Sustainable Farewell Flowers: Festival Farm's Eco-Friendly Approach to Honouring Loved-Ones
Farewell flowers hold profound significance in our lives, serving as poignant tributes that honor the memory and celebrate the lives of our loved ones. At Festival Farm we understand the meaningful impact that these floral arrangements can have, which is why our approach to creating floral tributes is rooted in both reverence and sustainability.
Farewell flowers hold profound significance in our lives, serving as poignant tributes that honour the memory and celebrate the lives of our loved-ones. At Festival Farm we understand the meaningful impact that floral arrangements can have, which is why our approach to creating floral tributes is rooted in both reverence and sustainability.
Each farewell or memorial floral arrangement is crafted with meticulous care.
They are floral foam-free and non-biodegradable plastic-free, ensuring that our creations not only capture the essence of the individual being remembered but are fully compostable, allowing them to return to the earth in a gentle, respectful way.
Once the casket or remembrance wreaths and bouquets have fulfilled their task, they can be placed in a garden or green space to slowly break down, creating a micro-ecosystem and healthy soil in the process.
Many traditional floral arrangements, however, use floral foam to hold flowers in place. Floral foam is made from toxic materials such as formaldehyde and it does not biodegrade. When floral foam is disposed of, it breaks down into microplastics, which can contaminate soil and waterways, harming wildlife and ecosystems.
With ANZAC Day approaching, thousands of floral foam wreath bases will be used across the country. A worrying thought to me. I have been pondering what more I can do to help other florists move towards more eco-friendly practices and have decided to offer my help to create ecological-friendly wreath bases or show alternative techniques to those who are interested. So please just ask. We are all in this together ❤️
I know I don't need to actually say this BUT in today's world, where environmental challenges like climate change and pollution are becoming increasingly severe, caring for our waterways and the environment is more crucial than ever!!!!
It must be said, I'm far from perfect and have lots to learn and improve on. However, the more I learn about microplastics, the stronger my convictions about sustainable floristry become.
Microplastics are often found in water and soils. Not only does this pose a threat to marine life but it also raises concerns about human health, as microplastics are increasingly entering the food chain. They can accumulate in the tissues of marine life consumed by us and researchers are even finding them in breast milk and vegetables.
This was a very interesting interview I heard recently about plastic waste that you might be interested to listen to too.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018929241/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-to-kaikoura-charles-moore-s-plastic-journey
By choosing eco-friendly alternatives in our floral designs we can help reduce the impact on our environment. Not only for ourselves but also our childrens’ sake. I look at my two beautiful boys and know that I have to keep doing better and keep talking about it, to encourage and support other florists to move away from floral foam.
At Festival Farm, we believe that every aspect of life, including farewells and commemorative events, should be approached with care and thoughtfulness.
Here's what one of our customers, Stacey, had to say:
"We were thrilled with the flowers for Dad's casket. They were so colourful and fresh-looking... to me, your bouquet looked like a field of wildflowers that he would take his time to peacefully wander through as he made his way from this life to the next. We were absolutely delighted with them and you made the process so easy delivering them to Mum's home. We also appreciated the effort you went to... locating some Black Watch tartan and getting it couriered down to include on the Bouquet. For our family, this was a very special and personal link to my Dad...."
Our floral tributes are designed to honour and celebrate in a way that is both breathtaking and respectful - for families and our earth.
October - mid Spring here in Southern Aotearoa
We said goodbye to the daffodils that danced at the feet of the apples and start to see the coming fullness as the gardens slowly begin to replenish after winter.
This month saw us reach peak apple blossom season here at Festival Farm. The orchard has transitioned from barren branches to a profusion of pale pink and white petals. We began to mow the orchard path as the grass grows again with abandon.
It's a well-worn track that I trek many times over the course of a day. A connection between our kitchen and rose gardens, a little path which offers me many moments of seasonal connection and reflection.
We said goodbye to the daffodils that danced at the feet of the apples and start to see the coming fullness as the gardens slowly begin to replenish after winter.
Many of the perennials that have been hibernating have woken, reaching to the sky, drinking in the warm spring rays. This October has actually been unseasonably hot.
I can feel the plants rejoice after each cool spring rain we gratefully receive, as do I.
In the cutting gardens…
Tulips always reign supreme mid spring.
I grew a number of new varieties this season but it's always the parrot and peony tulips that have my heart plus a very simple green and cream stripped goody named "Spring Green".
Many of these beauties featured in our first wedding of the season, seen here in the bridal bouquet which also contained ranunculus, anemones, daffodils, stock and Puawhanga - native clematis.
A new addition to the farm that have been shinning wee stars, in both the cutting gardens and our floral studio, are the Icelandic and Colibri poppies. I'm excited to see how long into summer these dreams will keep blooming and if they will come back as a perennial, normally they are grown by flower farmers as annuals - time will tell.
From the kitchen gardens…
We have been eating the last of the brassica, spinach, celery, leeks and herbs planted long before winter while filling the beds with a multitude of seeds and seedlings that before long will fill our plates once more.
Fresh spring stinging nettle has been a staple green in the kitchen bringing much nourishment in every sense. Foraging even just here on the farm is an activity that we really enjoy and look forward too. We find nettles utterly delicious, so much so that I'm currently carefully digging plants out of the dahlia patch, transplanting them to create a row dedicated to it.
This week we are busy planting out our hot season vegetable seedlings and in the coming weeks will be planting pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, corn, carrots, beetroot, parsnip, potatoes, yams, peas and beans direct where they will grow. We are making the most of the longer sunshine hours, lingering a bit longer each day as we plant, work, eat, cook and of course play out in the gardens.