Ten years ago, Maya Kosok decided to combine her experience working in educational outreach for farms and her interest in urban agriculture and grow flowers. Today, Hillen Homestead comprises two city lots that total about half an acre in Northeast Baltimore. Maya supplies florists with field-grown blooms from March into November, as well as seasonal greens in December.

In talking with Maya, she brims over with enthusiasm for her business. “Flowers are beautiful, and I like working outside for sure, but, for me, it really is all about relationships,” she said. “I get to do it all in the context of other farmers and florists, at this point, working with people I’ve known for ten years sometimes. I have relationships with a lot of the neighbors near my garden sites. My cooler is across the street in a bakery. Some florists pick up right from my front porch.”

Because Hillen Homestead has no buildings or structures, everything is field grown, with an emphasis on annuals, although they grow peonies, other perennials, and woodies such as Ninebark, too. Maya said that, in the early days, “I rented shared space in a greenhouse, but then I had two babies, and I started buying plugs from Sharps and have never looked back. I focus on season extension with row cover and variety, but it is so much warmer in the city, that I can sell from mid-March to early November.”

Although she has occasionally participated in markets through the Farm Alliance of Baltimore, and she offers a four-week tulip subscription, Maya’s primary customer is designers. When asked, Maya instantly noted that communication is critical to a successful relationship between farmer and florist. “If you think something is off, the minute you know, tell,” she advises. If I know I will be short on something, I let them know ASAP as I don’t want them to be in a bind. I check in over the winter to talk about how the relationship worked, are there any updates, etc., so I can be forward thinking, and not just putting out fires.”

From her perspective, Maya believes that florists and designers can prioritize each other. “Early on, I didn’t necessarily have a huge bounty every week, but I was new, and people were working with me. “ Maya noted that, often, florists are looking for huge growers and growers want to land the biggest florists, but that it can benefit smaller businesses both to work together. “Be willing to take a chance on someone who is also newer, and help shape their business.”

Trusting growers to know their product also came up in our conversation. “Some of the florists who got my best stuff last year were the ones who said, ‘this is my color palette this week, I’ll take $300 from you.’ I send them a draft order, and they can still make changes, but that has been amazing.” With supply shortages last year, certain flowers were in demand, she says, but, “we have stuff that looks even better than what is in demand. For people who aren’t designing to a specific recipe, if you build in flexibility, you can really get the best product.”

So, how can you access the best product? Fill out the inquiry form at https://www.hillenhomestead.com/florists.html “People often find me via Instagram and reach out that way. I don’t really say no to anyone, but if someone is asking for the first time for burgundy dahlias the first week of October, that will be tough. The more consistently you are able to order, the higher priority you get.”

“All of my DC sales I do cooperatively with Two Boots Farm, so we can cover each other and offer a bigger variety – we complement each other, as she is Carroll County which is colder, so that extends the growing season for our customers. We send one availability list that has stuff from us both. We do twice-a-week deliveries to DC, April through October.”

Thank you so much, Maya, for talking with IFDA.

I’ll be featuring different growers regularly here on the IFDA website. In between, the Maryland Cut Flower Growers Association is a terrific resource for finding flowers in this area: http://www.marylandgrownflowers.com/flowerfarms. Travelling to design for a destination wedding? Find local farms all over the nation from the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers here: https://localflowers.org/find-flowers

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