She started with zero qualifications, a personal trainer husband, and six dahlia tubers from the hardware store. Now Katie and her husband Rob run Little Lyndoch Flower Farm in Australia's Barossa Valley, growing just three crops on under an acre, and building a business that actually brings them joy.

In this episode, Katie shares how they sold everything during COVID to fund the farm, why growing fewer crops made them more profitable, and what it really looks like to build something from the ground up with your partner.

What you'll hear in today's episode:

• Why Katie and Rob narrowed their entire farm down to just three crops, and how that one decision changed everything
• The story of Uncle Lucky's greenhouse and how six dahlias became 3,500
• How they figured out outsourcing when they couldn't keep wearing all the hats
• Katie's honest take on marketing, showing up authentically, and why the quick 3-second reel always outperforms the one that took 2 hours

• Little Lyndoch Flower Farm: littlelyndochflowerfarm.com.au
• Instagram: @littlelyndochflowerfarm

Katie is the co-founder of Little Lyndoch Flower Farm, a seasonal flower farm and creative studio in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. Alongside her husband Rob, Katie has built a business that includes wholesale cut flowers, dahlia tuber and ranunculus corm sales, floral design for weddings, and a 3-day retreat called Bloom. She's currently developing the Bloom Academy for online learning. With no formal training in floristry, farming, or business, Katie and Rob are completely self-taught and share their journey openly to inspire growers and creatives around the world.

If this episode resonates with you, would you share it with a flower friend? And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss a conversation.

Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter

Chelsea Willis is the kind of farmer who notices the frogs in the dahlias.

She's the owner of Sweet Delilah Farm on Sauvie Island, just 15 minutes outside Portland, Oregon. But her path to farming wasn't traditional. With a background in psychology and youth counseling, Chelsea originally wanted to find a way to get young people out on the land, because she saw how much easier it was for them to open up when their hands were busy and their feet were in the dirt.

Then a piece of land became available. And then another. The second one, a former lavender you-pick farm, she closed on in two and a half weeks. She'd never planned to buy property at that moment. But it felt right.

Today, Sweet Delilah Farm is a space where community gathers. Chelsea hosts dahlia workshops, floral design classes, plant dye days, and end-of-season u-picks. She's growing over 88 varieties of sweet peas for seed production, tending close to 250 roses, and dreaming about bringing yoga and meditation back to the farm. For Chelsea, farming isn't just about production. It's about presence, connection, and leaving space for whatever needs to come up, whether that's a pest issue in the field or a conversation that needs to happen.

If this episode stirs something in you, I'd love for you to share it with a fellow flower friend. And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss a new conversation.

• Sweet Delilah Farm: sweetdelilahfarm.com
• Instagram: @sweetdelilahflowerfarm
• Wild Craft Studio (Portland, plant dyeing classes)
• Sweet pea varieties mentioned: Piggy Sue, King's Coronation, Prince of Orange
• Rose varieties mentioned: Dainty Bess, Coco Loco, All Dressed Up, Fun in the Sun

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In Episode 87 of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast, Jennifer sits down with Jenny Rae Swan, founder of Flowerwell, a cut flower farm and floral design studio in Rochester, New York.

As a first-generation farmer, Jenny Rae didn’t grow up in agriculture, but she followed her pull toward flowers and built Flowerwell from a small plot on a neighboring blueberry farm into a thriving flower farm and design business. In this conversation, she shares what it really looks like to start a flower farm without a roadmap and steadily scale it over time.

Jennifer and Jenny Rae discuss:

• Starting a flower farm without farming experience
• Scaling from a small growing space to multiple acres
• Hiring and building a farm team
• Balancing the roles of farmer and florist
• Navigating growth, risk, and long-term vision
• Lessons learned from nearly a decade in business

If you’re dreaming about starting a flower farm, actively growing one, or wondering what the next level looks like, this episode offers honest insight into the realities of building something sustainable in the floral industry.

Whether you're a backyard grower or working toward full-time flower farming, Jenny Rae’s story is a reminder that growth happens season by season, and that you don’t need to have it all figured out to begin.

Connect with Jenny Rae at Flowerwell:

Website: https://www.flowerwellny.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowerwellny

Sign up for our podcast newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter

Join Us At The Profitable Dahlia Summit

The first-ever virtual summit focused exclusively on growing dahlias for profit is here!

Join us March 3–4, 2026 to learn from experienced dahlia growers who are selling bouquets, tubers, CSA shares, event tickets, and more — and doing it profitably.

You’ll walk away with real strategies to turn your passion into income, even if you're just getting started.

Save your spot here: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/profitabledahiliasummit/