project leader
Sarah P
location
Woodbridge, Detroit
latest update rss
We did it!

the project

Fresh Cut Detroit is a flower farm in the city of Detroit, growing 150 varieties of blooms so that each week of the season, something new is reaching its peak beauty & bounty. 

In 2017 the farm is focusing on improving efficiency and output. Our current fundraising campaign is aimed towards buying a high quality, walk-behind tractor. This essential tool will increase our productive capacity by allowing us to "double-crop," or plant the same bed with two different salable crops during the same season. The tractor and accompanying tools will support our ecological farming practices, improving the health & resiliency of our land. In our unique urban setting, the footprint of our farm is limited - so we must maximize our care & use of the space we have!

We maintain a beautiful and inspiring farm on 1/4 acre of land on the edge of the residential neighborhood Woodbridge, across the street from Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men and a neighborhood basketball court. We host youth visits from Detroit groups at no cost throughout the season, as well as visits from adults studying gardening and urban agriculture. Fresh Cut is growing Detroit producer's share of the flower market by education, example, purchasing from other local flower farmers, and fostering connections between producers & customers.

Fresh Cut Detroit Flower Farm provides customers with the opportunity to buy beautiful flowers that bring joy and vitality to their celebrations, and strengthen local ecology and economy. We hire skilled labor from the local urban agriculture community, especially those people who have completed training programs through Keep Growing Detroit, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, and Earthworks Urban Farm.

Farmer Sarah Pappas is a proud and active member of the Garden Resource Program, the Grown in Detroit cooperative, and the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Pappas is a graduate of the UC-Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, the Keep Growing Detroit Urban Farmer Training Program, and BUILD Institute. Fresh Cut has received support through NEIdeas, Kiva, Detroit SOUP, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

the steps

1. Purchase tractor, tiller, and other cultivation attachments.

2. Assemble equipment.

3. Start tilling!

 

why we're doing it

In 2017 Fresh Cut is building infrastructure & improving efficiency, so that we can continue to grow and expand in years to come. We are leading the way for more local growers to enter the lucrative and rewarding world of cut flower production through individual relationships & through the Cut Flower Working Group of Grown in Detroit. We work across industry sectors to increase Detroiter’s share of the seasonal cut flower market, encouraging regional and local flower farmers, wholesale purchasers, and conventional florists to meet and collaborate.

Conversation

I love your Flower Farm and the workshop I attended last year. You shared with us names of best reference manuals & books to order flowers & seeds from. Can you provide me a short list of a few. I recall that the book/magazines offered valuble information on growing a flower farm

budget

Disbursed budget (4.20.17):

Funds raised will be used as the 3.21.17 budget describes. The extra $29.72 will be used to pay for gas for travel to & from the spot where we are purchasing the tiller from, and if there's any left after that I will put it towards staff time working on assembling the tiller for the first time.



RAISED = $4,798.00
 less ioby Platform Fee  $35.00
less ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $138.73
TOTAL TO DISBURSE = $4,624.27

Updated budget (as of 3.21.17):

1. BCS 732 Tractor w/ Electric Start. Comes with one free quick hitch & one tractor bushing and one tang for each PTO-driven attachment purchased at same time.: $3820

This tractor will improve capacity greatly. A limiting factor in our productivity currently is the labor hours it takes to clear, till, and prep a bed for replanting. In 2016 we rarely replanted a bed, even when its productivity was done early enough that we would have been able to get a second salable crop from the same square footage. Double-cropping will dramatically increase our output and sales. Double-cropping will make heavy use of sunflowers, among other crops. They have quick and predictable days to harvest, thrive in many soil conditions, and have a predictable and steady market appeal for the later half of the season. The tractor will also improve our ability to use cover crops – both quick rounds of buckwheat, and slower fall-planted covers – by improving our bed prep time dramatically.

2. BCS Rear-tine tiller 30”: $775

The tractor needs a cultivation implementation in order to do the bed-prepping work described above that will increase our productivity & output. The rear-tine tiller is a versatile choice that will only require a quick final rake by hand in order to be ready for planting. The rear-tin tiller will likely often be used twice, approximately 1 week apart, for initial and then finish tilling.

Total: $4595



Project Subtotal =  $4,595
ioby Platform Fee  $35
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $138
Total to Raise on ioby = $4,768

 

Original budget:

1. BCS 732 Tractor w/ Electric Start. Comes with one free quick hitch & one tractor bushing and one tang for each PTO-driven attachment purchased at same time.: $3820

This tractor will improve capacity greatly. A limiting factor in our productivity currently is the labor hours it takes to clear, till, and prep a bed for replanting. In 2016 we rarely replanted a bed, even when its productivity was done early enough that we would have been able to get a second salable crop from the same square footage. Double-cropping will dramatically increase our output and sales. Double-cropping will make heavy use of sunflowers, among other crops. They have quick and predictable days to harvest, thrive in many soil conditions, and have a predictable and steady market appeal for the later half of the season. The tractor will also improve our ability to use cover crops – both quick rounds of buckwheat, and slower fall-planted covers – by improving our bed prep time dramatically.

2. BCS Rear-tine tiller 30”: $775

The tractor needs a cultivation implementation in order to do the bed-prepping work described above that will increase our productivity & output. The rear-tine tiller is a versatile choice that will only require a quick final rake by hand in order to be ready for planting. The rear-tin tiller will likely often be used twice, approximately 1 week apart, for initial and then finish tilling.

3. V-Cultivator: $349

Passive cultivation (without mechanical blades) is an important part of conserving soil health while killing weeds. The v-cultivator can weed up to 5 rows in one bed at a time; increasing the success of each of our plantings. This will contribute to weed control and soil health each season and in the long run.

4. Adjustable Tool Carrier: $132

This is a necessary accessory to support the v-cultivator.

5. Wheel Weights 8” tires: $290

This is a necessary accessory to support the v-cultivator.

6. Hiller/Furrower: $99

The hiller-furrower is an excellent second cultivator, to follow the v-cultivator when the plants have gotten bigger. It disrupts weeds and throws soil against the base of the plant to kill smaller weeds. Like the v-cultivator, it is good for soil health long-term. This will especially help control weeds around larger, wider-spaced plants like dahlias.

7. Snow Blade: $799

The snow blade will allow us to maintain our x# of sidewalk around the farm and bring extra income in by plowing for neighbors.

Total: $6264



Project Subtotal =  $6,264
ioby Platform Fee  $35
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $188
Total to Raise on ioby = $6,487

 

updates

We did it!

Hooray! The campaign closed, and we got within $130 of our goal. That's a success, in my book!

We'll be purchasing our tractor & tiller.

 

To follow Fresh Cut Detroit into the future, join us on the web, facebook & instagram!

 

Thank you so much for your support.

Past Halfway!

THANK YOU to today's donors, who brought us over the 50% mark!

 

ASK ME ABOUT MY INFRASTRUCTURE!

In a recent blog post, I put the tiller into context with the other infrastructure investments we're making on the farm this year:

 

This wind, folks! We had 60 MPH winds on Wednesday.

So... it tore the plastic right off the hoophouse frame. 

But we're still standing, and no one is hurt.

It's an invitation to re-assess priorities...Priorities are being assessed in terms of:

1.) FISCAL SOLVENCY & THRIVING!

2.) Long-term security

sub-section: security viewed on a family level, biological level, collectivist human level, etc....

I've been wanting to share with the world where we're at in terms of our (relatively) huge infrastructure investments for 2017.

1.) Rain catchment

This is supported by the money we received from NEIdeas in 2016... we will have storage for approximately 2250 gallons of water at a time, which, together with an average year's rainfall, will diminish our need for city water by approximately (conservatively) 25%.

Both our home and the hoophouse will have two 500-gallon tanks... this will be the basis for an application for deferral of drainage fees from DWSD.

We'll pull the new plastic for the hoophouse, and install the rain catchment gutters & tanks on it in summer of this year.

2.) Drip irrigation

Also supported by the NEIdeas money, drip irrigation is a water-saving and time-efficient way to water crops. This is a system I've had extensive experience with in my time at the CASFS, Poughkeepsie Farm Project, and the Plum Street Market Garden. Been there, done that, I'm ready to order. They'll be here for planting time (it's best to lay your drip irrigation at the same time that you plant).

3.) Tillage equipment

You might've seen Fresh Cut's fundraising campaign floating around out there... we were awarded a $3000 grant through Eastern Market, but we need to raise the remaining balance to receive that grant as matching funds.

This high quality walk-behind tiller will be perfect for quick-prepping our beds after they're cleared. At least 20% of the beds will get to be double-cropped in a single season, a move which will boost our revenue by at least a couple thousand dollars.

What used to take us days will take us hours.

Having tillage equipment on the farm also invites us to invest in the soil more through cover cropping. We'll be making prodigious use of quick cover crop Buckwheat, to suppress weeds and build organic nitrogenous material in the soil between cash crops. We'll also be introducing red clover as a living pathway in our perennial planting areas (inside the fence, south of the hoophouse).

4.) Outbuilding & cooler!

So, we'll get this big beautiful tiller, but where will we store it? And, we'll grow more flowers than ever before, but where will we keep them fresh until they're delivered to their customers?

We're going to build a big beautiful garage on-site! 20' long, half of it will be built out as a cooler using the wonderful low-tech cool-bot system.

Adjacent to that, we will build a roof over an additional 10' of harvest & staging area! We will have a place out of the wind & rain to clean flowers, make bouquets, & more... And the door to the cooler will be literally inside of this area. I can't even believe it.

5.) Passive Perennial Prep

All these infrastructure investments point the way towards our footprint - what will it look like into the future?

For instance, the south-facing wall of the outbuilding provides an excellent microclimate for introducing fruit trees. The area between that and the existing apple tree (and dead apple tree) will someday be home to a gorgeous perennial area.

For now, we will use sheet mulching and low-impact planting to get that site ready to plant in the next couple years. This goes for the area alongside the alley as well.

Not-so-passive perennial prep includes a push to get the woodlot to the north-east of us cleaned up this year, hopefully in conjunction with some community events. We've already planted hellebores in the rotted wood of that area, and would love to begin to have a more reciprocal relationship with that little stretch of pheasant habitat & wild plants.

6.) Administrative Improvements!

Hoo boy! Assistant Manager Shelbie returned to the farm this week, and I have to say we are COOKING! She was very proud of the plans I'd made over the winter. We're prepping on-boarding & ongoing training for new crew members, chores & predictable responsibility lists to keep things humming, and more.

We are more organized than ever, and that means that we have room to finally introduce some of the practices that we've been introduced to in other positive settings over the years... intentional check-ins, recipes for success, and more!

So... if you've read this far, thanks. When you visit the farm later on this year,

ASK ME ABOUT MY INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS!

Thank You Donors!

A big thank you to all the donors who've supported our project so far.

One that we'd like to highlight is Andy Arthur, Flower Buyer at Mayesh. 

Mayesh is a big flower wholesaler that works with product from around the world - and Andy has welcomed Fresh Cut's blooms into their cooler whenever they're available. Even though they're used to dealing with massive international shipments, Andy's excitement for locally grown flowers drives him to support Fresh Cut's growth.

Thanks, Andy! Thanks, Mayesh! We look forward to using this tiller to growing many more blooms!

 

Video: Learn about the tractor you're helping us purchase..

Week 8 on the Farm... not so cold, not so sleepy!

Week 8 usually means snow on the ground and no thought of outdoor work.... not this year! I've been re-snugging our biennial babies back into the ground after frost & thaw popped them up. I even had to water them to help settle the roots down, since the leaves were reaching upward to all this sun we've been having.

Even though it's warm now, we know that we're likely to have at least one more hard frost before the end of the winter. As such, I'm getting all the materials on hand that I'll need to protect our tender crops: row cover, hoops to support it, and bags of soil to weigh it down.

The yarrow, campanula, aquilegia, foxglove, rudbeckia, and delphinium that we planted last fall are glad to get all this TLC, and will stretching up and blooming before we know it!

They'll be done blooming by early July, then thanks to the new tiller you're helping us to purchase, we'll be able to clear & re-plant lickety-split to get another cash crop in that bed!

 

Thanks for your support helping us to TILL MORE, GROW MORE!

 

-Sarah

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Joshua B.
  • *D*A*N*A* n *J*U*S*T*I*N*
  • Alana Alpert
  • Jennifer K.
  • Adam F
  • Annemarie Altman
  • michele schurman
  • steve o.
  • Anonymous
  • Chloe Mace
  • Sara Gray
  • Nancy and Ted Pappas
  • Logan <3
  • Andrew Kelley
  • Eric Slatkin
  • Deirdre H.
  • Anna & Loren
  • Justin Long
  • Alison Brown Chapman
  • Joshua M.
  • Tom and Barbara Kohler
  • Benjamin F.
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous
  • Arlene Frank
  • Andy Arthur/ MAYESH
  • kylayeoman
  • anna springer
  • Haley L.
  • Anonymous
  • Fred & Patricia Wildes
  • Barbie & Ken
  • Claudia & David Runge
  • David Contorer
  • Sky