Exploring Life & Business with Danielle Milke of Milke Way Farms

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Milke

Hi Danielle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I own and operate Milke Way Farms, a small but mighty cut flower farm in Harnett County. The farm grows and sells a variety of seasonal, cut flowers to local florists, grocery stores, local shops and directly to customers.

I started the farm after I moved to our current location back in 2017. I had this great idea that I should be a peony farmer. I planted a few hundred plants and waited for them to mature so that I could harvest from them. Then, I had a thought; maybe I should grow some flowers so that I could make bouquets with my peonies. I searched and found a blog on what is fondly known in cut flower circles as ‘Cool Flowers’ and began to experiment. I started moving loads of compost by hand with my shovel and wheelbarrow to amend the soil and started my first seeds. Things were going as well as they could be. I grew a few patches of snapdragons, sweet peas and fillers. Then, my neighbor asked if I could grow some sunflowers for a vow renewal. I agreed, but I needed to find other flowers that could go with those sunflowers and further down the rabbit hole I went…

Naturally, I progressed to now I have to find somewhere to sell all these flowers. I planted these crops without having a customer in mind, so off to the Farmer’s Market I went. I was fortunate enough to find the Holly Springs Farmer’s Market and their wonderful market manager who welcomed me with open arms. My first market was shaky of course. I didn’t know who I was selling to or what they wanted. I just hoped they wanted flowers. But I sold out and so I came back week after week with whatever I could grow, doing a lot of experimenting along the way, until the season was over. It has evolved greatly from there.

Eventually, I began to understand what the customers were looking for and I changed our growing habits to fill that need. Now we start seeds and/or bulbs every week, 43 weeks out of the year.
I did eventually run into an issue; I still worked a full time W-2 job. I would come home after work every day and get right to work on the farm. All of my free time, nights and weekends became solely dedicated to improving the farm. I did this for the first few years that I was in business. I couldn’t keep my feet on the boat and the dock at the same time any longer, so I quit my job and put all of my focus into our flowers. I expanded our offerings to local florists and flower professionals as well as a grocery store chain. Now, we have crops in the ground 12 months a year!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t think anyone who farms would ever use the term ‘smooth’ to describe their business. Whether you grow flowers, food or raise animals, farming is never smooth sailing. We work on Mother Nature’s terms. Our crops literally live and die by the weather. Death and destruction is just a single weather event away. Even as I sit here doing this interview, I am nervously watching a very cold, artic weather system coming our way. However, our farm takes steps to mitigate the risks that come with relying on Mother Nature to provide. We work with her rather than against her.

When I plan our crop rotations for the year, I only plant things that tend to do well in our area at that specific time of year. Meaning, for instance, you will not see us try to grow tulips in July. We plant successions of crops continuously throughout the season. I have also decided not to grow many pretty flowers because our local bug population LOVES to eat them, it’s just an expensive failure waiting to happen.

Many of these lessons I have learned through painstaking trail and error. I’ve planted many different crops just to have them fail in the field either because of pests, disease or that they just can’t take the heat. I’ve also had tried and true crops fail for reasons that still baffle me. But all I can do is say ‘well that didn’t work’, then clean up the mess and plant again.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are primarily known for our unique and vibrant mixed bouquets that change week to week. I like to say that our flowers are for everyday. We don’t create big, fancy arrangements or do any type of events. Instead, I’ve decided that I want our flowers to be for the ‘just because’ crowd. I’m getting my spouse, neighbor, sister, friend, mom, coworker flowers ‘just because’.

We grow a lot of the tried and true varieties, but where we stand out is growing the unusual and uncommon cut flowers varieties, colors and textures. Many of them do not hold up well during shipping so importers are unable to bring them in from international growers. I love hearing customers ask ‘what is THAT?’ and ‘is that real?’ It demonstrates just how valuable local cut flower growers are to the floral industry. We bring a diversity that wouldn’t otherwise be available to floral professionals and consumers alike. Not to mention vase life. Because of our size and location, we are able to put fresh flowers into the hands of people within 24-48 hours of harvest, sometimes less. Whereas, some flowers, imports primarily, can be 5-7 days old by the time you receive them.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I love getting our bouquets into local shops and businesses in the towns around us. Whether on display as décor for them, or for sale for their customers to purchase in their shop. I think it’s the best way to share locally grown flowers with everyone.

Customers can also purchase directly from us Saturday mornings March-November at the Holly Springs Farmers Market.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.milkewayfarms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milkewayfarmsflowers
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MilkeWayFarmsFlowers