- Publication Date : April 1, 2022
Reinvent your Workspace
For the first few years of growing, we were making market and wedding bouquets outdoors on tables or in Aunt Willie’s house if it was raining. When outdoors we were close to the cooler but had to carry all the hard materials. If we worked inside, we had to carry buckets of flowers a longer distance, and had to clean up floors and workspaces for upcoming workshops, etc. We were wasting steps, wasting time, and wasting energy, which translated to wasting money.
After first reading The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman, we looked at our wedding/design workspace and decided we needed to find a better option. We didn’t think it would be cost effective to build a new structure so we looked around. A chicken coop from the 1940s stood right next to the cooler. It was full of about 40 years of good farm junk but was still structurally sound so we went to work.
We cleaned and pulled out the roost and chicken boxes, and moved the chicken ladders to another storage shed. We added a new tin roof, water, and brighter lighting. Roy built a working bench/shelf on one wall and we moved in several tables. We extended the partial wooden floor, leaving some of the floor dirt for easy cleanup. The coop had a large enough main room to work comfortably if well organized. One smaller room became vessel storage and a second smaller room converted to workspace for bouts, crowns, etc. We made sure the main flower shelf was high enough that we weren’t bending over and could set buckets of taller flowers, especially spike flowers, underneath. More flowers or foliage were set on a table adjacent to the workbench or off to the side and made the area a bit of a semicircle. This set up allowed us access to all the flowers with few steps.
We cleaned and pulled out the roost and chicken boxes, and moved the chicken ladders to another storage shed. We added a new tin roof, water, and brighter lighting. Roy built a working bench/shelf on one wall and we moved in several tables. We extended the partial wooden floor, leaving some of the floor dirt for easy cleanup. The coop had a large enough main room to work comfortably if well organized. One smaller room became vessel storage and a second smaller room converted to workspace for bouts, crowns, etc. We made sure the main flower shelf was high enough that we weren’t bending over and could set buckets of taller flowers, especially spike flowers, underneath. More flowers or foliage were set on a table adjacent to the workbench or off to the side and made the area a bit of a semicircle. This set up allowed us access to all the flowers with few steps.
Ribbon, pins, tape, rubber bands, and all that’s needed for bouquet making are located in one central area, and are visible and in easy reach. The scissors that actually cut ribbon (there’s usually only one pair that fits that description) hangs on a nail right where the bouquets are ribbon wrapped. The tape hangs on a nail so we can see it and reach it easily and rubber bands are out of the bag and in a bowl so no fumbling is necessary. Just the ribbon for this particular wedding is out of its box and sitting by the pins. We take the fewest steps in the shortest amount of time when everything is in plain sight and right where we need it.
We have created two places nearby to take a quick photo—one just outside the coop door on a wooden box, and a second behind the coop on a self with a view of an old barn. We take a picture of the bridal bouquet and a maid or two before we put them (the bouquets!) into the cooler, again so that there is as little handling of the bouquet as possible with as few steps. Once the bouquets are in the cooler, we leave them there! They are in travelling carriers and ready to load into the van and they sit on tables and shelves with easy access. Leftover buckets are on the floor tucked underneath and out of the way.
The exception to this rule is the bridal bouquet. Because this takes the most time and uses the best flowers, I often make it Wednesday evening before we begin the full wedding Thursday morning. I work in the cooler so I don’t have to carry anything to a different space and just work from the buckets in place. If I have time I’ll make one maid’s bouquet so I have a template and an idea how I’ll set up in the coop the next day. Ribbons are added the next day when those supplies are out.
Because the table pieces are generally using the same colors and flowers as the wedding party, after the bride’s and bridesmaids’ flowers are in the cooler, we begin again. We generally do wedding party first, table pieces next, and large pieces last. Bouts and other wearables are made by a separate team member in the small room that holds all those supplies. Nothing magical about the order, but it seems to work out best flower wise.
We also try to streamline moving the flowers from the cooler into the workspace. We move only the buckets we’ll be using to the coop in several trips in a flower cart and arrange the buckets/vases/jars so they are easiest to work with. We try to organize the flowers by color and by purpose. Focal flowers are together, fillers and spillers together. Taller flowers are at the back of the shelf or on the floor and shorter in the front. Tiny items are in the bout room. There is nothing magical about how we set up the flowers, but we use the same general system week to week so we always know foliage will be on the table on the right and snaps and larkspur will always be under the work shelf. We try to begin with focal flowers so they sit on the left of the table and we work from left to right.
After we clean up the wedding mess, we try to make sure everything is ready for the next wedding: glass put away, ribbons back in their boxes, scissors back on the nail, etc. Of course, there are weeks when we just aren’t ready and it shows. We’re more stressed, we waste more time, and we promise to do better next week.
This can be adapted easily to farmers’ market and CSA bouquets, keeping the same lean principles in mind. I hope something here helps you save a minute or two of your very valuable time in the days ahead and if you have a good idea to pass along, please email me at [email protected] Happy Flowering!
