The Beginning

The very beginning of Whippet & Willow Flower Farm.

Being in the fortunate position of having use of this land, we knew we wanted to use it to build something special. It probably seemed to many that my idea for a cut flower farm came from nowhere. I have no experience from my working life and no qualifications to support me with it. But it gives me comfort knowing I’m not alone in this. I’ve now listened to so many interviews with successful flower farmers who have come from all different professions and walks of life. There seems to be no single route into flower farming, which is reassuring when you’re starting completely from scratch.

But from the moment we decided to go ahead with the idea, I knew it was the right thing to do. I’ve always said I’ve never known what i want to be when i grow up and that hadn’t changed even at 37! I’m beginning to realise that perhaps this is it! I feel so excited and passionate about it and I haven’t stopped day dreaming about the possibilities for the future.

I know it’s going to be hard, especially in these early years while I'm finding my feet. I’ll make mistakes- probably lots of them- and there will undoubtedly be many failures.

But actually I think that’s ok. there’s something quite exciting about learning as i go.

The flower farm is only one part of the life we want to build on this land. We already spend so much time here and as a family we all love being here, it feels special almost like a foreshadowing of what's to come.

Right now there is still so much to do and so much we don’t know. But we have the land, we have the idea and we have plenty of dreams.

I cant wait to see what we can build together.