers. Scented and beautiful with no chemicals or plastic
Beautiful British blooms with eco credentials to match
Gardner’s Blooms is a small business offering locally grown flowers produced and presented in an eco-friendly way using sustainable methods.
BACKGROUND
My name is Kate, I’m a mum of two and prior to having my children I worked for 13 years in the arable agricultural sector.
Flowers, gardening and the outdoors have always been a passion of mine and whilst on maternity leave the opportunity to do the flowers for my friend’s wedding arose which rekindled my passion for all thing floral and ignited a spark.
After attending a wedding flower workshop at a local flower grower, I realised there was a taste for locally produced, home grown flowers with a low carbon footprint.
Also as a mother of two young children my priorities refocused and I’m keen to make more environmentally conscious choices for my family. After a little research it was clear that imported cut flowers are not an environmentally conscious choice. But it was also very clear that beautiful flowers do not need to have a high environmental cost.
MY ETHOS
FIELD TO VASE - LOCAL - LOW WASTE - BEAUTIFUL - SUSTAINABLE
Reducing the use of plastic and offering more environmentally friendly alternative to supermarket and high street flowers is the key aim of Gardner’s Blooms. Using recyclable, repurposed and biodegradable materials to present locally grown blooms, they are 100% tracable to the field where they were grown, sustainable and more unique and varied than the supermarket fresh flower offerings.
Unlike imported flowers my home grown alternative use no chemicals, air miles, plastic or energy intensive production methods.
Jam Jar posies, bouquets and flower subscriptions are all available for local delivery or collection. Flowers are presented in either returnable, reusable and/or recyclable containers or packaging. I use jam jars, tin cans, reusable charity shop treasures, paper and hessian along with natural ribbon and twine, raffia and jute to create beautiful floral display and gifts.
I would like to find a local retail outlet for bunches, bouquets and posies as well as sell them from my garden gate using social media #fridayflowers (or similar) to promote this and in the future look at pop up events.
Out of season I offer dried flower arrangements and wreaths made using locally foraged foliage and flowers that I have dried from the summer crop.
At Christmas I specialise in 100% compostable wreaths and table decorations using repurposed materials such as jam jars.
My aim is to bring beautiful, scented British flowers to people’s homes and offer customers the opportunity to make changes in their buying habits that will help the planet for future generations.
I have been working hard in the garden to turn it from an overgrown disused vegetable garden into a productive cutting garden and Spring 2020 should see the start of my first flower harvest. Growing my own flowers provides the customer with full provenance and keeps the field to vase loop completely closed.
The cutting garden is a great environment for our precious bees and other wildlife and all the flowers are grown without the use of chemicals.
What I do not grow myself I forage from local hedgerows or source from another local flower grower.
THE FUTURE
To date Gardner's Blooms has been entirely self funded and all my work has been done from my kitchen table and fitted in around caring for my two young children.
Now that I am returning to work after having my children I'd like to get the business properly established and in the future I would like to expand the business to offer flowers for events and special occasions and also look into the possibility of flowers by post. Farmers markets and Artisan Fairs as well as Seasonal Fairs are another outlet I'd like to explore.
In order to achieve this there are three main areas I need investment in:
1. Me - I need to invest in training so that I am up to date with the current sustainable floristry techniques and growing methods. I need to know I am growing the correct flowers with the most efficient methods. I also need further business and marketing training to ensure I'm moving things in the right direction
2. Equipment, materials and facilities - I need to ensure I have the right kit and the right place to use and store it. I have use of our garage but I need to kit it out with a work bench and storage. I need the right equipment and materials in the garden to ensure the flowers perform to their best and I need to be able to ensure I can extend the growing season as far as possible.
3. Marketing - I need to get the word out there - currently I am using social media as my main marketing tool which is great but as my project is focused around the local market I need to make my marketing targeted and I'd love to make Gardner's Bloom's a real talking point.
THANK YOU
Thanks so much for taking the time to read about my project and any pledge you make really will mean a great deal to me. I truly believe in my idea and I'd love to take it to the next level. If you're a regular flower buyer I'd urge you to consider buying locally, or at least British, you'll be helping the planet and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
This project successfully funded on 30th March 2020