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At Little Ducky Flower Farm, we often get asked why we don’t switch to a donation-based model or simply offer our flowers for free if we’re so passionate about growing and supporting our community. It’s a question that comes from a place of genuine curiosity, and we understand why it’s asked. After all, we believe deeply in the power of community, sustainability, and the simple joys that flowers bring.
But here’s the thing: Growing flowers isn’t just a labor of love; it’s also a significant investment in time, resources, and care. While our passion drives us, we also need to maintain the viability of our farm so that we can continue to bring beauty and joy to Barrington Hills year after year.
The Real Costs Behind Each Bloom
When you visit our fields and take home a bouquet, you’re not just paying for the flowers themselves. You’re supporting sustainable farming practices that prioritize soil health, biodiversity, and the well-being of our local environment. Every dollar goes towards:
Organic and Sustainable Farming: We are committed to growing flowers without the use of toxic pesticides and herbicides. Instead, we invest in natural methods that protect our plants and the local ecosystem. This includes using trap plants to divert pests away from our flowers and planting species that attract beneficial insects, creating a thriving environment for pollinators and other important creatures.
Soil Health and Regeneration: Maintaining the health of our soil is a cornerstone of our farming philosophy. This means more than just basic composting and crop rotation. We conduct regular soil testing for each plot to understand its specific needs, allowing us to tailor our care and ensure optimal growing conditions. Our ongoing commitment to soil regeneration ensures that the land we farm remains productive and vibrant for generations to come.
Cost of Plant Material: The cost of seeds and plant material has skyrocketed since the pandemic, which has significantly impacted our farm's operating costs. For instance, dahlia prices have surged, and we’ve personally seen the prices for some crops more than double. This isn’t just a problem for specialty flowers; even conventional seed prices have increased substantially. The broader seed market has been hit by inflation, supply chain disruptions, and increased demand during the pandemic, resulting in both higher prices and lower seed counts per packet. Part of the increased cost is also due to:
Ethical Seed Sourcing: Reflecting on a point made by a seed company we admire, we recognize the importance of choosing seeds that align with our values. It’s hard to claim we support sustainable agriculture if we rely on varieties from corporations that contribute to harmful agricultural practices. We prioritize purchasing from companies committed to ethical seed sourcing, and smaller farms and breeders ensuring our practices match our principles.
A Consolidated Seed Market: With four companies controlling over 60% of the global seed market, this consolidation reduces choices and raises prices for farmers. When a few companies dominate the market, they can impose strict intellectual property rights, limiting innovation and restricting how seeds are used and exchanged. These restrictions extend to both conventional and organic farming, making valuable plant genetics inaccessible to public researchers, farmers, and independent breeders. This lack of access diminishes the diversity of seeds available in our landscapes and marketplaces, ultimately weakening our food security. Although we focus on growing flowers, we are part of the broader agricultural community that depends on access to diverse, high-quality seeds. The health of our food systems and our farm are interconnected. If food security is threatened by limited seed access and market consolidation, it impacts everyone—including those of us growing flowers. That’s why we strive to avoid purchasing seeds from these dominating companies whenever possible.
Labor and Care: Growing flowers is labor-intensive, especially when it’s just the two of us managing everything from planting to harvesting. We rely on a few key tools to help us handle the workload, but much of the work is still done by hand. This includes tasks like weeding, planting, and harvesting, which require a lot of physical effort. Our focus is on investing in tools that make this work as manageable as possible, allowing us to continue bringing you beautiful flowers without compromising on quality or sustainability, e.g., this year we invested in a fertigation system that efficiently delivers nutrients directly to our plants, cutting down on the amount of time spent fertilizing with a sprayer.
Community Engagement: Offering a safe and educational experience in our flower fields requires significant time and resources. This means planning and organizing events and maintaining the fields to be safe and accessible. These efforts are integral to our mission, but they also require careful management and support.
Why Not Donations?
Donation-based models work well in some contexts, but for a small, independently-run farm like ours, they can be unsustainable. Here’s why:
Uncertainty: Donations can fluctuate, making it difficult to plan and invest in the farm’s future. In the flower farming world, purchases for the next year’s crops must often be made well in advance. For example, the tulip bulbs for our 2025 flowers were purchased as early as April this year, before the current season's blooms even appeared. We rely on consistent revenue to cover these and other fixed costs of farming, ensuring that our operations run smoothly year after year.
Crowd Control: A donation-based or free model often draws larger crowds, which can make it challenging to maintain the peaceful and intimate atmosphere that our farm is known for. By setting a modest price, we help ensure that the farm remains a serene and enjoyable space for everyone who visits.
Value and Appreciation: We believe that the act of purchasing flowers, even at a modest cost, encourages people to value and appreciate the work that goes into growing them. It’s a way of acknowledging the effort, care, and dedication involved in nurturing each bloom.
Community-Driven, Not Commercially Focused
At Little Ducky Flower Farm, we’re all about growing connections, not just flowers. Our mission is to create a space where the community can come together, enjoy the beauty of nature, and learn about sustainable practices. We charge a modest fee to keep the farm running, but our focus is on fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose, rather than making a profit. Every dollar goes back into enhancing this agricultural experience, ensuring that our farm remains a special place for all.
Growing Together, Sustainably
Our commitment to the community remains at the heart of everything we do. We strive to make our flowers accessible by keeping our prices fair, offering discounts for reusable cups, and organizing events that are low-cost. But to continue doing what we love—bringing beauty, joy, and sustainable agriculture to Barrington Hills—we need to maintain a balance between passion and practicality.
We’re incredibly grateful for the support as we grow a community rooted in sustainability and natural beauty.
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