Bring Soursop Flower Farm to Life
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2023 marks Soursop Flower Farm's debut growing season, and as with many small businesses, startup costs are steep and earnings will come months down the line. I’ve launched this fundraiser to help ensure the most robust beginning for this exciting venture, with hopes that it will carry me through the summer harvest and into profitability. These initial funds will cover field prep, hired workers earning a fair wage, and ideally create a small safety net for any unexpected maintenance or weather surprises that inevitably arise.
At first, Soursop was just an idea, but it truly grew faster than I anticipated. It expanded into my Queens backyard, then to a small plot in Vermont, and now it has 2.5 acres for rent in New Jersey.
But lemme back up for a sec. Hi, I’m Caroline. I am a farmer-florist and my life’s work is to promote abundance. I believe everyone is entitled to an abundance of pleasure and nourishment, whether through food, art, the land, or the body.
For the past two summers, I had the opportunity to grow flowers at Walnut Hill in Vermont, cultivating my relationship with the land and northeast agricultural community. Between seasons I took a farm business planning course through GrowNYC, and became more invested in the ways we access fresh food while sustaining local economies. Soursop Flower Farm launched in early 2022, experienced a year of exponential growth, and now begins its next stage with a land access opportunity in Hunterdon County, NJ.
What used to be an 1800s vegetable farm that fed the township became a mostly dormant hay field. I am reinvigorating this soil that has sat compacted for decades and filling it with new-growth plant life through regenerative farming practices. I'm so humbled by the opportunity to steward land in New Jersey near where I grew up.
My relationship with flowers has taught me so much. Growing them has grounded me in the rhythm of the seasons. Selling them has affirmed that people will always crave an abundance of beauty and nourishment. I will never stop seeking connections to foster that relationship and producing the flowers to nurture it, but I do need some help bringing Soursop Flower Farm to life in this new space.
The up-front costs are astronomical, and while many loyal customers have provided Soursop with the cash flow to get to this point, I need startup capital to farm this land. Here are a few places donations will go:
- FIELD PREP - soil aeration, weed barrier, soil amendments, compost, cover crop, and drop ship delivery costs for these items. Estimated $3k.
- WATER - Municipal water runs to the barn and well water runs to the field. We are considering a line repair, depending on what we learn soon. While bigger infrastructure is covered by the landowners, I will still need drip line irrigation to run into the growing field whether it's municipal or well water. Minimum $2k.
- BARN / STUDIO - Currently, the barn on the property is scheduled for renovation in late spring, at which point it will become a floral studio and processing space. It has a cement floor covering that is very old and uneven; at minimum, this will need fatigue mats. I’m still developing this fix while investing in folding tables, baker's racks, storage bins, cleaning supplies, and water sources. Approximately $1k.
- EQUIPMENT - wagon, wheelbarrow, tilther, propane torch, PPE, hand tools. At least $1k.
- LABOR - I plan to start part-time field workers at $18/hr, but would prefer that number to be $20-22. I acknowledge wages should be higher and that farming is skilled labor; I was paid $18/hr as a Flower Field Manager in Vermont, so I am using that number as a starting point. The economic sustainability of the farm is my first goal, and so paying myself will depend on how well this fundraising goes; as I have personal income from freelance floral design, gardening, and farmer's market work.
- FARM UTILITY VEHICLE - If enough money is raised, my ultimate goal is to secure a UTV to speed up harvest and movement around the farm. The field is located several hundred yards past the road, so this investment in efficiency will aid the transportation of flowers and materials across the land. By the end of the growing season, a farm utility vehicle will save literal DAYS, possibly weeks, of labor: preserving our bodies and our time. A Mule or Gator, when new, runs $8,000-$15,000. My hope is to find an older used model for around $6k.
I'd like to extend a heartfelt "thank you" to my community for making this farm dream a possibility. After nearly a decade in the music industry, switching careers into sustainable agriculture and floristry was no joke, and the outpouring of support I received from friends, greenmarket pals, former colleagues, CSA members, family, and neighbors has been overwhelming. I’m genuinely in shock about the momentum Soursop has garnered and the gratitude I feel is boundless.
By supporting this project, you are supporting efforts to not only build my small farm business, but also build an economic model of community solidarity that integrates sliding scale pricing and equitable distribution of resources. All food grown this season will be donated through mutual aid networks to my Queens neighbors, community fridges, and Woodbine's food pantry. Any abundance of flowers will be offered to these same networks plus A Tribe Called Flowers and plantXchange.
Organisator
Caroline Shadood
Organisator
New York, NY