>> ... Next Generation ...
Local
farmer'
grows
beautiful
flowers
in Detroit
neighborhood.
Sarah Pappas, 30, is
the farmer behind the
Fresh Cut Flower Farm
in Woodbridge.
A
s the piles of snow begin to melt, hopefully for
good, it's beginning to feel more like spring.
With spring comes flowers, a welcome sight
after this seemingly endless winter. One woman
in Detroit, Sarah Pappas, 30, is working to bring beautiful
blooms to more Detroiters through her business, Fresh Cut
Flower Farm.
Located on the west edge of Detroit's Woodbridge
neighborhood, west of Wayne State University, next to the
house where she and her husband live, Pappas' farm takes
up about three lots of land and will feature more than 100
varieties of flowers.
She explained that the local flower market is growing all
over the country, but there is not a huge amount of local
flower production happening in Detroit yet.
Pappas' background with farming began through her
interest in working with youths in New York. She then went
to California for an apprenticeship where she learned more
about farming both vegetables and flowers. After another
two-year stint in New York, Pappas got a job with the
Greening of Detroit, and she hasn't left the city since.
After working for various organizations in the area and
growing vegetables and flower transplants for nonprofits for
the past three years, Pappas is branching out and doing her
own thing.
"This season," she said, "I'm starting out on my own.
I've been waiting for the intersection of my skills, interests,
resources and a gap in the market along with a place where
we could live for a while — that all happened to come
together in Detroit."
Pappas plans to do wholesale orders, a weekly bouquet
service, host a flower stand on Thursdays, do custom orders
and some design work, and visit local farmers' markets.
Her weekly bouquet service is a big hit — the first session
already sold out. Her second session, which begins in July, is
also getting full, she said.
She credits her popularity to her good reputation in
Detroit, since she's already lived there for more than three
years. The weekly bouquet service is available for pickup and
also for home delivery, if the location is within 5 miles of
Fresh Cut.
56 April 10 • 2014
MARIELLE TEMKIN I SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Fresh Cut also offers gift-wrapping services
for its weekly bouquet service, shown here.
A Fresh Cut Flower arrangement from
Pappas' own wedding.
Pappas' flower skills can also be used for weddings, about
one or two a month because the events are time consuming.
"I already have two weddings committed for the season so
far, and I get a couple inquiries each week. It's exciting to
see so much advance interest," she said.
As she gears up for the spring, Pappas' excitement
for Fresh Cut Flower Farm grows along with her flowers.
"I'm just excited for happy customers," she said. "I think
people get so happy when they see flowers, and it's such a
beautiful kind of joy. I'm so excited about people who have
the weekly bouquet service coming to pick up their flowers
and being happy to see them.
"It's different when the pleasure you get from something
is a pleasure you get from looking at it, rather than
consuming it in other ways. The joy and happiness of flowers
comes purely from looking at them."
Even with more than 100 kinds of flowers planned for her
farm, Pappas says she is excited for all of them. "There are
a few that are new for me this year. I'm buying transplants
from other local nurseries, but in past years I grew them
myself. Specifically, I'm excited about all the different types
of coral flowers I'll have. It's a really popular color now, so
I'm growing a lot of corals. Also, I have a calla lily and a
dahlia that are a gorgeous deep burgundy that I think will
be really popular, too."
Pappas has been getting the word out through various forms
of advertising, and she also won the Celebration Soup (a micro-
grant funding event) that took place at the Jam Handy building
in Detroit in February. "Winning Celebration Soup was a huge
honor, and it was very special to me," she said.
Though Pappas' typical expertise lies with vegetable
farming, she explained that she's not growing veggies this
year. "I'm trying to separate growing vegetables from my
business this year and totally jump out of my comfort zone,"
she said.
As for her involvement in the Jewish community, Pappas
shared that her husband, Josh, goes to the Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue and often leads services there. She
explained that she feels at home when attending the social
events and goes to them quite often.
"I really like a lot of the intellectual rigor that seems to go
along with peoples' practices at the Downtown Synagogue;
I appreciate being part of religious communities that
welcome questioning and rigorous discussion," she said.
Pappas will be at the opening market of the Lafayette
Greens Downtown Farmers Market on April 17. Beginning
in May, the farm will be open on Thursday evenings with a
flower stand, so fresh blooms are not too far off.
❑
Learn more about Fresh Cut Flower Farm and the services
offered at www.freshcutdetroit.com, www.facebook.
comffreshcutdetroit or by emailing Sarah Pappas at
freshcutdetroit@gmaiLcom.