About this episode

Erin Clark shares her journey from planting five dahlias to running Muddy Hill Flower Farm, discussing the challenges and joys of flower farming.

Some stories start with a grand plan. Erin Clark's started with five dahlias and a need to get outside. In 2020, home with a new baby and a world gone quiet, Erin went looking for an outlet. She found it in a 60-square-foot patch of dirt. A neighbor walked by, saw her planting, and the next day her husband gifted Erin a whole tray of tubers. That neighbor turned out to be a dahlia hybridizer who lived right around the corner. That small act of generosity grew into Muddy Hill Flower Farm, where Erin now grows more than 5,000 dahlias on a field her husband once mowed for his dad's cattle. In this episode, Erin and I talk about the messy, beautiful middle of building a flower farm. We get into soil tests and powdery mildew and the great vole wars. We talk about why she refuses to spray her field, what the Snohomish County Flower Collective means to her, and the brand-new community event she is helping bring to her town this fall. And at the end, Erin shares something tender about what this work has given her. It moved me. I think it will move you too. Key Takeaways * Generosity is contagious. One neighbor's gift of tubers started an entire farm. * You do not have to start big. Erin…

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