Steve Boyd | Lead Grower
The thing I love most about the UK is that gardening is a sport, and it feels like everyone is on the pitch. I am originally from the US and became a UK citizen in 2019. I have been gardening nearly all of my life. First on the east coast near DC, then on the west coast in LA.
Work brought me to the UK for so many projects that it eventually became home, and Folkestone is where I have put down roots. I feel that people here create culture and consume culture in equal measure. I admire that sustainability enterprises are actively supported by the council and welcomed by a vibrant network of like-minded people.
Growing flowers has always intrigued me—more so than vegetables—because emotionally, they somehow punch above their weight. A courgette shared with a neighbor is appreciated, but receiving a sweet-smelling hand-tied bundle of sweet peas becomes a remembered event.
Local flowers grown for local people is our simple brief. Being a resource for our eco-minded community is our intention. So when it came to naming the endeavor—only Folkestone Flower Farm made the cut.
Our Passion
Growing intensely desirable, super-fresh cut flowers raised with zero chemicals.
No one arrives looking fresh after a long-haul flight from Ecuador—especially if you are a flower. But the majority of supermarket blooms are harvested, processed, and transported from South America, Africa, or the heated glasshouses of Holland before they land in your vase. That is quite a week.
Our flowers are grown chemical-free in and around Folkestone. They are harvested the day before they rock up at our flower stand. As a result, you get extremely long-lasting blooms with a free-range attitude that industrially grown blooms can’t touch.
Our Purpose
Providing a grab-n-go alternative to buying industrially produced supermarket flowers.
We get it. It is so convenient. They are the first thing you see when you enter the supermarket. And they are cheap too! But at what cost to our environment?
We provide an alternative. We produce sustainably-grown grab-n-go flower bunches for your kitchen table, for your hostess, for your amour… It does require an extra stop on your milk run—but it is an extra stop to Docker Bakery—could your day get any better?
Our Practice
Transforming under-utilised growing spaces into productive and beautiful places.
Yes, it would be easier to have one site large enough to grow everything we need. But that day is still in our future. What we do have are four venues that we currently maintain with supporters who are eager to champion our flower production endeavor.
Through a combination of bartering and peppercorn rent, we are going for it. We tidy up the site, improve the soil, play music, and breathe life into under-utilised spaces. Luckily, beauty is a by-product of flower farming.
