The Flower Farming Intensive workshop is a one, two or three day workshop, delivered by flower farmer Georgie Newbery at Common Farm Flowers between Bruton and Wincanton in Somerset, which ultimately aims to help you grow your flower farming business.
These days can be booked individually, or book all three to make up our full Flower Farming Intensive Workshop for £900. You can book the full three day workshop here.
Members of our YouTube Club receive a 10% booking on all website bookings. Find out more about the club here.
Day one: land management and growing practice for a flower and foliage crop you can rely on
After a little time spent getting to know one another we will set off out into the fields here at Common Farm Flowers and analyse what is good and bad about the layout and bed management. In considering the ‘why’ of our operations here we can understand the ‘how’ and apply the principles to your growing space. We look at costs, time management, soil health, biodiversity, and see how all of these contribute to flower and foliage growth and therefore possible sales.
When growing flowers for sale, your physical time spent in the fields, and the costs of growing flowers, both have a huge impact on potential sales and ultimate profit. This is a day which can be transformational to both the quantity and quality of the crop you grow, but also dramatically cut the time you spend in the field and so make it possible for you to sell more.
This workshop is taught by Flower Farmer and Florist Georgie Newbery of Common Farm Flowers. Georgie has a very straightforward style, and after many years of growing, harvesting and selling flowers for her online flower delivery service, supplying flowers for up to sixty weddings and events a year, and growing more for the many talks, demos and workshops she delivers, her knowledge and know how are invaluable to people who want to earn their living growing flowers for sale. Since 2010 when Georgie started selling sweet peas in small bunches from a barrow at the front of the house, the British flowers movement has exploded onto the scene. Georgie believes strongly in sharing all she knows because then we’ll all be better flower farmers, and the British flowers movement will go from strength to strength.
Click here for details of Day Two.
Click here for details of Day Three.
Suitable for:
People who’ve some experience of growing flowers for sale, but who want to refine their processes, strategise to optimise their time and their crop growing, make more of their land, and make sure they are taking advantage of many different possibilities for earning which flower farming offers.
Here's what some recent students had to say about this workshop:
"Just completed the Flower Farming Intensive Workshop. Georgie's wealth of knowledge and experience made the workshop invaluable. I am beginning my flower farming journey, but my fellow 'learners' have developed businesses and Georgie encompassed our, very diverse, knowledge with consummate aplomb. I left feeling empowered with much food for thought... onwards and upwards!!"
"Brilliant 3 days at the farm with the team visiting and revisiting the nuts & bolts of running a real flower farming and artisan floristry business. Good pace, enormous amounts of practical information shared and the right amount of ‘doing’ to bring home key points on organisation & budgeting of both time and resources. Plenty of individual inspiration & support. Excellent number of students in group & what a lovely bunch! Delicious no faff lunches from a local farm shop. Not my first workshop and likely not my last."
Why do a workshop with Common Farm Flowers?
Georgie Newbery has been building her small business growing flowers for sale and creating floristry with material she’s grown on the farm since 2010. She is a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Floristry Judge, RHS dahlia trials committee member, and Garden Media Guild New Talent Award Judge.
Georgie does not see other flower farmers and florists as competition, but rather as potential colleagues and collaborators. Georgie knows that it is in her interest to teach her students everything she knows. And she spends a great deal of time talking to other flower farmers and small business owners and learning as much as she can around the subject of running small businesses and farming gardens and small acreage.
There are no secrets held back from you at a Common Farm Flowers workshop.
Information about all our workshops at the farm:
You are welcome to join our workshops whether you grow for pleasure or profit, although some workshops will be more suited to flower farmers or small business owners. This should always be clear in the workshop description.
Full day workshops at the farm generally take place between 10am and 3pm.
Workshop numbers are generally restricted to a maximum of 10 students.
The cost of a full day workshop includes lunch at a local farm shop. It is important that you please advise us of any food allergies / intolerances / other preferences at the time of booking. Please bring any mid morning / afternoon snacks you might like.
Workshops at Common Farm Flowers take place in our studio barn, as well as out on the farm where there is no cover. Please wear clothes suitable for the weather (eg layers, waterproof clothes) and bring shoes / boots that are designed to walk on rough, grassy paths. Even on a sunny day flip flops and sandals aren’t advised and we suggest long trousers where possible due to the risk of ticks, bites and stings. A sun hat and sun protection are also advised, as we can’t always stand in the shade.
We will be in touch a few days before the workshop with your joining instructions. This email will come from nicola@commonfarmflowers.com. If you’ve not heard from Nicola 48 hours before the session takes place please email nicola@commonfarmflowers.com but do please first check your junk / spam items and make sure you are checking the inbox of the email address you used to book your place.
Please familiarise yourself with our terms and conditions in case you need to cancel your workshop place.
Nearby Bruton and Wincanton are full of lovely places to stay to suit every budget. See our links page for good ideas or get in touch and we will do our best to help. A three day workshop at Common Farm Flowers can be made into a learning holiday, which will send you off at the end of your stay inspired and enabled as well as having had a wonderful time in this beautiful corner of Somerset.
