2026 Flower Farm

I am leasing a small plot of land from a local Bainbridge Island farm in 2026 to make my flower farm dreams a reality! This is a huge learning opportunity for me and I am so excited to share each step of the process with all of you.

Step One: Secure the land lease – I approached a local farm that I have been volunteering at for the past several years in mid-February. I shared my flower farm dreams & aspirations and asked if she had a small plot I could lease for Spring & Summer 2026. Thankfully she said yes!

Step Two: Plan the flower farm plot. It was a lot of fun to look through seed catalogs and pick out my seeds for the planting season. All of my seeds came from Farmhouse Flower Farm on Camano Island & Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Missouri.

Step Three: Take a soil sample and send it in for analysis (I sent my sample to A&L Western Laboratories in Portland, Oregon for $38). The key to a healthy prosperous garden is healthy soil. Agronomy is the study of crop and soil science and my Dad is an agronomist (aka “crop doctor”) so I sent the soil sample results to him. Amazingly the soil was perfect and didn’t need any amendments. If you need to add amendments it is recommended to let the soil rest for two weeks before planting – this will allow the fertilizer and/or manure time to break down and become incorporated into the soil. With nutrient rich soil your plants will supply you with a bountiful harvest (or at least that’s the goal)!

Step Four: When you are 1-2 weeks out from planting till & then till again 10 days later to keep weeds down and to prepare the soil for planting.

Step Five: Set up your irrigation. We set up three lines of t-tape irrigation to run the length of the field (220 ft. long). The t-tape has small holes every 8″ or so and will slowly water the field. I learned how to fix breaks in the line and how to set up the irrigation system.

Step Six: Prepare your weed mat. I purchased a weed mat the exact dimensions of my plot – 220 ft. long x 4 ft wide. I had my husband make a wooden template to burn holes in the weed mat and then over the course of several days I burned the holes using a propane torch. You should also consider spray painting your landscape staples a bright color so they don’t get lost in the soil.

Step Seven: Lay your weed mat. This is where I learned my most valuable lesson so far. You need a lot of big long landscape staples and weight to hold down your weed mat otherwise it will blow away if there are high winds. I had to replant the entire field when this happened after my first planting.

Step Eight: Plant the field! I used some soil block starts I started 6 weeks earlier but a majority of the field is direct sow. I planted the field on May 20th – my beloved Mom’s birthday who passed in 2020. It was the perfect way to spend the day thinking of her, she inspired my love of flowers. The list of flowers I planted is below…

Step Nine: Water, water, and then water some more! And pray for rain to nourish your seedlings. This is the step I’m on right now – time will tell what germinates and grows. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the growing season!

Flower Farm Varieties for 2026 from the Farmhouse Flower Farm;
Sweet Pea – Granny’s Garden Mix × 1 – planted in our home garden
Yarrow – Summer Pastels × 1- planted in our home garden
Sweet Pea – Blushing Bride Mix × 1- planted in our home garden
Sweet Pea – Clotted Cream × 1- planted in our home garden
Snapdragon – Avignon Silver × 1
Silene – Blushing Lanterns × 1
Queen Anne’s Lace – Queen of Africa × 1
Poor Man’s Orchid – Angel’s Wings Mix × 1
Nigella – Albion Green Pod × 1
Monarda Mix × 1
Lupine – White Javelin × 1- planted in our home garden
Didiscus – Lacy Pink × 1
Cosmos – Apricotta × 1
Clary Sage – White Swan × 1
Bupleurum – Griffithi × 1
Apple of Peru × 1