Catherine Foreman of the Orange Tree Flower Farm at One Tree Point. Photo / Donna Russell
A blossoming flower business has given One Tree Point grower Catherine Foreman the lifestyle change she needed.
The self-employed graphic designer launched her new business, Orange Tree Flower Farm, during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
Catherine said she was burned out in her former career of looking after website clients and realised she needed to make some changes in her life.
The 1.2ha property where she lives with her husband, Dale, and her four children had once been a nursery.
She wondered if she could do something similar and decided what she lacked in plant knowledge could hopefully be offset by hard work and determination.
And that has proved to be the case.
Two years on, she has a growing business supplying cut fresh flowers to florists and through orders to local customers.
That is where her previous career has proved invaluable as she has built up a good clientele of repeat customers through her Facebook and Instagram pages.
"I wasn't a gardener so it was way outside my comfort zone. But I just had a feeling that I could do it.
"It's been a big lifestyle change and I love it,'' she said.
She started with about two beds, planting around 600 spring bulbs such as ranunculus and anemones. This first patch of ground has quickly been expanded so now she is using about a third of the property, with over 30 beds.
"I was very green. Luckily the soil is good here and I just started digging.''
The first crop of flowers were sold locally and through a roadside stall.
Dale built her a seed-raising shed so that she could grow her own seedlings and expand her range.
"I am really lucky with the soil here but the hard part about growing outside, especially somewhere like One Tree Point, is having to battle the elements. This past year has seen quite a few storms that tear across the flat land here. You learn to keep an eye on the weather!''
She said she was like a kid in a lolly shop when she was looking for flower varieties to add to her array.
"It's been quite a learning curve but I am figuring out what grows well here and which ones do best in bouquets."
Catherine's day starts early as she likes to hit the gym before getting her brood off to school. Tending the garden beds and making up orders takes up most of the day.
Catherine follows a no-dig principle to disturb the soil structure as little as possible. She builds up the soil with liberal amounts of compost, which helps to suppress weeds instead of using herbicides.
However, an army worm infestation had provided a challenge this season and she is working to manage that effectively with natural treatments.
She grows a large mix of annuals and some perennials to get a wide range of flowers.
"My aim now is to try and be more consistent with my supply of flowers throughout the year. It is easy to end up with gaps, as you are having to think and plan quite far in advance,'' she said.
"I have identified the flowers that are really good workhorses and keep flowering for ages.''
Catherine said the local florist industry had been really supportive.
"At the start I just rocked up with a boot-load of flowers! Florists were really welcoming, and if they were taken aback by me just showing up they didn't show it. Now I am working on creating a better system so that florists can see what I have available each week throughout the season.
"There are quite a few local growers around and the florists seem to share their orders around to all of these.
"It's a really nice industry to be part of,'' she said.
Catherine said she gets a big kick out of the reaction of florists to what she produces.
"Their eyes light up when they see what I have for them. Florists are very visual and I think possibly some of the hardest-working people I know."
She has also been surprised by the enthusiasm from her retail customers for flowers.
"There seems to be a real hunger and appreciation for flowers among the public, and I am kept busy with bouquet orders for local customers all season. What I would love people to really understand is that whether you are buying from a local flower farm or choosing to buy flowers from your local florist, it is all supporting a local floral industry.
''Its a win-win for everyone when people buy flowers."