Why Buy Local Flowers?
As flower season starts to wake up again here in New Brunswick, I’m reminded how special local flowers really are. And not just because they’re beautiful but because local flowers offer something different.
When you bring home a bouquet, most people do not really think about where those flowers came from. And honestly, before I started flower farming, I didn’t either.
A lot of flowers sold in grocery stores and big retailers have travelled thousands of kilometres before they ever make it into a vase. They spend days in coolers, warehouses, trucks, and planes before finally arriving at a store shelf.
Local flowers are a little different.
At Broad Harvest Flowers, every stem is planted, harvested, and arranged by hand right here on our little farm.
There are so many reasons to choose local flowers, but here are a few of the biggest ones for me.
✿ Fresher Flowers That Last Longer
This is probably the first thing people notice when they bring home locally grown flowers. It’s definitely the most popular comment we get from our customers.
Imported flowers are often harvested long before they ever reach the customer. By the time they make it to a grocery store, they may already be over a week old.
Local flowers are usually harvested within hours or days of being sold. That means stronger stems, better vase life, and flowers that continue opening beautifully at home.
✿ Better for the Environment
Local flowers also come with a much smaller environmental footprint.
Most imported flowers require a lot of transportation, refrigeration, packaging, and chemical treatments just to survive the trip from another country to your local store.
Buying local cuts way down on all of that.
Most flower farmers are selling within their own communities, often just a short drive from where the flowers were grown. Less travel, less packaging, and more connection between growers and customers.
At Broad Harvest Flowers grow using sustainable organic practices because we want our flowers to be safe for the bees, butterflies, birds, our family, and yours too.
✿ Supporting Small Farms and Local Communities
Behind every bouquet from a local flower farm is a real person out in the field planting, watering, harvesting, weeding, covering flowers during frost warnings, and checking the weather forecast probably a little too often.
Flower farming is truly a labour of love.
When you buy local flowers, you are helping support small family farms and keeping your dollars within your own community. You are helping farms like ours continue growing beautiful seasonal flowers right here in New Brunswick.
And honestly, I think that connection matters.
What You’re Supporting When You Buy Local Flowers
One thing people are often surprised to learn is just how much work and cost goes into growing flowers on a small scale.
Every bouquet represents months of planning, seeds, bulbs, compost, irrigation, tools, greenhouse supplies, packaging, and many hours spent planting, harvesting, watering, weeding, and arranging by hand.
Right now, almost everything we make from Broad Harvest goes right back into the farm. Every season, we are slowly building something bigger than what you see today. Better growing spaces, more flowers, better systems, and more ways to serve our community in the future.
This graphic from B-Side Farm does such a beautiful job
showing where each flower dollar goes on a small flower farm.
✿ A Connection to the Seasons
One of the things I love most about local flowers is that they remind us to slow down and appreciate the seasons as they come.
Tulips in May.
Peonies in June.
Sunflowers in the middle of summer.
Dahlias in the fall.
Local flowers are always changing because nature is always changing too.
Unlike the traditional flower industry where almost everything is available year-round, local flowers teach us to appreciate what is blooming right now. There is something really special about that.
I think people are craving that connection more and more lately. People want to know where things come from. They want to support local businesses. They want to experience things more personally and intentionally.
And flowers are part of that too.
It’s More Than Just a Bouquet
From our very first season growing, customers have told us how surprised they are by the difference in locally grown flowers. The vase life. The fragrance. The movement. The uniqueness.
They feel fresh because they are fresh.
And while buying local flowers may seem like a small choice, it really does make a difference. You are supporting sustainable growing practices, small farms, local communities, and a slower, more connected way of living.
To us, that is something worth sharing and celebrating ♡