[upbeat folksy music]
- Inga: The summer months have also been kind to Maggie,
and new crops of flowers are in full bloom.
[birds chirping]
You have so many beautiful flowers here,
and I'm sure it's like hard to choose,
but do you have a favorite?
- So my favorite flower is always the one that's blooming.
So in the springtime it might be tulips.
In the summertime, it could be lupine or zinnias.
In the fall, it might be lisianthus or eucalyptus.
It just changes a lot.
- Inga: That's spoken like a true farmer.
So what are some of those differences
between buying those store-bought flowers
at the grocery store,
where they're coming from so far away,
and then buying from a local grower?
- In the United States right now,
about 70% of the flowers sold in the United States
are imported, primarily from Central and South America,
but really from all over the world,
and of that small percentage grown here,
most are grown in California, about 70% to 80%.
And you think about all the miles
that it took for them to get from halfway around the world
into your home.
You're not able to have that connection
with the farmer that grew it,
or to even be able to ask the questions
of how it was grown and the story behind it.
So local flowers is a really small, but growing market.
- Inga: The flowers seem to be more interesting too.
What I see at farmers markets or here,
it just seems like the flowers are more interesting
and there's more of a variety.
- Yeah, absolutely.
You know, a lot of the flowers that are grown commercially
and shipped from abroad, you know,
they're bred for their ability to be shipped
and to survive that process, whereas with local flowers,
and what really makes them special,
is I can choose varieties that smell amazing,
that you can really stick your nose into and enjoy that,
that are gonna have all the colors and textures
and all the things that you might not necessarily get
from flowers that come from halfway around the world,
we can get with local flowers.
- It must be so meaningful for you
to be out here working with the flowers.
What is that passion like for you to be a farmer?
- It's interesting, especially,
you know, here we're talking, it's the beginning of July.
It's a time when you're a farmer,
life moves very, very fast.
And I always have to remind myself
to take some moments to move a little bit slower
and to just take a look around and really take it in
and be reminded that I am surrounded by beauty.
And I'm very lucky to have that in my life every day.
And that I can provide beauty and kind of a place of peace
for myself and for other people,
I can provide a habitat for pollinators.
There's just so much beauty that comes with growing flowers
that I just appreciate more as time goes by.
- This has been amazing getting to be here
and getting to hang out with you.
Prairie Farm seems to be just a wonderful place to visit.
And I'm so happy that I've had the chance to visit.
- Yeah, I'm so glad that you came out.