451- Growing Cut Flowers & More for a Farmer's Market with Sarah Shuman
The Beginner's Garden with Jill McSheehy
Jill McSheehy
4.7 • 830 Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2025
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Struggling to figure out how to turn your love of gardening into something you can share—or even sell? In this episode, Sarah walks us through how she built a thriving cut flower business for her local farmers market. You'll hear the practical steps she took, what she wishes she knew sooner, and how she manages growing for both beauty and profit. If you've wondered whether you could do something similar, this conversation gives you hope and a clear starting point.
free download: Garden Cheat Sheet
A simple, step-by-step starter plan to help you begin your garden with confidence.
https://journeywithjill.net/gardening/when-to-plant/
Key Takeaways
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Why selling flowers can be more approachable than selling vegetables
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How Sarah planned her first year—and what she'd change
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The importance of bloom times, succession planting, and crop selection
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How working with a partner shaped the business
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What she's learned from customers and community at the farmers market
Chapters
00:00 – Why Sarah chose cut flowers
04:30 – Planning the first flower season
06:20 – Bloom timing and succession basics
10:40 – Overwintering and cool-season flowers
13:40 – Direct sowing vs. plugs
17:30 – Working with a business partner
21:05 – What keeps her motivated
22:50 – The hardest parts of flower farming
25:00 – Planning mistakes in year one
27:45 – Profitable vs. low-profit crops
36:30 – Using plant starts to build early customers
39:10 – Adding microgreens for income
43:40 – What farmers markets taught her about people
47:00 – How to get started selling at a market
Resource Links
Free Garden Cheat Sheet: https://journeywithjill.net/gardening/when-to-plant/
Friday Emails (newsletter): https://journeywithjill.net/gardensignup
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/JourneywithjillNet/videos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeginnersgarden/
Podcast Archive: https://journeywithjill.net/the-beginners-garden-podcast/
Soft Paid Mention:
Complete Garden Planner – A simple system to plan and track your season.
https://shop.journeywithjill.net/
Disclaimer
Gardening advice shared in this podcast is based on my own experience in Zone 8a (Arkansas) and from the feedback I receive from others in different gardening contexts. Your results may differ depending on your location, climate, and growing conditions. Always check your local extension service or trusted resources for region-specific guidance. Some links may be affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, hey there and welcome back to the Beginners Garden podcast. I have a really fun and special episode for you today. |
| 0:06.6 | We're going to be talking about growing cut flowers as a side hustle or growing whatever you would like to grow for the purpose of selling. |
| 0:17.8 | For this, I am bringing on my assistant, Sarah Schumann. Many of you guys are already |
| 0:22.7 | familiar with Sarah. She has actually worked with me here for a few years. Currently, she is the |
| 0:28.3 | podcast manager. So all the podcasts that you hear, she has had a hand in. But one thing that Sarah |
| 0:35.5 | started doing a few years ago is she and her sister-in-law started growing cut flowers to take to their local farmers market. |
| 0:43.1 | And I have to tell you, I was shocked because this lady wears so many hats. |
| 0:49.5 | She is a wife. |
| 0:50.4 | She is a mom. |
| 0:51.7 | She works part-time for me now. |
| 0:53.7 | And she also works as a faculty member at a local university. And is a mom. She works part time for me now, and she also works as a faculty member at a |
| 0:56.5 | local university. And oh yeah, she's going to become a flower farmer too. I swear, I wish I had her |
| 1:01.7 | energy and her drive, but I learned so much from her when I talked to her today. The reason I wanted |
| 1:08.1 | to bring her on is because I know that many of you have told me that you |
| 1:12.2 | want to grow more flowers. And I feel like who better to learn many of the things that we need |
| 1:18.3 | to know than someone who does it for a living? She's going to talk about how she plans what flowers |
| 1:24.2 | she grows and some details of how her schedule works to be able to have |
| 1:30.2 | flowers in bloom all year. But she's also going to talk about some other things that she's |
| 1:35.0 | done at the farmer's market that I found really fascinating and very interesting. Regardless of |
| 1:41.9 | if flowers are on your radar or not, I feel like you're going to |
| 1:45.0 | love this conversation and you're going to learn something as you're sitting back here in |
| 1:49.1 | December and you're thinking and you're dreaming of next season. And what better to think about |
... |
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