Make a Profit Selling Cut Flowers

November 4-5 | Nashville, Tennessee

Green Door Gourmet

Maximum 150 attendees
REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Monday, November 4

7:30 a.m.   Registration – Coffee and light refreshments

8:30 a.m.   Welcome

8:45 a.m.   Finding Your Own Niche in a Crowded Market
Lennie Larkin, B-Side Farm, Sebastopol, California
Are tales of a saturated market stopping you from starting a thriving business? Lennie will take you through the
ins and outs of her evolving business model in the crowded flower space of sunny California, and impart tips
on everything from how to find new customers, to knowing when to step up or step back in a crowded market,
to handling competition with grace and finding your competitive advantage, to a warning against undercutting
other growers or designers. Get ready for anecdotes, tangible take-homes, and perhaps a graph or two as we
revisit some supply and demand curves straight out of an economics textbook.

9:50 a.m.   If You Build It, They Will Come
Linda Doan, Aunt Willie’s Wildflowers, Blountville, Tennessee
Don’t sell just your flowers, sell your farm experience as well. Farm tours, photography workshops, design
workshops, cut and carry—Linda will consider how these options are available to add income to your business
by bringing dollars to your property.

11:00 a.m. Listen to Your Heart. And Your Head. And Your Accountant
Bailey Hale, Ardelia Farm and Farmer Bailey Plugs, Irasburg, Vermont
Bailey will explain how he and his partner fell into farming, their MANY failures, and they’ve reinvented themselves
several times to focus on sanity and profitability. We’ll learn worked for them, and why it may not work for everyone,
including some context about how we all fit into the global flower industry.

Noon   Lunch (included with registration) with Green Door Gourmet Chef
Here’s an opportunity to stretch your legs and visit Green Door Gourmet’s farm store.

1:30 p.m.   Rethinking On-farm Sales
Lisa Ziegler, The Gardener’s Workshop, Newport News, Virginia
On-farm sales can be so much more than a farm stand. Lisa will share how she overcame some of the challenges
facing urban farmers and city ordinances to sell flowers from her farm. Learn about her Members-Only Flower
Market model that is going into its 15th year, bouquet subscription program, and other methods that will make a profit.

2:30 p.m.   Extreme Marketing: How to Attract Champagne Clients on a Beer Budget
Julio Freitas The Flower Hat, Bozeman, Montana
Learn how The Flower Hat made six figures with virtually no budget.

3:40 p.m.   Forcing Glorious Blooms for Holiday Sales—and Beyond
Val Schirmer, Three Toads Farm, Winchester, Kentucky
In this “show and tell” presentation, Val will share how she chooses, forces, stages, and sells specialty bulbs—namely,
big bold beautiful amaryllis and paperwhites—for holiday sales. And the good news? For anyone who hasn’t tried it yet,
or is thinking about doing it again, there’s still time to give it a go this year.

4:45 p.m. Live Auction to benefit the ASCFG Research Foundation

Tuesday, November 5

8:00 a.m. Coffee and light refreshments

8:30 a.m. Making a Profit with Dried Material (or #whattodowithdeadstuff)
Emily Daniel, Basil & Bergamot Flower Farm, Whites Creek, Tennessee
Dried flowers are making a comeback! Emily will discuss old and new drying processes, and share new trends in
dried materials, as well as marketing strategies and results from the new varieties she’s trialing. She’ll show us how
to use dried flowers in fresh arrangements as she demonstrates design techniques. After Emily’s presentation,
everyone is invited to try their hands at a dried hand-tied bouquet. Instead of bringing fresh flowers to this event,
we’re asking for any type of dried material you can gather and share. We’ll have rubber bands and ribbon available
to tie up your creations, and will take a group photo of #whattodowithdeadstuff.

10:00 a.m. Farm Tour
We probably won’t cover all 350 acres of Green Door Gourmet, but we may see their cut flower and
vegetable greenhouses, hoophouses, packing sheds, and retail shop.

Green Door Gourmet
7007 River Road Pike
Nashville, Tennessee

Suggested Lodging Options

Dream Hotel
210 4th Avenue North, Nashville
(615) 622-0600

Thank you, sponsors!

Cancellation policy:
A full refund will be paid if cancellation is received prior to October 1, one-half refunded prior to October 10;
after October 10, 2019 no refund can be made. No exceptions.