Sharing the Beauty of Flowers - The Carillon Article
Reposted from GREG VANDERMEULEN article for The Carillon, published in print August 19, 2021
Partial screenshot of the digital version of the article - full version can be access at www.thecarillon.com
Textiles that have been dyed with local flowers hang on the clothesline at Masagana Flower Farm.
It’s not exactly what comes to mind when one thinks of a farm. There are no rolling waves of wheat stretching to the horizon, no animals filling pasture, and no large tractors parked nearby.
The growing space is measured in square feet, not acres, but that takes nothing away from Masagana Flower Farm.
Located near La Broquerie, the farm has made an impact by growing and selling cut flowers, and introducing farm tours and a dyeing process using the locally grown flowers. Masagana is a Tagalog word for abundant, plentiful, and prosperous.
Lourdes Still, who owns the growing farm with her husband Kevin, admits it’s still a work in progress.
The lawn on the west-facing prairie acreage is slowly disappearing, as a sea of flowers replace it. A silage tarp is used to kill off the grass, allowing them to avoid tilling to turn lawn into a good base for flowers.
But Lourdes’ story began a long way from the rural Manitoba acreage she now calls home.
A former urban dweller, Lourdes came to Canada from the Philippines in 2009. She came equipped with a degree enabling her to work as a dietician, something she planned to do in Manitoba’s healthcare system.
But the time required to recertify in Canada, coupled with a need to financially support family in the Philippines saw her take a different path.
This path saw her enter the world of flowers, although still a long way from the job she holds now.
Lourdes said she landed a job as a flower buyer for a large wholesale company. That meant she purchased flowers from South America, both Columbia and Ecuador. Those flowers were flown to Miami, Florida, trucked to Winnipeg and distributed across western Canada from there.
She admits she had never thought of being a flower buyer, and in fact had no experience when she began. “They were willing to train whoever filled the position,” she said.
While in the position, she became aware of Manitoba flower farms, which purchased some flowers wholesale to supplement what they grew locally.
“I got intrigued,” she admitted. “Flower farms in Manitoba? How is that possible?”
Feeling the urge to move on from the corporate culture she began the Master Gardener- in-Training program with the University of Saskatchewan and Floret Farm’s Online Workshop, a course designed for small scale, high intensity flower farming on two acres or less.
She met her future husband in 2016, and planted her first flowers shortly thereafter, and the rest they say is history.
“At first I just grew a few rows,” she said. “I was hooked right away.”
Those early days were more about experimentation, without a plan to sell, but that soon changed.
Lourdes says she’s currently partnering with another flower grower who grows different varieties so they can sell their product together.
While the operation isn’t large, Lourdes uses her resources wisely, starting all of her estimated 20 varieties of flowers from seed.
A small shop features a chrome shelf, heat mat, and shop light to help get things started, and a small green house also comes into play.
Instead of using plastic, Lourdes creates soil blocks. She can fit 360 into a standard tray, and estimates she planted 10,000 seeds this year. Not all of those make it into the ground however, as some simply don’t germinate.
Growing the flowers is only one step. Finding a way to market them has proven to offer many possibilities.
In 2018, Lourdes said the business was registered and she moved to the acreage. She began working part time at a different flower farm and started selling bouquets and supplying weddings.
“It was still a mix of imported flowers and whatever I’ve grown myself, and also from other flower farms,” she said.
In 2020, she began selling flowers through a subscription, using the CSA model many vegetable growers have used. She also added garden tours, something that allows her to share the beauty and fuels her desire to continue.
“I like showing people what we’re able to grow and it’s also a good reminder for me,” she said. “You can lose sight of what you enjoy about doing it, so when people come in for garden tours I do watch their facial expressions because I feed off that.”
“They remind me of the wonder that I’ve experienced before I decided to make it a business,” she said.
Lourdes added another use for her flowers in the form of dyeing. She said the idea came about after discovered a local farm that dyed their own yarn, created from animals on their farm. Combined with a concern about the waste that occurs in the flower industry, adding dye to her services seemed like a good plan.
“A lot of flowers go to compost and I was feeling bad about it,” she said. “It didn’t sit well with me.”
To minimize waste, Lourdes said she now requires her flowers to meet two of three criteria. They must be good fresh cut flowers, must dry well and must be a natural dye source.
She markets the dyed textiles as the Tinta collection, which includes textile accessories tinged with prairie grown flowers and natural dyes. They include silk scarves, cotton bandannas, as well as shawls and other items.
The process is simple. Lourdes said she will sprinkle fresh or dried flowers on the fabric and roll it into a bundle. The bundle is then simmered in water for 20 minutes before it is done.
Flowers like Indigo, Tickseed, Pincushion and Marigold are commonly used, and Lourdes said it’s changed her perspective on the flowers themselves.
“I never cared for marigolds in the past, but then when I learned about it as a dye flower, the colours that come out of it, I’m obsessed with it now.”
Lourdes has also brought all the different aspects together through garden tours that will allow guests to choose flowers and dye a piece of clothing.
“It’s an immersive experience and you go home with a tangible memory of that,” she said.
A DIY kit is also being developed, which will allow guests to try the same process at home.
Lourdes said she encourages people to experiment in their own space, no matter how limited.
“Growing joy and creating magic is right at our fingertips,” she said. “When (people) come here or see my story I hope they will be inspired even if they only have their small backyard.”
To learn more go to masaganaflowerfarm. com.
Correction in the article: Indigo is not a flower. It's the source of blue pigment that comes from the leaves through aqueous pigment extraction.
The transfer of floral dyes on natural fibers may sound "simple" but it involves steps to prep the textile before dyeing. Marigold, tickseed and pincushion (scabiosa) are only three of the flowers I cultivated this year to use in natural dyeing. There are many more to mention but these three are some of the reliable pigment sources in terms of washfastness and lightfastness.