Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Eberhardt.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Cassiopeia Farm is a cut flower farm started by husband and wife Dan and Sam. The farm is located in Southeast Austin on a patch of wild Blackland Prairie with deep, heavy clay. The farm was actually started as an orchard (predominately figs and peaches) but we have since moved away from that path once we fell in love with growing flowers. We broke ground on our flower field in November 2017 and we are now in our third season of production (year one was just cover crops). We grow flowers in a manner that is intentional, gentle, and sustainable. We place an emphasis on creating ecosystems and working with the land rather than in opposition to it. We have chickens, ducks and a sweet goose (Goldie) and we sell their eggs when they’re laying heavily (Spring through Fall). We have a small team of flower lovin’ folks that work for us and help us grow your beautiful flowers. We hope to resume tours and workshops sometime this year so we can share the farm with our community!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh gosh, I don’t think anything about farming is smooth. There are so many variables to growing flowers that are out of our control completely-the weather, pests, color trends, etc. An especially notable and recent event that was challenging to navigate was the February 2021 winter storm. This winter was rough on our field and we lost roughly 65% of our annual field in the snowstorm. We were gearing up to have our most beautiful and abundant Spring crops to date and we lost them all. Our field was slated to peak one to two weeks after the storm hit and it was a huge hit financially. So, we pulled all of our beds, composted the frozen plants and planted rows and rows of the most optimistic flower we could think of-sunflowers! Farming constantly throws obstacles your way and I think it will only get more challenging as climate change becomes more pronounced. Crop losses and mistakes can be mourned, but it’s important to glean your lessons and move forward with a resilient mind and heart.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
There are so many paths a flower farm can take and, currently, we are really trying to focus on two main sales channels: direct to florists and our CSA known as Best Buds Club. We feel really drawn to the colors and types of flowers that florists want to use and find a lot of satisfaction knowing we can be a source of sustainable and safe flowers for them to design with. There are so many incredible florists in Austin and it’s really fun to see our flowers in their work. We want to specialize in and grow the weird, funky flowers that you rarely see at wholesale markets because they either don’t ship well or because not many farms are growing them. This fall, we are inter-planting a ton of flowering perennials in our orchards and we hope to have some really great flowering shrubs and foliage to use in a few years when the plants mature a bit.
Best Buds Club was recently started as a way for us to really focus on serving our community and create something that felt fun and celebratory. It’s a creative outlet for me (Sam) because I get to make fun, colorful bouquets for our retail customers that might be a bit different than what you would otherwise find at the store. We really want Best Buds to feel like a club (everyone is welcome!) and we hope to have yearly appreciation parties and/or tours that are just for our members (when we get our parking situation figured out at the farm!).
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
There are a handful of podcasts I love: The No-Till Market Garden Podcast (especially the No-Till Flowers spin-off! highly recommend!)
The Flower Podcast
The Sustainable Flowers Podcast
Botanical Brouhaha Podcast
Slow Flowers with Debra Prinzing
Books:
The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower’s Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers by Lynn Byczynski
Deadhead: The Bindweed Way to Grow Flowers by Jeriann Sabin Ralph Thurston
Farming with Native Beneficial Insects: Ecological Pest Control Solutions by The Xerces Society
Resources:
Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers
Blogs:
Jennie Love of Love ‘n Fresh Flowers (https://lovenfreshflowers.com/blog/)
YouTube:
I love the Bare Mtn YouTube videos! (https://www.youtube.com/user/baremtnfarm)
Contact Info:
- Email: cassiopeiafarm@gmail.com
- Website: cassiopeiafarmatx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassiopeiafarm/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassiopeiafarmatx/
Image Credits
Samantha Eberhardt of Cassiopeia Farm
