Episode Details

I'm so happy to share my conversation with Heather Schuh of HB Farm with you today. We recorded it last Saturday after the July "Best of" Workshop that Slow Flowers produced for the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market where HB Farm is a member-grower. It was serendipitous that we would be in the same place on the same day -- Heather presented about blueberry, blackberry and raspberry cuts for foliage, along with Kristy Hilliker of B&B Family Farm who gave a fabulous lavender talk. Following their educational presentations, Melissa Feveyear of Terra Bella Flowers designed a lush and abundant summer arrangement using the berry foliage and lavender, along with companion stems. The presentations can be found on the Growers Market's IGTV feed: Part One: Lavender with B&B Family Farm and Berry Foliages with HB Farm https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCglQJ_AITk/ Part Two: Floral design demonstration with Melissa Feveyear of Terra Bella Flowers https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCgqZlrAE_B/ I say it was serendipity that brought Heather and me together to record -- socially-distanced on opposite sides of the room -- because this is an interview that took one year to accomplish! I had reached out to Heather to set up an interview last summer, only to discover that the date I wanted to visit HB Farm was also the date that Heather was hosting her son's wedding at her farm (oh, and designing the flowers, too). I'm so glad we make it work this past week and I learned a lot about this serial entrepreneur who has a background in timber, home construction and interior design. For Heather, it started with blueberries and she has come full circle to return to blueberries, but in a modern, design-forward way. Heather loves growing a wide range of crops - in addition to blueberries. Here she is with an armload of scented geranium foliage Here's a bit more about Heather Schuh and HB Farm: Her family has been farming the land that is currently HB Farm since the 1940's.  During that time the ground has seen several crop successions. Heather remembers helping plant raspberries there in 1975 and when the raspberry market changed in the early 80's all of the farmland was converted to Blueberries.   She says this: The biggest lessons I have learned from farming is that it isn't easy, and to be ready to innovate and make changes due to market demands and conditions.   In 2015 the market for Blueberries was inundated with overproduction.  Farms that were planted throughout northern Washington State and even to the South started to produce everything they had planted approximately 5 years earlier. Suddenly, the need for small producers to sell their products to larger wholesaler simply dried up, leaving family farms like HB Farm stuck with Blueberries that no one wanted.   After much discussion and the desire to continue to farm, Heather and her husband Brandon decided to dig up and sell as many of their blueberry plants as they could, after which they began converting their fields to flowers. That next chapter continues today. Heather calls farming a "lifestyle" summed up by rising early to harvest and do all of the watering and chores associated with farming and going to bed late when your body is aching from all of the hours of hard work.   She believes this work ethic was passed down by her parents and grandparents, adding "Family Farms are a beautiful part of this nation's history and I am so happy that we are able to continue our families legacy...with Flowers!" Annabelle hydrangeas are another top crop from HB Farm Here's how to find and follow Heather Schuh and HB Farm: HB Farm on Facebook HB Farm on Instagram In the coming weeks, as Heather mentioned, the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market will roll out a new and improved website. I'll make sure to share a link when that goes Live, so you can see all of the botanicals, flowers, and foliage, from HB Farm and the other amazing farmers who are part of the cooperative. Last Friday July 10th we held the monthly Slow