This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're talking to Rebekah Mindel, a flower farmer and floral designer.
Mindel owns Meadow Wilds, a full-circle floral design studio and flower farm in New York's Hudson Valley.
For Mindel, full circle means starting the plants from seed, harvesting and conditioning the flowers and using them in the final designs.
"Farming and design for me go hand in hand," she said. "I wouldn't want to do one without the other."
Mindel designs floral arrangements for events and wedding using flowers grown on her farm plus purchased florals.
Regardless of where the flowers come from, Mindel wants her designs to be inspired by nature and shaped by seasonality.
"It's about connecting with the season and the plant specifically and bringing that forward," Mindel said.
This focus on nature — plus a commitment to using as many local flowers as possible — means she can't always offer specific flowers.
"What I can promise is tone, texture, shape, color," Mindel said.
Mindel's favorites that she grows on her farm includes tulips and peonies. Another is one that grows well in the Hudson Valley.
"Lisianthus is a flower farmer favorite," she said. "It's such an amazing crop because it comes in so many colors and it can really help support the design by anchoring that palette through color. I love lisianthus. We usually always have that flower."
