The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of jobs in the city at Saipua. These pictures are all from a wedding last Saturday. We had what we call 'carte blanche' on this wedding; which is to say we could choose any color palette, any flowers....
The beauty of this way of working is that we can select exactly the best looking things at the market, without having to adhere to a color story. This January has been dismal at the NYC wholesale market. Maybe this happens every year and I just forget but this January seems especially brutal with half empty shelves and ho hum imports. The terrible draught in California also lessens some of the weedy/wild material we can get.
But citrus abounds miraculously and made a nice base to work up from. Those $8.50 a stem ranunculus also help, although I'm afraid to use them. When I see one of the girls reaching for one my chest tightens and my neck shrinks into my shoulders. Perspiration forms on my forehead and I start to shake and turn purple. They quickly learn to avoid all ranunculus. Good girls, they are.
I feel lucky to be so busy this month, but our work strangely dries up next month and we don't have any work till May. Which might be a good thing as we can focus on the farm and figure out what the hell and how the hell to grow it this season. Eric keeps reminding me we have our tractor payments starting in April. With bravado I say "I'm going to sell so many flowers we'll pay off the tractor in half the time!"
I'm back at the farm now for a few weeks. I'm sitting at my desk, looking out at the homestead yard, this frozen tundra. Instead of doing my chores this morning I came up to the computer with coffee to write this, and I think Eric took the hint and is doing all the chores without me. Bless him!! The weather is brutal here, nights at -10 below 0 F and days only around 10 degrees F. Chickens have a bit of frostbite on their combs. I look at my iris and peony beds and wonder how they are fairing.
I don't talk about this much, but I worry a lot for our changing climate, and think a lot about what I can do about it. How can I use Saipua and the farm to influence how people think about seasons or the natural world...to have more respect for it and change something about their lives to help it. I really don't know the answer to this yet...
Personal responsibility is an interesting conundrum. Want to hear a weird secret? It's hard for me to tell you this story, but I think it makes an interesting point about how we sometimes rationalize our personal responsibility to the planet...
At the farm, all we do is compost and reuse, reduce etc. I feel like I live in a compost bucket sometimes. When I go to the city I bring a bucket with me for my vegetable scraps. Then I haul it back up the farm, along with all our cardboard (used for sheet mulching) and flower waste from Saipua. After a week of hustling for a job, sometimes the last thing I want to do is be the garbage truck, but it seems silly to take an empty truck back when I can stuff branches and flower waste in the back for composting. At some point I let myself off the hook for my city kitchen scraps. And I started putting vegetable scraps RIGHT IN THE GARBAGE. And it felt so fucking liberating.
Subconciously I thought "am I not doing enough already? give me a break on the fly infested compost in my apartment!" But this is a problem...my laziness and unwillingness to do the right thing because it's hard. Or because I think my other actions are offsetting my grapefruit peels that are rotting in a landfill right now creating methane gas instead of garden compost. I have sinned.
I think we have to do more because there are those of us who can. I am one of those people who can do a lot more and so it is my responsibility to do so. And I want to inspire other people to do more in whatever way they can. So I promise you I will collect my food scraps again when I'm in the city.
But my mission at Saipua has always been to make the most beautiful things we possibly can. And if that means using an exquisite flower imported from half way around the globe, so be it. We're in the business of beauty, we're selling our flowers based on our artistry, not on our commitment to local product (though of course we are hugely invested in local flowers). I will buy imported flowers as long as they are the best of what's available in January. And in spring summer and fall I'll buy almost exclusively local. It's not a dogma, it's just that they are the best, and buying them gives me the most pleasure -- through the relationships I have with farmers.
I'm rambling a bit, as I tend to. But writing these things out (and hearing your reactions) helps me sort through my feelings and thoughts. I am still figuring this stuff out. How to be better, how to make a better business, and how to make a difference in the face of this huge problem that is bearing down on all of us.
47 comments:
Don't even get me started on the ranunculus. As a home gardener, I see all these lovely cultivars and just wish I could have them in my garden! Ugh. Breaks my heart. Virtually impossible to get.
Don't be silly! By having a farm that will supply local flowers for weddings, by making people aware of these issues on your blog, by utilizing sustainable practices on your farm, and by always looking to improve - you are launching a comprehensive assault on unsustainable consumerism !!!
I think we may be similar in that we are always aware of these things, 24/7 - but sometimes, I think, you just need to give yourself a break so you can maintain the energy to strive to be better.
I know it's bad - but when I get really fed up with trying so hard . . . I get McDonald's... as a rebellion almost. . . I'm crazy.
Oh I hear you- I compost, reduce, reuse and recycle. I grow most of my own veggies, and have my trendy urban chicken coop (!). But my biggest guilt is giving up on cloth diapering. I can hardly talk about it without getting a nauseous feeling. However, with two babies, and so many diapers, I finally succumbed and bought disposable- I haven't looked back.
We do the best we can- that is all we can do.
I don't think, past the obvious steps, that it's always clear what the most sustainable path is. In that case, you follow your heart and soul. Which, I think, is what you do.
You are having more and more of an impact. Your blog extends the reach of your design esthetic and business ethics. You write true things. You show the beauty not only in the gorgeous divas of the flower world but also in the wild twine of the weedier growth. You do the hard work to source as much as your learning allows directly from your farm and its seasons. In doing all these things and sharing your work and your thoughts, you "bless unaware". And this is a gift indeed. Be kind to yourself, please.
i don't think it's possible for any of us to be pure. i try not to consume, i recycle and reuse. but i fly often! it's the worst thing you can do. i don't think it's about feeling guilty about sinning, but about offsetting, and being a successful example to others as you are.
i love that you posted this, i'd love it if you found us someone to help guide us through composting in L.A. - i don't do it here because it attracts so many critters - skunks, raccoons, coyotes (and it kills me). and yes, find other materials to use in your arrangements and make them fashionable. you have that power and advantage. definitely what you are doing with your farm is going to make you more local.
I live in this crazy California drought, my husband is in water law, and I'm from a west coast farming family. It's been around 70 degrees nearly every day of this winter; my husband warns me we may be rationing water by the end of the year, and well-- I'm really scared. It's never been so bad. Farmers with non-permanent crops (like lettuce and such) are deciding not even to plan this year. It's bad... really, really bad. And around town you see people watering their sidewalks, it is discouraging and makes you wonder if the little things we try to do are having any impact. But, we go on, doing what we can, hoping it is contributing some positivity and helping combat some of the wasteful practices all around. We try, that's the best we can do. On a more positive note, I just signed up for your Oregon Iris class, and I am beyond excited. Crazy how much water the rest of the country has while California is literally all dried up and a fire hazard waiting to happen. Still trying to conserve what I can and do my part!
You are doing more than most people and doing it beautifully. Thank you.
I had to laugh at you sinning...I am so used to compost all the kitchen scraps that every time I am at someone's house I want to collect theirs too!
I feel the same, I try my best but then I buy prosciutto at Costco that has been sent all the way from Italy, not to mention the espresso I can't live without and is also from Italy.
I tell myself that I am doing my very best and hopefully more and more people will realize that there no going back unless we all become part of the change.
For sure I am trying to change people's gardens by designing more sustainable ones, home to good bugs, birds and butterflies.
Have you heard about permaculture? That is what I believe will save the world.
teSometimes, I just pitch my peanut butter jars - guilt every single time. They are just such a pain to clean! So if you are hauling kitchen scraps, I will wash that jar before recycling...
I like your blog a lot, it's one of my favourites, but I'm still not gonna let you off the hook with this post. You write: I don't talk about this much, but I worry a lot for our changing climate, and think a lot about what I can do about it. How can I use Saipua and the farm to influence how people think about seasons or the natural world...to have more respect for it and change something about their lives to help it. - and then say that you will in spite of everything continue using the prettiest flowers from some other part of the planet for your decorations. Maybe comments are not supposed to be like this, one is supposed to be supportive, but however much I otherwise agree with you, on this point I cannot. Importing flowers or vegetables or fruit whether grown in hot houses or not are really up there with the seriously polluting other things - like fracking. I don't mean to be mean, but to me this is saying one thing and really doing something very different. Sorry.
Helen!
Comments are supposed to be exactly like this - constructive criticism, and I appreciate your two sense very much. It makes me think, reconsider, etc...which is so healthy I think.
But I'd like to hear your suggestions as to how I can have a florist shop in the dead of winter in zone 5 where the only local flowers growing are ranunculus and anemones -- locally grown with lots and lots of coal and propane to keep their greenhouse heated through our winters.
So that imported japanese ranunculus (brought here in the belly of a passenger flight bound for JFK regardless) likely has the same if not lower carbon footprint as the local flower.
To some extent, you have to choose your battles. If I choose not to import flowers, then do I also not buy an iphone (imported from china) or a tractor (many of the parts from Mexico)...
I choose instead to celebrate the most beautiful flowers of the world. Many of which are grown around here in warmer seasons, and many of which are grown very far away.
Thats my work - finding the best flowers, and arranging them. I use those arrangements as a flashy advertisement to get attention for my ulterior mission, if you will. Which is getting people more interested in flowers and planting flowers close to home.
Make sense? I'm determined to convince you I'm not a hypocrite :)
haha. In SF, throwing food scraps in the garbage makes you a REPUBLICAN.
Hi Sarah- I'm assuming for your large arrangements you are able to make them without Oasis foam. I'm curious how you make your table centerpieces that are long and rectangular without the use of foam. Chicken wire? Frogs? I'd love to know your tricks for foam-free arranging.
Being aware is so important, and as you write in your post, you think about these things and try very hard to do the best you can. It's true that we make a decision, say about recycling, and we form good habits by doing it as part of our dailey practices. For me, I sometimes laugh at myself, but I recycle even the tiniest scraps of paper, a constant by-product of the work I do. But, it feels right. We do what we can reasonably do.
(Just for your personal consideration: because you do influence your readers.) "We're in the business of beauty". That says it all; you're in the business, and business has never had anything to do with the environmental preservation. Beauty? Define it. Are imported flowers the only beauty you can find in January? Change what you do or don't apologize for it.
The problem is that we all still need to make a living, and need to make decisions to support our lives so that we may be able to pay our bills and taxes and eat and stay warm. That is the bottom line, and we can try our best to make the most sound environmental decision based on this. If a January wedding needs to be done with imported beauties, so be it. It will pay for the tractor and the local beauties grown all summer. I'm convinced that those folks on a soapbox about the environment must be independently wealty via other means, and it bears close examination where that money came from...
I've been thinking about this thread. I believe that we all want to make the best impact we can, while at the same time living the happiest life possible. It's hard to balance those two goals sometimes. But what isn't important, and this I know, is some abstract calculus of virtue. Living small, and making sure you attend to every necessary scrap - actual or metaphoric - might be virtuous, but it also might have absolutely no impact.
Whereas living larger, racking up a few need-to-confess deeds, but having a net plus impact, to my mind is more truly good.
Which would argue that Sarah needs to work to increase her scope and audience, as much as to scrutinize every load of her trash.
This is a really fascinating thread of comments. I'm currently in the depths of a 'nothing we do makes any difference so I'm going to get on planes and occasionally buy imported fruit and throw my sardine cans in the bin because washing them makes my hands smell like fish and fuck it, I'm not feeling guilty about it'. I should probably try harder.
tee - I use chickenwire for big arrangements. and the long glass cubes you see in this post we taped off the top of the vases to create a grid to secure stems. The only issue with this is that water sloshes out A LOT during transport, and you have to allow for lots of time onsite to correct stem placement, refill the vases, etc. it's worth it to not have to deal with foam or throwing foam out - which is the worst part of it for me.
THAT SAID, we do occasionally use foam. We use it when we have to; which is the rare wall installation or event where you have to make flowers on a flat surface (i.e. without a vessel to hold water.)
I second your thoughts on the flower market in January. I just did a bride's bouquet this weekend and it was depressing. Fortunately, she didn't have her heart set on anything specific so I just bought everything that looked beautiful which I'm not allowed to do in the spring/summer because I walk away with more flowers than I could possibly use.
Blimey, it's a tricky one this. Really interesting post, I've read it three times now to digest it. You're touching on a few issues here that we struggle with and talk about a lot with our little business. We believe in British and local, it's why we started growing our own flowers rather than buying them. I worked at a shop for years that sold THE MOST BEAUTIFUL imported blooms but I think ours are more beautiful still; imperfect, weird, smaller, but fragrant, special, LOVED. We hate the flower miles that get clocked up in the industry and are trying to be true to our business model and ethos, I write this on a month's break from 'work' while the garden sleeps under its winter blanket and I am relishing this chance to rest, think, plan and recuperate from the craziness of 'the season'. BUT (and here's the crux I suppose) we don't have a shop and those insistent customers or contracts that must be answered and satisfied, we don't have staff. We have no absolutely no idea whether our business idea will actually work and it scares me a little bit to write that here. It's out, arrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh! It might not financially work after all and my beautiful botanical world might tumble down around my ears in the end. We still have to supplement sometimes with imported blooms because we don't have enough land or money to grow enough, and the Scottish growing scene is pretty non existent which makes me sad but fires me up too. Sometimes the project or client demands that we have to use imports and we both have to grit our teeth and get on with it. To hear that work is scarce for Saipua in February is simultaneously sort of calming but also I find it bit overwhelming, shit if it can happen to you then what chance for the rest? But that's working for yourself and running a business and it's why we're wrestling with taking on staff even though we know we need to. It's really bloody scary. We were in Saudi a couple of weeks ago and went to lecture by a renowned scientist and thinker on feeding the world in 2050. Even she couldn't give us the answers but she did say that everything is eminently possible, change and positive results for the global community can be made, we can do it. It all comes down to choices and knowledge so it's up to all of us individually, in the end. You probably already do more than most, I don't think you need to be a saint and falling off the wagon every now and again is okay, in my opinion. We have chosen to be part of an industry that isn't particularly environmentally friendly and has never pretended to be, it's all about the pretty. Fickle, superficial, unashamedly brash really. Some of us (and more and more I think) are starting to make little changes that will help a lot in the long run. And that's it, ramblings over and off my soap box, I think that precisely made no sense! Natalya.
Perhaps I'm letting myself off the hook here, but your comment about using the prettiest flower you can find struck a cord. I was driving in my car the other day, probably talking out-loud to myself about whether or not I should feel guilty about using imported flowers. Truth is, I feel a little guilty, but should probably feel more. I also want to create the most beautiful arrangement I can, and while Seattle is great in the summer, it's pretty terrible in the winter. No NY flower market to speak of. No $8 ranunculus to buy even if I could stomach it. I also read one of those articles about how much energy goes into heating local greenhouses. What are the actual numbers, and does it make it okay, then? Is it a wash? I don't know... You're creating loads of beauty and inspiring people in the process. To be both better artists and better composters.
I think most anyone with any awareness of our environment and the ways in which we are affecting it face conundrums like these. Mine are not with flowers, I live in the remote community of Dawson City, Yukon, in the Canadian subarctic. My challenges this time year include greens, avocados, citrus, any fresh vegetable.
My partner and I are building a farm in the bush, we grown as much of our own food as we can in the summer, and buy locally what we can't. We hunt or trade for local game and meat. But by choosing to live here, I am choosing larger footprint than anyone closer to major shipping centers and with warmer food growing friendly climes.
Last week I brought home ridiculously bashed ancient near dead carnations in my groceries because I needed to feed my eyes some colour. The hunger for beautiful things, and green things, is a VERY real thing. And I don't have an answer for how we mitigate the cost of those appetites. But I firmly believe that an awareness of the costs, keeping it in our minds, and continuing discussion can only lead to positive changes and innovation.
In the meantime I will try to enjoy my spinach without guilt, and dream of late may when green will finally come back to us, and the fireweed and wild roses will begin to bud.
(Your blog is one of my floral craving coping mechanisms. Thank you for all the lookers!)
Ain't nothin' wrong with contributing to the economy (here, there, whatever). Beauty can't be confined so expand your concept of "local". if you can't find peace, at least you may find an armistice. X.
Thank you, Sarah, for responding to my question amidst all this heated debate. Your answer is the perfect microcosm to this debate that your post sparked. When absolutely necessary, and when all alternatives are exhausted, you utilize foam for installations that otherwise wouldn't be possible given the circumstances. Your answer applies to the process of buying flowers to create quality work, and the impossibility of making perfectly eco-superior choices when trying to make a living and adhere to quality standards you yourself have set. If anyone truly has a problem with that, he or she can stop appreciating beauty, quality and integrity in creative work. You seem like a strong enough lady to neither suffer fools nor bullshit, so don't let anyone's superior eco-rant cloud or question your integrity. You know you are doing a fine job, anyone who expects more is, to say the least, unrealistic.
Here's an idea...because you know I love ideas....what would the carbon offset look like if you transported your humanure back to farm instead of flushing in the city? You could make a rich compost and save water. Now that's an $8 ranunculus just for trying. I would truly think you were the most hard-core.
In my extraordinarily humble, inexpert opinion, the calculus for the environmental impact of our actions is not nearly so simple as some people in this thread make it out to be.
Moreover, most climate scientists will tell you readily that individual efforts are important, but policy-level crackdown only that can avert climate disaster.
So if raising awareness is your goal,I'd say that's reasonable. Maybe you can have a Saipua superPAC to lobby environmental policy :)
Seriously,though: perceived carbon footprint is often wrong. Local, like the propane greenhouses you point out, is not always greener (or healthier, or more chemical-free, or... )
You ask good questions---ones that resonate. Thanks. ---S
Hi Sarah -
I wonder, have you checked out the book Cradle to Cradle? It's kind of an interesting take on the issue of consumerism and the rampant destruction of our natural world: the proposition is, "what if we could make consumption good for the earth?"
I think you might enjoy reading this; I, for one, find the shift in perspective (from negative to positive) refreshing. I think it's much more productive to ask questions like, "how can I harness the power of Saipua to improve the environment?" than to say, "mea culpa, I threw the grapefruits in the garbage." (Incidentally, out here in Seattle, if they catch you repeatedly putting food waste in the garbage instead of the compost bin, they stop picking up your trash and/or you have to pay a fine before they'll start again!)
PS I finished that portrait of Nea in the hellebores. =) Thank you SO MUCH for letting me use your photo. I have to take it to a photographer and get images made, and then I'll send you a copy so you can see!
It's good to think about these things. You and Saipua are already doing the most powerful thing possible - you are an excellent example of awareness of our changing environment, and the everyday ways of right living necessary to mitigate future negative impact.
Another thing, Sarah - your writing about important issues of the day brings the message home, globally, in a way that sets all of us thinking with a bit more clarity. Keep writing.
I have preferences, local, organic, humane, fairtrade etc... But I am soooo exhausted by the rigidity and dogma that surrounds so much of it!
Yay for breaking free! We can do the best we can, as we can, and then let go of some of the judgement, and move on!
As usual sarah, you hit it!
xo Monica
Hi, we are a little flower company with a bit of a conscience problem too! and also a wilting motivation for the thankless task that is being 'environmentally sensitive'. We just won an award, its local to our county but I can not tell you how pleased we were, http://www.thegardengateflowercompany.co.uk/cornwall-sustainability-awards-green-shoots-new-business-2013/ I got all reflective (see above post? after grinning to myself like a loon for three hours) and came (conveniently)to the conclusion that we have the potential to lead the way in 'deciding' what is beautiful or not, so, what I think I am trying to say is you totally have the power! (Snap! ?? remember that one?), If Saipua say its beautiful then we will all follow in our own way I guess! Sort of paraphrasing but ... if it is too non-seasonal or from too far away, it look all 'out-of-place', (re:the light, the context, skin tones etc?). Anyway I sort of say it better in the link there (!), we are the biggest fans of your blogs, and beautiful pictures, (and I also put the veg scraps out for the bin men (yes we are British!!) because of the rats (don't tell the kids) and it IS SO SO liberating you are right! ;) xx
Sarah people listen to you - you have much of a bigger impact that you give yourself credit for. I'm sure that I do my best with regards to my carbon footprint.. you can't help but feel overwhelmed, though. Since working in a large office building part time I've developed anxiety towards packaging.. I've started to collect my collegues lunch containers (be it plastic or glass) to take home just to make sure they are recycled... i even go through the bins at the end of the day.. it's enough to make you go mad. And don't get me started on the nespresso craze..
Hi there,
Been following you for a couple of months now and love all that you create.would so love to take one of your classes, but sadly I am in Florida. So I was wondering if you might be putting together an ONLINE workshop in the future?
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I love reading your posts, and your honesty. And your flower arrangements are f-ing amazing.
Being a florist is not a sustainable practice. Doesn't matter if you compost. Just sayin'.
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OH MY GOD!!! A FEAST FOR THE EYES AND SOUL!!! YOU ARE SO TALENTED!!!THANK YOU!!!
Fantastic! Good job for the flower arrangements.
As a newbie florist, this blog has shed light on a lot of things I did not know about. God bless you !
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