Field Florals

FLORIST: Ashley Krest earned a Bachelors Degree in sustainable agriculture and has since made a commitment to caring for the fields organically.  started Stinky Blooms Flower Farm with her husband Ted Birk in 2000, offering weekly bouquets in Paonia, Colorado and hauling their colorful bundles of flowers to Farmers’ Markets around the Western Slope.  She most recently participated in a class at the Floral Design Institute in Portland, Oregon.  Three seasons ago she attended the Aspen Farmers’ Market, sharing a booth with Zephyros Farm and Garden. She loves to work with flowers straight from the field, and wants to share in your flower dreams to help make them come true.

FARM: Field Florals is the design company located amongst bountiful fields of flowers where the blooms are hand picked from Stinky Blooms Flower Farm, and sometimes other organic farms in the North Fork Valley.  Stinky Blooms is full of diversity, and there are constant additions, new varieties of flowers, goats, lambs, and in the Spring baby chicks.  It is a Seasonal farm, this means taking winters off from growing.  Some season extension techniques are used, like the two “Hoop Houses” or “High Tunnels” that are unheated, and used mostly as protection from the sometimes-harsh Colorado climate. When buying local flowers, it is important to consider how this action minimizes the ecological footprint; ideally, its best to get flowers grown without the harsh chemicals found on most imported flowers.  When you purchase from farms like Stinky Blooms, less carbon is used in transportation of local flowers and local jobs are created. The dollars you spend with Field Florals support family farmers who are keeping land in open space, and providing stewardship that mimics true ecology.

For more information about Field Florals, check out their website, www.fieldflorals.com